Philadelphia Futures Graduates Celebrate Success
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some Philadelphia high school students who are beating the odds, celebrate taking the next step toward success.
Philadelphia Futures' program works with low-income and first-generation to college students by giving them tools to succeed in their academics and in life.
"Futures provided me with a lot of resources that allowed me to excel in my courses at school, such as tutoring, math classes, science programs, and clubs. It was just a lot of things that were easily accessible," said Emmanuel Williams.
on Wednesday, Williams and 100 other seniors graduated from the Futures program.
Emmanuel says Futures was instrumental with helping him develop his own mobile app and earning a $10,000 scholarship for college.
"It makes me feel supported and it makes me feel good, that there are actually people who support me through this process and never give up on me," he said.
Emmanuel, who attends Academy at Palumbo, is headed to Penn State this fall, where he plans on studying computer science.
Over the last four years, Jude Dartey also took part in the Philadelphia Futures program.
He says the program provided him with resources like tutoring, mentoring, and an array of activities.
"I feel privileged and honored to be apart of this program," Dartey said.
Through the Futures program, Jude was able to do research in genetics at the University of Pennsylvania and have his research published.
"In our public schools today, students aren't really getting the amount of attention that they really need and the services they need," said Dartey. "Being able to come here everyday after school and know that their is always someone who wants to talk to you, it makes the journey to get into college more appealing for young people my age."
This fall, Jude is heading to the University of Pennsylvania.
