Lincoln County’s Mississippi Scholars program is picking up newsponsors and gathering scholarship funds that officials say putsthe program on track to exceed all previous totals.

David Culpepper, the program’s fundraising chairman, saidMississippi Scholars has shifted its fundraising focus to thestate’s colleges and universities. The shif has produced instantresults.

Barely two months into fundraising efforts, the program hasalready amassed approximately $26,000 in scholarship funds – 70percent of last year’s $37,000 total. Two months remain until theApril 27 banquet, at which the scholarships will be awarded.

Culpepper said the program is likely to exceed last year’samount.

The extra funding could mean an increased number ofscholarships, an increase in the amount of money attached to eachscholarship or both, Culpepper said. The average MississippiScholars scholarship is $500.

The scholarship funds are pouring in because existing collegiatesponsors Mississippi State University and the University ifMississippi have been joined by other colleges like MississippiCollege, Jackson State University, Copiah-Lincoln Community Collegeand Southwest Mississippi Community College. Other institutions areexpected to contribute as well, Culpepper said.

“We’ve done a pretty good job this year of getting those guys onboard,” he said. “We’re in our fourth year, so we’ve got a littlehistory behind us. The universities are starting to understand thatthey’re getting a better qualified student walking around theircampus.”

Culpepper said the participating colleges and universities areseeing the academic impact of Mississippi Scholars, whichencourages students to forego a basic curriculum in high school andinstead enroll in advanced, rigorous courses to prepare them forcollege.

Participating in the program also requires four years ofEnglish, Mathematics, Science and History, two years of the sameforeign language, 20 hours of community service and a 95 percentattendance record.

“We have seen that the kids who have gone through the programhave performed well in their first year of college,” Culpeppersaid. “They’re not having to take remedial courses, which meansless time and less money, and they’re performing better in theclassroom and getting involved on campus.”

Kenny Goza, chairman of the program’s scholarship committee,said the program is also excelling in early 2009 on the functionalside. Mississippi Scholars is enjoying more community support, morevolunteers and more presentation time in classrooms across thecounty, he said.

“The community has embraced the program and supported it, and Ithink our students are buying into it and choosing to beMississippi scholars,” Goza said.

Though the program’s short-term goal is to send more students tocollege, Goza said the long-term goal is simply to enrich thestate. He said the designed cycle is to land better, higher-payingjobs for academic achievers and allow them to invest in theircommunities during their professional lives.

“It gives them to option to do what they want to do,” Goza saidof the program. “You do what you ought to do in the classroom soyou can do what you want to do when you get out in life. We’re justtrying to make a difference in their lives.”

Accordingly, participating in Mississippi Scholars is having theunintended but welcome impact of improving the local schoolsystems. Brookhaven School District Superintendent Lea Barrett saidBrookhaven High School’s test scores have improved since theimplementation of the program.

“You know there’s an impact – it’s a pretty obviouscorrelation,” she said. “Last year we had more than 33 percent ofour senior class graduate as Mississippi scholars. Our goal is 50percent.”

Barrett also pointed out that the local program is a role modelfor other communities implementing their own Mississippi Scholarsprograms. Representatives from other cities and counties around thestate have sent fact-finders to the Brookhaven-Lincoln CountyChamber of Commerce, through which the program is implemented.

One reason the local program is such a standout, Culpepper said,is because of its wide range. It includes all city and countyschools, as well as the Mississippi School of the Arts andBrookhaven Academy. He said Lincoln County’s is the onlyMississippi Scholars program in the state reaching out to a privateschool, earning it state and national recognition.