Every year, dozens of high school students take steps towards a brighter future, hoping to earn more knowledge and gain confidence. Helping support this progress, the Whitney M. Young Scholars Program (WYMSP), a nonprofit organization in Louisville, assists students academically from underserved communities through educational enrichment and college readiness resources.
Established in 1910 to oversee and manage the assets of the Lincoln Foundation, the program has since developed, with hundreds of students able to reach college-level readiness and earn scholarships. Both Marshal Bradley and Venita Benboe agree that the best part of their work is being able to see scholars succeed.
Benboe, the director of educational programs for the Lincoln Foundation, is in charge of managing WMYSP, the College Transition Enrichment program and the Future Leader Internship program. She supports scholars by equipping them with college strategies and skills, helping them attend the school of their choice debt free.
“But I love seeing where students find a way and helping them find that way,” Benboe said when asked what she loves most about her job.
Bradley, the president of the Lincoln Foundation, oversees the day-to-day operations of the bimonthly educational clinics, during which students from the grades 8-12 learn about topics ranging from STEM to writing speeches and applying for scholarships.
“I feel like it’s helped me most specifically this year, where our teachers kind of urge us to apply for scholarships and various financial aid methods,” Malachi Ibnmoha, senior at Atherton High School and WMYSP scholar, said.
Both Bradley and Benboe agreed that the biggest challenge for scholars once they graduate from high school is transitioning to a college environment. Over 80% of their students are the first generation in their families to attend college. To prepare scholars for the transition, WMYSP hosts their clinics in college settings, the eighth and ninth grade scholars at Bellarmine University and the 10-12th grade scholars at Sullivan University.
“Getting a high school diploma may help you get a job, but getting a college degree helps you get a career,” Bradley said.
Beyond the clinics, Bradley and Benboe’s goal is to make sure students are still able to retain information, especially during the summer when students tend to stray away from any academics.
“We have the summer institutes, the students are exposed to math, reading and writing,” Benboe said. “They stay on campus where they’re exposed to college life, going to classes and taking classes.”
One of the summer programs that WMYSP offers is the Digital Transformation Program (DTP), designed to help students learn to start and manage their own business. Scholars would pitch an idea to potential investors, and then they would go on to create a fake business. Some would even create props and merchandise for their businesses.
“It’s opened up access to many different opportunities for me to speak to investors,” Scholar Raynaman Dadi, a senior at DuPont Manual High School, said.“I was able to go to top three by creating a fake business and learning how to pitch it to a crowd.”
WMYSP goes beyond academics by teaching their scholars about their five main pillars, including financial literacy, STEM, writing, leadership and language development. Through their programs, like the Scholar Ambassador program, scholars are able to gain hands-on learning experiences and leadership skills.
“It just sort of builds upon itself where they just have this deck of information that they have been accumulating since they were in the eighth grade that tells the story of who they are as a person and who they are as a student,” Bradley said.
The Whitney M. The Young Scholars Program is more than just academic preparation: it is about developing scholars into future leaders who are prepared and ready to face any challenges life might throw their way. As both Benboe and Bradley have put it, the journey from high school to college is a challenge, but WMYSP makes this path easier and lays strong foundations for the future.
