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"The Northern Texas PGA remains honored to be so closely affiliated with Justin and this great cause." - Darrell Crall, Director, North Texas PGA
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Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program has been providing support to students for 10 years
Bonnie Orth of Richardson and Lubbock's Jamie Resendiz are the 20th and 21st recipients of the Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program, presented annually since 1998 to the most outstanding boy and girl among Northern Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation member applicants.
The scholarship winners have represented the NTPGA, Deloitte, and Justin with distinction and honor at fine universities such as the University of Texas (Justin's alma mater), Yale University, Brown University, Baylor University, and Texas Christian University, as well as in the corporate world at Bain & Company, Fayez Sarotim & Company, NASA, and Paige & Hendricks PR. Kim Crow, a 2002 recipient, went on to complete her Masters Degree in accounting at Texas A&M and currently works full-time at Deloitte.
Scholarship recipients are selected on a competitive basis using a combination of criteria, including academic performance, extracurricular activities, community involvement and financial need.
Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Winners
2007 – Bonnie Orth, Richardson and Jamie Resendiz, Lubbock
2006 – Christa Steward, McKinney and Richard Pearson, Fort Worth
2005 – Blair Bishop, Arlington and Cliff McGaha, Lubbock
2004 – Paige Padgett, Aledo and Ben Morrow, Flower Mound
2003 – Erin McPherson, Abilene and Geoffrey Gideon, Dallas
2002 – Matthew Espinosa, Irving and Kimberly Crow, Loop
2001 – Sara Sawyer, Tyler, M. Scott Daubin, Fort Worth, and John Hobart Jr. , Forth Worth
2000 – Abby Crume, Plainview and Jason Ricketts, Highland Village
1999 – Lauren Kwedar, Fort Worth and Steven Potter, Arlington
1998 – Ali Wegand, Glen Rose and S. Cody Dick, Fort Worth
The Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program was established 10 years ago with the support and guidance of Northwood Club members Jim Barragan, Doug Lattner and Mark Layton. The program was a cooperative effort of Deloitte, Justin Leonard, Northwood Club, American Junior Golf Association, NTPGA Junior Golf Foundation, and individual and corporate donors.
The primary fund raising vehicle for the scholarship program was the annual Deloitte Justin Leonard Junior-Am tournament at Northwood Club, conducted in cooperation with the AJGA Justin Leonard Team Championship. The program generated almost $900,000 in revenue, funded 21 scholarships valued at $20,000 each, and contributed over $300,000 toward the endowment of the scholarships.
New Scholarship Focus: At-Risk Kids
Beginning last year, the Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program merged with the NTPGA Golf in Schools Program to provide annual scholarships to at risk kids who learn to play golf. The project is a collaborative effort between the Northern Texas PGA and United Way’s "Destination: Graduation." Destination: Graduation was developed in response to the fact that 43% of young people in Dallas County who enter the ninth grade do not graduate with their class – with this number rising to 48% for African Americans and 58% for Hispanics.
United Way partners with the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), the Dallas County Community College District, the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Asian American Chamber of Commerce, the Black Chamber of Commerce, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to provide an on-going project that works in local high schools to keep young people in school and on to higher education.
The Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarships are an incentive to keep kids in school, while providing access to a college education to those who otherwise would not have the opportunity.
There are three basic strategies employed in each high school, with their implementation customized for the individual needs of each school:
- The first is Parental Involvement, engaging the parent in the education of their young person and in the life of their school.
- The second is Mentoring, providing children with a positive, consistent adult in their lives who will provide emotional and educational support.
- The third is College Preparation, not only walking them through the process of getting into higher education but supporting the academic skills necessary to get there.
Pilot Program Shows 'Remarkable' Results
The pilot year at Samuell High School brought remarkable results:
Parental Involvement --
- Parents from the project are meeting with the Principal each 6-week period to discuss school issues and how they might be a part of the solution
- Membership in the PTA grew from 3 to 58 from the beginning of the school year to the Spring semester
Mentoring --
- Mentor matches grew to 34 by the end of the school year
- This is the second most face-to-face, one-on-one mentors in a DISD high school
College Preparation --
- Students increased their pre-post practice SAT scores by an average of 120 points
- Two young men increased their scores by 290 and 300 points
Over-All --
- The best marker for keeping students in school and moving them toward graduation is moving them from one grade to the next with their class, being promoted annually
- Students in our project moved to the next grade with their class at a 19% higher rate than the students at Samuell as a whole
The Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program is currently active in three DISD high schools: Kimball, Jefferson, and Samuell. These schools were selected by DISD for the level of their need, lack of outside resources, and commitment of staff leadership to this project. The Golf in Schools Program was added in the fall of 2007 at these schools to provide an additional incentive and benchmark for teaching social skills and ethics to these kids.
Funding of the Deloitte Justin Leonard Scholarship Program continues through the generous support of Deloitte and its partners and employees.
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