Take Stock in Children Graduate Story: Paulina Rippere

The Monroe County Education Foundation (MCEF) is looking for volunteers to mentor students in its flagship program, Take Stock in Children. The MCEF has been helping Monroe County students achieve their goal of earning a degree, certificate, or credential since 1995. Here is an example of how mentoring a student for just 30 to 45 minutes a week can change a student’s life.

Paulina Rippere, Take Stock In Children Graduate, Monroe County 2003

My Take Stock in Children mentor at Key West High School was Helen Rowe. She was wonderful. She worked at the high school, so whenever I wanted to say hello or needed advice I could stop by her office and bounce ideas off of her. She was a great mentor and really helped me through the last couple of years of high school, making plans for college and the future.

I got my BA in political science from the University of Central Florida and then went to the University of Florida for graduate school. I finished my PhD in political science in May 2013 and am now Assistant Professor of Political Science at Jacksonville University. Last spring I was awarded a Congressional Fellowship from the American Political Science Association, so I’m spending the 2014-2015 academic year in Washington, D.C. and will be working as a legislative aide to a member of Congress.

Paulina’s story is one of many where Take Stock in Children and mentoring have made a difference in a student’s life. Would you like to make a difference in a child’s life? Become a Take Stock in Children mentor today!

For an application or more information, contact our success coaches Wendy Tribble in the Upper Keys at [email protected] or Katrina Wiatt in the Middle Keys at [email protected]. In the Lower Keys, contact Chuck Licis, program coordinator, at [email protected] or call 305-293-1546.