Dream Realized Thru The Asbury Park College Promise
County, State, and Brookdale officials gather at Asbury Park High School
With white hardhats lined across their table, Asbury Park School District officials gathered for a formal announcement of their partnership with Brookdale Community College and members of The Jules L. 
Plangere Jr. Family Foundation to offer qualifying Asbury Park High School students the opportunity to earn 64 credits during their junior and senior years.
[At right County, State, and Brookdale officials gather at Asbury Park High School for The College Promise announcement.]
Dubbed the Asbury Park College Promise, the initiative will be funded by the Plangere Foundation over the next three years. Established in 1997 by the former Asbury Park Press and Home News Tribune publisher, the foundation has provided close to $20 million in financial support to charitable organizations.
The following are excerpts from those who spoke at the Thursday morning announcement:
Superintendent Lamont Repollet: Our motto of building a brighter future is about hope and opportunity. Everything we do is built on the three pillars of rebuilding, retooling and restoring. 
Today is about restoring the tradition and faith the Plangere family had in this school district.
[At right County, State, and Brookdale officials gather at Asbury Park High School for The College Promise announcement.]
Brookdale President Maureen Murphy: In the beginning of the 20th century only 5 percent of [teens] attended high school. By 1955, 80 percent were enrolled in a comprehensive high school program. This tells you how things can change. That’s happening again. President Barack Obama introduced his Universal Community College [initiative] in 2014 and while that hasn’t happened universally yet, it is happening because small groups of people find it important. This is going to make an enormous impact on this community.
Plangere Foundation Board member Jack Conover: This offers students a road to opportunity and I hope in the future we can look back and say we did make a difference.
Monmouth County Freeholder liaison to Brookdale College John P. Curley [shown at right]: There was a dream back in the early 1960s that we would have a community college system. Each and every one of us know education is the way to improve our plight in life. It helps us improve our economic situation, improve our stability and it gives each and every one of us a start. We are bringing that dream of the early 1960s full circle to where it was supposed to be – to serve the public, regardless of race or creed.
Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone [shown below]: The measure of success is often based on financial status but we should measure it on what we do; that is what the Plangere family does.
This is the start. The County will have a major presence here to help bring back and continue the success of Asbury Park. [Arnone said he is in discussion with district officials to incorporate engineering opportunities as well as those with the Monmouth County Sherriff’s Department.]
Senator Jennifer Beck: This is a team effort. The state of New Jersey has invested in all of Asbury Park. All of us are cheering for Asbury Park’s success. We know that education is important so students can stand up and rise. When I walk around Asbury Park schools, I see beautiful young people, full of enthusiasm, who can’t wait to take on the world. This is another opportunity for them to do so.
Asbury Park Board of Education President Angela Ahbez Anderson [shown at right]: Who would have thought two years ago that this would be possible? When Superintendent Lamont Repollet came in with a hard hat and 5 year blue print, it wasn’t what he said but how he made me feel. I felt his passion to bring hope. This is a wonderful day for students, here in Asbury Park. Directing her comments to the students: What is happening is that the doors of opportunity are unlocked and it is up to you to step through. We are invested in you. We are all here because we believe in you.
As the Asbury Park College Promise launch concluded Repollet presented each of the Brookdale and Plangere Foundation member with their own white hardhats [inducting them into the district’s hard hat nation] and made a special presentation of a hand carved wooden hardhat by a Ghanaian craftsman to Jules and Jane Plangere, both Asbury Park High School graduates.
[at right: Asbury Park High School students listen as BOE president Angela Ahbez-Anderson addresses her comment directly to them.]
The Asbury Park College Promise program will offer college scholarships to eligible Asbury Park High School students who complete a comprehensive college readiness program beginning in the 11th grade.
The “last-dollar” scholarships, good for up to 64 credits toward a Brookdale associate degree or certificate, will fund any tuition and fees that are not covered by Pell Grants, state assistance funds or other scholarships.
The College Promise program includes a wide range of academic enrichment courses, career workshops, college preparatory courses and mentorship opportunities designed to help students succeed at the college level and beyond. Officials said parents will also be required to attend orientation sessions.
The program, which begins in the 2016-17 school year, will be funded over the next three years by the Jules L. Plangere, Jr., Family Foundation through a $240,000 grant made to the Brookdale Community College Foundation.
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