Saying Yes

to hope

Three years ago I said yes when Von Washington Jr., CEO of The Kalamazoo Promise, asked me to write a book to help The Kalamazoo Promise celebrate their 20th anniversary. The Kalamazoo Promise, a scholarship funded by anonymous donors to graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools, covers up to 100% tuition and mandatory fees at over 60 eligible Michigan institutions, from colleges and universities, to trade schools and vocational programs.

Twenty years ago

In November of 2005, I was four months pregnant when the birth of The Kalamazoo Promise was announced by Dr. Janice Brown, then superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools. Anonymous donors, Dr. Brown said, had promised to fund this scholarship in perpetuity. Seriously? I couldn’t wrap my brain around that word: perpetuity. Surely, I thought, 18 years from now, when my own kid will be graduating high school, the scholarship won’t be around anymore.

My second thought was this: Somebody should do a documentary about this Promise thing. It’s an incredible gift for our community and someone needs to capture its impact. I imagined a documentarian following these kids around to find out how they use or don’t use their Promise. What obstacles must they overcome along the way in using their Promise? What is it they plan to do with their one wild and precious life?*

Flash forward to now

The Kalamazoo Promise, as promised, is still here. And that baby who had been kicking inside me? He’s a Promise Scholar in his junior year of college.

In addition, a documentary of sorts, has finally been made. It’s one you can hold in your hands. Bursting with inspiring Promise stories and beautiful color images, this 408-page hardcover book explores the history of this transformative program and shows how saying “Yes” to The Promise has impacted the lives of students and the Kalamazoo community over its first two decades.

In Seeding Hope: Two Decades of Promise Stories, we explore the unique paths young people take upon graduating high school. We discover obstacles they’ve faced, meet people who’ve helped them along the way, and learn how these scholars and alumni see this gift of free tuition as transformative, not only for themselves, but for their community.

Just last week

I’m writing this on the heels of PromiseNet 2025.

The birth of The Promise inspired hundreds of other communities throughout the nation to create their own place-based scholarships. Last week, hundreds of people from across the United States poured into Kalamazoo for this 12th gathering in which researchers, educators, and community leaders share best practice, innovative ideas, and more.

This year’s conference also coincided with a 20th anniversary dinner celebration of The Kalamazoo Promise. This cool (12 minute) video celebrating The Promise was shared. (This is the first time I’ve ever tried embedding a video in my posts, so if it doesn’t work, you can always click here and watch it.)

During this celebration, Von Washington Jr. also unveiled the cover and announced the upcoming release of Seeding Hope: Two Decades of Promise Stories.

Later this week

Recognizing that many in our community and throughout The Promise network will be interested in obtaining this book, The Promise has partnered with this is a bookstore/Bookbug and Kazoo Books. Come Friday, November 21st, you can purchase Seeding Hope: Two Decades of Promise Stories at these two independent bookstores.

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Note: The asterisked sentence is taken from poet Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day,” in which she writes, Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?