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"Our goal is to invest in every student that participates in Mississippi Scholars," Goza said. "We want no student left untouched."
Though 2009 was a banner year for the program, with more than 200 high school seniors countywide earning the title of scholar and around $92,000 in scholarship funds awarded, only 60 of those seniors received scholarship money, leaving 70 percent of the group to seek help with college expenses from other sources.
Goza and other program coordinators are focused on closing that gap.
Their first step was taken Friday at Brookhaven Honda, where storeowner Linda Covington donated a Honda Elite 110 scooter to Mississippi Scholars.
Tickets for a chance to win the scooters will be available on the bike in the coming weeks for a $5 per ticket donation. All proceeds will go into a fund that will be distributed among the student scholars who are not awarded scholarships at the program's annual banquet this spring.
The scooter will be unveiled and the first tickets available Tuesday night at the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce Banquet at Copiah-Lincoln Community College at 6:30 p.m. Goza said program officials have not decided how many tickets to print or how long to hold the sale.
"We may limit ourselves if we set a mark," he said.
Covington, a three-year contributor to Mississippi Scholars, jumped at the chance to donate the scooter to help more and more students get some kind of head start on college.
"I'm not a college graduate, and I realized the hardships I've had and what a college education means," she said. "I firmly believe in Mississippi Scholars, and I'd like to see it grow and expand."
Mississippi Scholars Fundraising Chairman David Culpepper hopes the opportunity to win a scooter will spread a sense of ownership throughout the community.
"This allows the community to put their fingerprints on this," he said. "As little a donation as $5, and you're making an impact."
Culpepper said the scooter may not bring in enough funds to meet the program's goal, "Investing in the Future, One Student at a Time," this year, but it should provide enough money to significantly expand the number of students who receive financial assistance through Mississippi Scholars.
Chamber executive vice president Cliff Brumfield hopes the evolution of Mississippi Scholars will encourage more and more high school students to participate. Last year's group of scholars represented more than 40 percent of all graduating seniors in the county, and quality of education is a strong point in economic development.
"The intent is to encourage even more of our area youth to take advantage of the advanced programs offered in our local schools," he said.
