This year, the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria celebrates its 40th anniversary. Located in the Jack Taylor College & Career Wing on the King Street Campus as well as at the Minnie Howard Campus, the SFA provides financial aid, scholarships and advising to students at Alexandria City High School. The Fund has been a staple in the ACHS community since its creation, and throughout its 40 years, it has awarded over $22 million in scholarships and financial aid to over 6,000 ACHS graduates.
The SFA was established in 1986 by Alexandria resident Kitty Porterfield, who recognized how difficult it was for students and parents to navigate the college process. Porterfield specifically aimed to address the financial disadvantages that first-generation students experienced, so she strived to create a network of support within the school.
In the 40 years since the Fund’s establishment, the average cost of attending college has increased by 400% and the ACHS population has doubled in size. Nevertheless, the SFA’s mission remains the same: making college attainable for every Titan.
“[The SFA’s mission] is about access, attainment and success,” said the Executive Director of the SFA, Jasmine Milone. “I think that is the biggest thing. So, first of all, knowing you can do this. You can get into college [and] you can get through college without it being a financial burden.”
In addition to scholarships, the SFA provides college and financial aid advising to students, which are important first steps in the college process.
“For so many of our students, their family contribution is so little and they don’t realize that they can get all of this money they don’t have to pay back,” said Milone. “Learning those things…those are the next steps to making sure that college becomes debt free, or that you finish with as little debt as possible.”
One of the Fund’s key characteristics that has defined it since its establishment is its close relationship with ACHS.
“This is a really unique organization because we’re embedded in the high school,” said Milone. “Because we’re here in school, we can be so much more effective.”
Its presence within ACHS also allows the SFA to prioritize connections with students and other school organizations.
“I think for all of us, it’s just always about the relationships,” said Milone. “How we can support one another and support our students, ultimately.”
For many students, this intention is evident.
“SFA is a huge aspect of what makes our school so unique because we have adults that foster relationships with people in our community and these relationships are what creates opportunities for me and my peers,” said senior Jammica Reindorf, who received the CommonWealth One Charlotte H. Cash ACHS Scholarship.
“To me, the SFA is a representation of how much the overall Alexandria City community cares for its students,” said senior Allyson Castillo, who received the SFA 40th Anniversary Teaching Legend Scholarship Honoring Louis Kokonis. “The donors, supporters and partners of the SFA are all testaments to how tight-knit we are as a community, and the awesome SFA staff are the heart of it all.”
For Milone, the 40th anniversary is a chance to recognize the impact the SFA has had on the ACHS community, as well as the generations of people that have contributed to its success.
“I consider the founder of the SFA, Kitty Porterfield, a friend, so being able to see her know how much of an impact the SFA made… I feel very lucky,” she said. “I think just seeing that what you envisioned being a really small thing [become] something like it is today and the impact it has today is really amazing.”
The SFA held a Gala on April 18 to celebrate the 40th anniversary. During the event, past recipients spoke, attendees were served dinner and an auction was held. The evening also featured speeches from both Castillo and Reindorf.
Looking towards the future, Milone anticipates the SFA will continue to grow and implement more opportunities for students, including internship access and increased scholarship amounts to address the increasing cost of college attendance.
“Persistence programming is something that we’ve really focused on these last few years, which is getting [recipients] to the finish line,” said Milone. “We want to make sure that students feel that support and have that network to be able to get to graduation and know they have job prospects.”
While the SFA’s existence can be measured in years, its impact is impossible to quantify and after four decades of success, it will continue to help students turn their higher education dreams into realities.
“SFA’s impact is greater than getting a senior class into college,” said Reindorf. “[It’s about] creating a full circle moment for both donors and recipients because what I personally took away was how can I come back 10 plus years and support the next generation, as they did the same for me.”
