KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Corrie Mills doesn’t usually run through the halls of Central High School, waving a piece of paper over her head. But this wasn’t a usual day.
“I got a scholarship!” she blurted, out of breath, to her college adviser.
It didn’t matter that the letter was from a university the 19-year-old senior isn’t planning to attend. Just knowing that a college wanted to help pay her way was reason enough for elation, and for a race to the Missouri College Advising Corps office.
A year ago Mills, like plenty of other students in urban and rural high schools across the state, didn’t have a clue about college. She didn’t know a thing about applying for admission, much less for scholarships. She found the whole process intimidating. She pushed the idea out of her mind.
Then she met Gerald McLemore, a graduate of Westport High School and the University of Missouri who for almost two years has worked with the Missouri College Advising Corps.
His office at Central High occupies a room that previously was the school’s candy store, and Mills had heard students praising him for helping seniors bag sweet college deals.
“Central was my rival school back in high school,” said McLemore, 24. “I see my work here as giving back to my school district.”
