LOCAL HEROES: The BEST way to college

The BEST (Bethel Education Scholarship Team) Dollars for Scholars' Board of Directors recently thanked everyone whose donations last school year added up to 116 scholarships valued at about $90,000. The board noted that in some schools, every student who applied for one got one.

Now that's a success story.

And there's more: Since forming 25 years ago, BEST Dollars for Scholars has built an endowment of more than $1 million for scholarships for graduates of Bethel School District high schools.

One student who was on the receiving end of that help is Autumn Knutson. The Graham-Kapowsin High grad went on to Whitman College and became a teacher in Dallas, Texas for Teach for America, a non-profit group that guides teachers to low-income schools that can use better results academically.

"Your investment in my potential helped me get to where I am today," Knutson wrote in a letter to BEST. "Thank you for your commitment to making higher education a reality for students from low-income backgrounds."

BEST leaders note that college costs are rising at the same time that government funding to help meet those costs are shrinking. Many students can't afford their dream of a post-secondary education.

At a time when education should be a top priority, access to higher education needs to be equally important, BEST asserts.

With that goal in mind, scholarship contributions via BEST have come from school district employee groups, the Graham Business Association, individuals and families. Fund-raisers such as an annual quilt raffle have helped the cause, too.

More information about BEST, including how to get involved, is available at www.best.dollarsforscholars.org.