For the third consecutive year, NUSD Trustee Lisa Kaplan is reaching out to help two local high school students who don’t have a lot of money but are determined to succeed in school and in life.
Kaplan, through the “Closing the Digital Divide” scholarship program, will provide at least two Chromebook computers for distribution to high school students in need, defined as qualifying for free lunches, foster youth, or homeless youth.
Chromebook winners also must have a minimum 2.5 grade point average and be enrolled at Natomas, Inderkum or Discovery high schools. Applications, available below, must be submitted by April 15.
Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of financial need, academic performance, leadership potential, and courage in overcoming adversity by a committee consisting of Kaplan and one official apiece representing NUSD and the Natomas Schools Foundation.
Kaplan is driven by a desire to help close the digital divide, one student at a time, by offering the scholarship program. Her message to winning applicants is simple: I believe in you.
Kaplan typically shares her own story with Chromebook winners: Her parents were not college educated but they told her as a child that she could do whatever she wanted, as long as she worked hard and put her mind to it.
She ultimately graduated from law school and now owns her own law firm.
Wanting now to give back, Kaplan’s Chromebook scholarships are a way to support high school students who just need a helping hand in making their academic dreams come true. Kaplan collaborates with the Natomas Schools Foundation in offering the program.
If you have questions about “Closing the Digital Divide” scholarships, please call NUSD’s School Leadership and Support Department at 916-567-5430.