Home

Sometimes, just making it to college isn’t enough.

Urban high school students often have to navigate a minefield of obstacles and distractions to get to college. But once they get on campus, too many find that their college careers can be easily derailed. A new landmark study by Northeastern University that tracked the graduates of Boston Public Schools from the Class of 2000 who went on to attend a two- or four-year college finds that nearly two-thirds of them have failed to earn a degree.

The Alray Taylor Second Chance Scholarship is designed to help address the urgent need highlighted in that study. The scholarship is aimed at promising students from Boston who had the smarts and drive to get to college but who need some crucial assistance in finding a way back there.

The Second Chance referred to in the name of the fund encompasses more than just financial assistance. Each scholarship recipient is teamed with a dedicated mentor to offer guidance and support, with the goal of helping the student avoid the missteps of the past and expand his/her horizons. The recipients will also become part of a Second Chance community, helping to mentor those who follow.

The scholarship is named after Alray Taylor, a warm-hearted former basketball star at Boston’s Charlestown High School and Division I college scholarship athlete whose life was cut short in 2006.

read more