Park City community,
Bright Futures Park City will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year! As PCEF prepares to honor this milestone, I am thrilled to share a few updates scheduled to take effect during our next fiscal year (July 2025 - June 2026).
The Why
In the ninth year of running the Bright Futures (BF) program, Park City Education Foundation's Board of Directors and staff have rigorously evaluated areas of strength and opportunities. As a result, we see a chance to serve and impact exponentially more Park City High School first-generation students as they pursue their dreams and ambitions after high school. An opportunity to work with our most important partner, the Park City School District, will allow BF to embed more deeply into the school day – and ensure every first-generation student can access post-secondary readiness and support.
The How
Park City Education Foundation has traditionally run the high school portion of the program outside of the school day. Next year, PCEF will fund a certified, licensed, first-generation college counselor position inside PCHS to support every first-generation ninth- through twelfth-grade student. This will allow access to significant BF support within school hours, critical for students with packed extracurricular schedules, commitments to help family, and jobs.
PCEF will continue to fund essential high school programming elements, including college visits, and college preparation curriculum; as well as scholarship, college, and FAFSA application support. Our BF support will stay the same at the college level. Students will continue to receive one-on-one coaching, group experiences, financial aid, and emergency aid as needed to help them work to and through their post-secondary education.
Your Support
We hope you know how deeply your support impacts the 151 first-generation students we serve in the Bright Futures program! Thanks to your generosity, our community can honor BF’s 14 college graduates, its 66 college students working their way through post-secondary education, and the 85 high school students embarking on this remarkable journey. Your generosity has and will continue to make our students’ education dreams a reality.
If you have not had a chance to make your gift yet this year, now would be a wonderful time to affirm your support of our community’s first-generation college students as they pursue their college dreams.
If you have any questions about the program's evolution, I would be happy to connect with you - please reach out!
With gratitude and appreciation,
Ingrid
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Ingrid Whitley (she/her)
President and CEO
Park City Education Foundation
