Winner of the 2003 Golden Tassel Award for new Chapters
from the National Dollars for Scholars Organization.
Somerville Mathematics Fund Receives National Dollars for Scholars® Golden Tassel Award


Minneapolis, MN (11/7/2003) — The Somerville Mathematics Fund (http://www.somervillemathematicsfund.org) in Somerville, Mass., an affiliate of Dollars for Scholars®, has been recognized as the most successful newer Dollars for Scholars chapter in the country in 2003. In recognition, it has received the national Dollars for Scholars Golden Tassel Chapter Service Award.

The Golden Tassel Award recognizes chapters that have done an outstanding job of meeting the required criteria in the areas of achievement, community impact, innovation and organizational strength. Each year, two chapters receive the award – one to a well-established chapter that is four years old or more, and one to a relatively new chapter that is three years old or less.

The Somerville Mathematics Fund was chartered in September 2000 to celebrate and encourage achievement in mathematics in the city of Somerville, Mass. In the past three years the Fund has awarded seven college scholarships totaling $28,000.

In an effort help students prepare, Somerville offers grants to teachers who are creating exciting mathematical activities in the classroom. The chapter created an event called Pi Night in which high school students, teachers and community volunteers help other students and their parents play games, compute and recite Pi, make estimations and predictions and take Pi quizzes. Another chapter event is Metric Night in which students make estimations and mental calculations, and compete in the “Metric Olympics.”

“ The feeling of success comes from being able to help the students,” said Erica Voolich, president of the Somerville Mathematics Fund. “Receiving the Golden Tassel award makes us all the more proud. Our community has been so generous and we thank them for all their help.”

Dollars for Scholars (<http://www.dollarsforscholars.org>www.dollarsforscholars.org), a program of Scholarship America®, has a national network of more than 1,150 grassroots scholarship foundations in 40 states and the District of Columbia that raise funds to support local students. Last year, Dollars for Scholars chapters distributed more than $23.1 million in scholarships to more than 29,100 students.

About Scholarship America
Scholarship America carries out its mission of expanding access to educational opportunities and encouraging academic achievement through its Dollars for Scholars®, Scholarship Management ServicesSM, and ScholarShop® programs. Headquartered in Minneapolis and St. Peter, MN, Scholarship America has distributed more than $1 billion to nearly 1 million students since its founding in 1958. For the sixth year in a row, SmartMoney, the Wall Street Journal’s magazine of personal finance, has ranked Scholarship America as one of the 17 most efficient nonprofits in the country.  Worth Magazine has also named Scholarship America as one of America’s 100 best charities for 2001/2002. In partnership with Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education, Scholarship America founded and raised more than $100 million for the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund ® to provide educational assistance for postsecondary study to dependents of the September 11th terrorist attack victims. For more information, visit <http://www.csfa.org/>www.scholarshipamerica.org.