Within the past year, Elon Academy has helped its 20 high school seniors receive more than $2.58 million in scholarships to schools in the US, mostly in the North Carolina area.

A college access program for low-income high school students in Alamance County, Elon Academy motivates participants and provides them with the guidance they need in the lengthy college application process.

Almost all members of Elon Academy are the first in their families to move on to post secondary education.

For the program’s next, its seventh, year, it received 140 applicants for only 25 spots.

This year, though, the class of 20 represents schools from all over the Alamance/Burlington area.

Although these seniors are participating in Elon Academy, Jenni Johnson, Elon Academy assistant director of senior support and student life, wants to point out that they’re “regular students.”

Many of the students in Elon Academy are at the top of their class, but Johnson said there is a mix of achievement within the groups, with some having more academic success than others.

Despite the fact that participants span a vast academic range, they share a common denominator.

“Just about all of them have in common that they’re the first in their families to go to college,” Jones said. “That’s one thing that really binds them together.”

Senior Sandra Flores, also a member of Elon Academy, knows that without the Academy, she wouldn’t be in college.

“Elon Academy completely changed my life,” Flores said. “They helped me be successful. I’m the first person in my family to go to college. Like Flores, many other program participants have Elon Academy to thank for their many successes.

This year has been particularly successful for Elon Academy students. Members have been accepted to a total of 50 colleges and universities, along with being the first students to break the two-million mark in merit scholarships.

Most Elon Academy students attend public institutions in North Carolina: this year, four students will be going to University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and three going to Appalachian State University. In addition, one Elon Academy student will be attending Elon University as a Watson and Odyssey Scholar.

Not only is this year’s Elon Academy group academically successful, Terry Tomasek, director of Elon Academy, describes them as “resilient.”

Although she can’t provide specifics, Tomasek said that, within the past year, many students have experienced dramatic life experiences.

“These are situations that would have knocked many of us on our cans,” Tomasek said. “But being the students that they are, they persevered. These are young people who have worked their way up to this point in their lives, and when several of them hit some pretty significant bumps in the road, they didn’t stop.”

In addition to student developments, the program, itself, has undergone numerous changes, as well.

“The most prominent change is that we have a new director,” Johnson said. “Terry is doing an excellent job adjusting and reforming the program.”

Elon Academy also has a new staff member, Princess King, in addition to their new building. Once stationed in Powell House, the program switched to the School of Education hub, Mooney, to join the Center For Access and Success in the fall of 2014.

“It’s been a good change,” Johnson said. “It’s a central location for our college scholars so we see more of them now.”

The new location is assisting Elon Academy with their mission.

“We’re continuing to deepen our relationship with Elon, the local community, and our students,” Tomasek said. “Being in the heart of Elon’s campus really helps with that.”

Tomasek foresees more changes for the future of Elon Academy, especially in the area of community connections.

“We talk a lot about how we can partner with our local community,” Tomasek said. “We want the ripple of Elon Academy to be felt by more students.”

Senior Desmond Harrell thinks that community outreach will further strengthen Elon Academy.

“Keep going, don’t stop, and stay passionate,” Harrell said. “The passion everyone involved in the program has motivates their students more than they’ll ever know.”

Although Elon Academy can’t accept more students as a practical matter of funding, both Tomasek and Johnson are beginning to work with the Alamance Burlington School System to spread the mission of the Academy.

“In five years we hope to be fully involved with ABSS,” Tomasek said. “We’ll better understand how to meet the needs of our local young people. We know more now than we did before, but there’s still a ways to go.”