PORT CHESTER: DON BOSCO SCHOLARS FIND KEYS TO COLLEGE ACCESS

By DAN PIETRAFESA

Katherine Ovalles will graduate in June from the Don Bosco Scholars First Gen College Access Program with a better understanding of what’s ahead, and with a new friend.

Miss Ovalles, an 18-year-old senior at Port Chester High School, is one of 10 scholars in the program offered by Don Bosco Community Center in Port Chester.

“It definitely helped me set a path in my mind for myself and helped me focus and put in effect what I wanted to do,” said the parishioner of the newly formed St. John Bosco parish in Port Chester.

The scholars program pairs a student with a volunteer adult coach, who assists the students in completing college, financial aid and scholarship applications. The program offers assistance to students writing college essays and taking college entrance exams such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT).

A trained coach will listen to a student explain his or her career and college preferences before the two find the best academic and affordable colleges to meet the student’s needs, a two- or four-year city, state or private school. The coach and student meet as needed.