PORTLAND, Maine — The Mitchell Institute, a Maine-based nonprofit founded by Senator George Mitchell to improve college outcomes for young Mainers, has recently announced its 2017 scholars.
The 2017 recipients of the Mitchell Scholarship, representing 133 high schools from every community in Maine, each will receive a scholarship award for $9,000 to be paid out in four equal installments, as well as ongoing personal, academic and professional support.
As these 144 remarkable young people graduate this month from high schools across the state, they will begin a new journey of achievement. And they will do so with the support of the Mitchell Institute family, which includes nearly 2,000 alumni and countless mentors and supporters. Throughout college and the years following, they will be buoyed by Mitchell Institute programs and services that include financial assistance, leadership training, and academic and career support.
From Kittery to Madawaska, all the young men and women in the 2017 class of Scholars have distinguished themselves through academic performance and community impact. Scholars face a range of obstacles to college access; forty-five percent of Mitchell Scholars are the first in their families to attend college and sixty percent are from families with income below Maine’s median family income. Yet eighty-five percent of Mitchell Scholars complete college and achieve a degree (compared with fifty-five percent nationally) and more than ninety percent earn all A’s and B’s in college.
“We welcome 2017 Scholars with great pride and pleasure. Every year I am so impressed by the caliber of our Scholars and this year is no different. I can’t wait to see what they do in college and beyond,” said Mitchell Institute President and CEO, Meg Baxter.
The 2017 Scholars from Aroostook County are as follows:
Cassidy Pelletier, Ashland Community High School, Kaitlyn Nadeau, Caribou High School,
Clark Bradbury, Central Aroostook High School, Breann Clayton, Easton High School, Ryan Player, Fort Fairfield High School, Alex Paradis, Fort Kent Community High School, Jessica Drew, Hodgdon High School, Emma Peterson, Houlton High School, Delaney Rossignol, Limestone Community High School, Gabriella Cyr, Madawaska High School, Kendal Millard, Maine School of Science and Math, Gabriella Donovan, Presque Isle High School, Jackson Mathers, Southern Aroostook Community School, Lindsey Gendreau, Van Buren District Secondary School, Rachel Driscoll, Washburn Area District High School, and Kelsey Banville, Wisdom High School.
