b'FUTUREDear Friends of Philadelphia Futures, Last year, we celebrated as Jasmine Billips (SAS Class of 2016)graduated from Spelman College in 2020. She is now a mathteacher at Joseph Greenberg School in Philadelphia. In a countrywhere the percentage of Black teachers is low, Jasmine knowsthat her students see themselves in her and encourages them todream big. It is my belief that mathematicsis essential for oneyourto prosper in life, and it is my hope that through teaching, thestigma surrounding math will be lessened, she recently shared. Virtual GraduationResilient and determined, Jasmine entered college with purpose, the support of her family, and Philadelphia Futuresassistance. Jasmine refers to Philadelphia Futures as the invisible hand that helped her navigate college successfully.She is thankful for the college tools and support that Futures provided, including her sponsorship funds. Without thatfunding, Jasmine would have struggled to purchase her books and to participate in math research with professors.We are grateful for the supporters who help alleviate the financial burdens of our students through sponsorships and opportunity funds. We need your help more than ever.toSponsorship funds help our students afford the books and materials they need for class.The funds help students pay formeals or transportation to work or home. They are a key tool to ensure students have what they need to succeed in college.If you would like to sponsor a scholar like Jasmine, contribute to our Student Opportunity Fund, or make anOn June 3, Philadelphia Futures honored 165 graduating high unrestricted gift, please be in touch. We appreciate your generosity.Thank you so much,school seniors and collegians in the Class of 2021 High School and Sara Woods, President and CEO Higher Education Virtual Graduation Celebration. Student speakers from each graduating class shared their reflections on the past year and P hiladelphia Future s words of advice for their classmates below them. In addition, we heard from Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Noe Ortega, Philadelphia School District Superintendent William Hite, college presidents,You are cordially invited to join the Philadelphia FuturesPhiladelphia Futures mentors, local media and sports personalities, and Board of Directors and Staff in honoring our2021 High School and Higher Education Graduates staff who all shared their congratulations and support of our students. Thursday, June 3, 2021 FUTUREVirtual Community Celebration We are grateful to Rick Williams, 6abc News Anchor and Philadelphia Please visit our YouTube page at bit.ly/PhillyFuturesYouTube to watch the live premiere starting at 6:00pm.Questions? Please contact madisonmilano@philadelphiafutures.org or 215.790.1666 ext. 463. Futures Board Member, who served as host for this event. Watch the virtual Graduation Celebration at bit.ly/PFGraduationVideo2021yourCOLLEGE MATRICULATIONtoWe are excited to watch the Class of 2021 embark upon their freshmen year! The pandemiccreated unique challenges that our students and College Access Coordinators met creatively and effectively. Staff learned about cohort programs and other supports for first-generation students to ensure a smooth transition to college. The team also looked for campuses with programming focused on meeting the social and academic needs of our students so the Class could make strategic choices about their best college fit. As a result, this Class represents some exciting developments, including 13% of the Class attending college outside of Pennsylvania, the largest percentage ever in our history. We celebrated Kiona Johnson, an inaugural First Generation Presidential Fellow at Bentley University and Chenling Huang, who will be attendingCornell University with the Amazon Scholarship Engineering Program.While more Class of 2021 students went out of state, even more went to partner colleges. Sixty percent of the class matriculated to one of Futures 14 college partners, speakingto the strength of our partnership network. As the pandemic continues to create someuncertainty, we did see several collegians choosing to stay closer to home, with 46% of the Class of 2021 staying within Philadelphia, and 33% of the Class attending Temple University or Drexel University.2021 marks the largest number of collegians ever being served in the organizationshistory, with 390 students in college this fall. We are celebrating the many donors who have contributed to our College Opportunity Fund which helps support them! For theFall 2021 semester, Futures will disburse $60,675 in scholarships for 58 students from thehigh school classes of 2018-2021. Twenty-five of those students are from the Class of 2021.The number of students receiving Futures scholarships for this class is more than twice the average number in the preceding three years.This year marks a return to campus for a vast majority of our students. Our CollegeSuccess Team will be assisting two class years acclimate to campus, in addition to our rising first-year students. This is because much of the Class of 2020 never participated on their campusphysically and the Class of 2019 did not have a full year to adjust to their campus before theThe map shows the quantityCOVID-19 shutdown. The team will be monitoring vaccination and health requirements toand diversity of colleges where help ensure a smooth return to in-person instruction and activities, and is excited to resumeour scholars were enrolledon-campus visits where permitted.during the 202021 school year.2'