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The St. Joe Community Foundation gives additional $60,000 to CFES

PORT ST. JOE, Fla. (October 16, 2007) – Recognizing that fewer than half of Gulf & Franklin County students will not enroll in postsecondary schools after high school graduation, today The St. Joe Community Foundation (STJCF) aided the effort to increase these numbers with a $60,000 donation to College for Every Student (CFES), bringing their total contributions to $210,000 for the program. CFES, formerly the Foundation for Excellent Schools (FES), will use this grant to continue The Century Program (TCP) in all six Gulf County schools, as well as assist with creating a mentoring program for the Franklin County educators with the goal of expanding TCP in the future. 

“Gulf County schools have done a terrific job implementing CFES practices in their schools the last several years, while they have also been leaders in helping other schools and communities nationwide raise the aspirations and performance of their students,” notes Rick Dalton, CFES president.  “All this has been made possible by the St. Joe Community Foundation, whose continual support has allowed the schools in Gulf County to participate in CFES for the last five years.”

The Century Program partners schools in low-income counties with colleges to encourage educational aspirations and increase student performance through methods such as instructor and peer mentoring and student-leadership programs. The majority of the 400 Gulf County students who have already participated in the program have made significant gains in grades, attendance and aspirations, putting them well on their way to attending college in the future.

“This has been a great opportunity for me,” notes Caroline Douglas, a senior at Wewahitchka High School participating in TCP. “I get to interact with younger students and be a positive role model. The college trips we take as part of the program encourage us all to further our education and to discover what else is out there and available for us.”  

The name change from the Foundation for Excellent Schools to College for Every Student reflects the organization’s desire to provide a college education to all students. Since its inception in 1991, the Foundation for Excellent Schools has worked with more than 100,000 underprivileged students helping them prepare for, gain access to, and succeed at a collegiate level. By emphasizing instructor and peer mentoring, active college-school partnerships, and student leadership, the organization achieved a 97 percent success rate for the past two years. However, President Rick Dalton is committed to a more ambitious goal. In changing the name to College for Every Student, Dalton hopes to bring focus to this important cause and achieve a 100 percent success rate.

CFES has already positively affected the lives of numerous Gulf County School students through TCP and is now laying the framework to extend the program to neighboring Franklin County by implementing a mentoring program between the educators in Port St. Joe and Wewahitchka and their colleagues in Franklin County. In addition, a team of Franklin County educators will travel with their Gulf County mentors to New York for the CFES National Conference in November.

About The St. Joe Community Foundation

The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) created The St. Joe Community Foundation (STJCF) in 1999 to invest in community initiatives that pay long-term returns on the quality of life in Bay, Franklin, Gulf, and Walton counties.

Since its inception, STJCF has provided grants totaling more than $14 million to organizations in the region. Grants to date for 2007 total $994,000. STJCF’s unique funding structure is based on payments from sales in specific JOE communities within the region. Payments to The Foundation continue each time the properties are resold. In this way, JOE and the property owners who live in JOE neighborhoods partner with the community for the betterment of the entire region.

Focused primarily on education, regional health care delivery, arts and culture and parks and recreation, STJCF grants are based on building civic infrastructure and providing ongoing improvements in the region through grants and initiatives that promote teaching and learning to create healthier communities. To learn more about STJCF, log on to www.stjcf.org.