"Stay 4" Project ®
All about the program enabling the academic success for at-risk students
"Stay 4"Project ®
What is "Stay 4"?
"Stay 4" is a program designed to identify, help, and retain students who demonstrate the ability to succeed, yet are considered to be at risk of dropping out of high school.
After completing the criteria for "Stay 4" program, high school graduation, and enrollment in a trade school, community college, or four-year university, students will be awarded a minimum $1,000 grant from Great Plains LIFE Foundation to support their continuing educational efforts which may include tuition, rent, lab fees, food, textbooks, computers, and even winter clothing.
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For more information, contact us at gplife@stay4.org
The Great Plains LIFE Foundation works with around 90 low-income high school students annually. These students face poverty, abuse, homelessness, and are have vulnerable communities and family environments.
Their lives are impacted by a community including parents who dropped out of school, ongoing crime and imprisonment, and members facing drug and alcohol addictions. Many students in these communities work 30-40 hours a week while attending school to help provide for their families.
The daily challenges these students face can keep them from graduating, continuing their education, and being able to overcome a cycle of hardship. The "Stay 4" project was developed to address the drop out rate among at-risk students by assisting in further education funds and access to resources within the community.
Students from participating districts are selected at the beginning of their junior year. They are required to fulfill criteria focusing on academics, community service, and extracurricular activities during their junior and senior year. "Stay 4" makes students aware of educational opportunities through field trips to area colleges, and connect students with advisers who assist them in finding the necessary financial aid and scholarships for college.
This unique program plays a major role in addressing an unmet need and helps assist students through their critical first year which can determine long term success or failure. More than 400 students have been a part of the "Stay 4" Project and 97% of them have graduated from high school; most the first in their families to do so, and nearly all are first generation college students.
More than 200 of these students have continued their education, been a part of their University's Honors Programs, and have received both graduate and undergraduate degrees from 35+ colleges.
PARTICIPATING SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Urbana District #116
Olympia CUSD #16
McLean County Unit District #5
East Peoria #86
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Bloomington District #87
Champaign Unit District #44
Normal Community Unit 5
Delavan Community #703
Regional Alternative School
Decatur District #61
Pekin District #108
Pontiac Community #429
Where have "Stay 4" Project students gone?
Eureka College
Loyola University
Rock Valley College
Florida A&M
Millikin University
Texas A&M
Heartland College
Parkland College
Triton College
Richland College
University of Houston
Eastern Illinois University
Bradley University
Benedictine University
University of Iowa
University of Missouri
University of IL-Chicago
Iowa Wesleyan University
Roosevelt University
Southeastern Community College
Northern Illinois University
DeVry University
Black Hawk College
University of Chicago
Lincoln Land Community College
University of Illinois
University of IL-Springfield
Illinois College
SIU-Edwardsville
Southern Illinois University
University of Louisville
Concordia University
Purdue University
University of Northern Texas
Rockford University
Arizona State University
Rust College
Robert Morris University
Illinois State University
University of Southern Indiana
Harvard University
Rend Lake College
Carthage College
Western Illinois University
Grambling University
Georgia State University
Indiana State University
University of DeSoto
Some of Our student Graduates
 Carlisha A. photo |  Edwin Rodriguez-Urbana-IL |  A. Stenger-Richwoods |
|---|---|---|
 Gabrielle%20Kaeb-Grad%20photo_edited |  Aniyah Smith-Eisenhower |  Alexander Mercado-Jefferson |
 Autumn Cohan-MacArthur |  Devangana Rana-UHS |  G. Johnson-Pekin |
 Jamelia Morris-Jefferson |  J. Robinson-Peoria H.S. |  IMG_20200122_100016 |
 Israd Mpeko-NCHS |  Gage Codding-OHS |  Geary Moore BHS |
 Janiah Rungren-East |  Jazmin Enriquez-Central H.S. |  Jonathan Mushengezi |
 Kenneth Holdman-NCHS |  Joshua Beverly NCWH.S. |  Kyaria Cotton-Eisenhower |
 Tyler Stone-OHS |  T. Kapoor-Pekin (2) (1) |  Quincenia Jackson-MacArthur |
 Mackenzi Williams - Eisenhower |  M. Rudloff-Pekin |  L. Gonzalez-Peoria H.S. |
 Sal Rodriguez BHS |  Salma Thabet-East |  Shyterra Simms-Guilford |
 William Key-Auburn |