Sponsored By
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ROCHESTER — A retired teacher is working to establish a scholarship endowment for Century High School as the school approaches the 25th anniversary of its first graduating class.
Century is the only one of Rochester’s three public high schools that doesn’t have such a scholarship. Chuck Handlon wants to raise thousands of dollars by the time graduation rolls around.
ADVERTISEMENT
“That is my hope,” said Handlon, “that by the end of the year, we would have raised the $25,000.”
Handlon was a teacher at Century from when the school opened in 1997 until he retired in 2016.
For the time being, the initiative is still fairly conceptual in terms of what it will eventually look like. There’s no definitive plan for how many scholarships the fund would be able to support each year, or how large those scholarships would be.
For the moment, Handlon is focusing on raising enough funds to get the scholarship up off the ground.
To help get that work started, Handlon is hosting a “chemical magic show” from 6 p.m.. to 8:30 p.m. on March 3 at the high school. The event is free to the public, but they are accepting donations. He said he hopes that to be the kick-off for the growth of the scholarship endowment.
The school’s principal, Patrick Breen, said having a scholarship endowment specifically for Century students would be a welcomed development.
“We have a lot of students who have dreams of going to college, and who maybe don’t fit nicely into a category that makes them eligible for a particular scholarship,” Breen said.
ADVERTISEMENT
In addition to existing scholarship endowments for John Marshall and Mayo high schools, the Rochester Area Foundation also lists existing scholarships for the schools of Kasson-Mantorville, Stewartville, and Chatfield.
Century High School first opened in 1997 for sophomores and juniors. It then hosted its first graduation ceremony in the year 2000. The school’s name comes from the fact that the school opened at the turn of the century.
Beyond the benefit the scholarship would provide to students, though, those involved in the process are hoping that raising the funds for the endowment will become something that the school’s community can rally around.
“This isn’t just about raising the money,” Handlon said. “This is about revitalizing the connections in the community.”
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
