Congratulations to our students, thank you to our teachers, mentors, volunteers, parents, and donors. Your support of these students has a direct impact on not only their future, but the future of our communities. To date, the ACE Cleveland program has gifted over $1 million in scholarships.
While ACE students attend many different higher educational institutions, ACE Cleveland has special partnerships with four northeast Ohio colleges: Tri-C, Cleveland State, Akron, and Kent State. These four schools offer some matching scholarships for students – meaning that in some cases an ACE scholarship can be doubled. Additionally, Tri-C recognizes ACE classes as college credits. Quintez Hudson, Quentin Hudson and Daylon Gipson will be receiving 3-6 credit hours for their high school participation with the program.
All scholarship winners will be enrolled in College Now’s alumni Mentor program and will be partnered with a mentor to provide guidance and assistance during college. As part of the awards, we ask students to return to take part in future ACE Cleveland events. Scholarship awardees will also be connected through our Career Pathways program to potential internships and career opportunities.
Thank you to the many local companies and organizations providing individual scholarships and support to ACE Students. The awards were made possible by many organizations including University Hospitals which contributed $50,000 of the total this year and has remained a tremendous contributor to ACE Cleveland over the past ten years. To date – UH has donated $500,000 to ACE Cleveland scholarships, providing the resources for young adults to follow their dreams and career aspirations.
In lieu due to the extraordinary conditions faced due to COVID-19, an alternate plan was developed to complete this year's ACE Program. Short essays on the topic, “How the AEC industry can have a positive impact on society as a result of COVID-19” were submitted. The essays were judged with the top prize being a $200 gift card. Congratulations to the ACE Essay Award winners, Quentin Hudson, Ronna Worley, Khabir Bankhole, Nathaniel Duncan, and LI Chrisholm.