When Murphy Oil Corporation announced the gift of the El Dorado Promise on January 22, 2007, no one, not even the then President of Murphy Oil Claiborne Deming, understood the magnitude of the impact on the El Dorado School District (ESD). In the 16 years since the announcement, over 3230 EHS graduates have received the Promise and have taken the scholarship to 163 schools in 36 different states.
This past week, students across the district celebrated Promise Week, one of the many events throughout the year that recognizes the amazing opportunity our ESD students have. Throughout the week, students and staff reflected on all the possibilities the Promise brings and what the Promise means to ESD and our community. Elementary students talked about what they want to be when they grow up. High school students talked about what college they want to attend, and juniors were able to attend a college fair. Promise graduates or parents of Promise recipients who are teaching in the district took a few minutes to talk to their classes about how the Promise impacted their life. Students wrote essays about what the Promise means to them, thank you letters to Murphy Oil Corporation, and created art to express their appreciation. One school even created a video to show how they believe the Promise can change their future.
To see a glimpse at what our students were up to, check out each school’s Facebook page!
The El Dorado Promise is a universal, place-based scholarship. The Promise guarantees that every student who graduates from the ESD and attended ESD from at least the 9th to 12th grade can receive a college scholarship. Studies done by the Office of Education Policy (OEP) at the University of Arkansas indicate that the ESD has created a “college-going culture” where teachers and administrators discuss college from the beginning of a student’s education at ESD—the discussion is “when” you go to college not “if” you go to college. And when every student in the classroom has the opportunity to go to college—teachers and administrators work to prepare every student!
The El Dorado Promise is proud to be a part of what “Every Student Deserves” at ESD. For more information about the El Dorado Promise Scholarship contact the El Dorado Promise office 870-864-5128 or Sylvia.Thompson@esd-15.org