If no one in your family has ever gone to college and if you’ve never seen a college campus, it might be difficult to even imagine college as a place you could go someday. A program being piloted in Kosciusko County, called “Promise Kosciusko,” is bringing new tools to Kindergarten through second grade children and their families throughout Kosciusko County, so that they can imagine and plan for education after high school.

“Promise” programs are currently being piloted in four northeast Indiana counties, inspiring over 3,200 families to begin planning and saving for higher education. In Kosciusko County, kindergarten through second grade students will be introduced to the idea of college in their classrooms and will visit the Grace College campus. Their families will be invited to start a CollegeChoice 529 savings plan and have their first $25 contribution to the plan matched.

Information about the match will be available at school registration events and back-to-school nights. 529 plans can be used toward certifications or two or four-year degrees at any eligible school around the country and abroad. Indiana taxpayers are eligible for a state income tax credit of 20 percent of contributions to a CollegeChoice 529 account, up to $1,000 credit per year.

“Students who have their own college savings account are seven times more likely to attend college.  However, this project is not just about saving for post-secondary education. This project is about instilling hope in our children, investing in the future of our community and ensuring that we are building a foundation where everyone believes they can achieve,” said Chad Zaucha, CEO of Kosciusko Community YMCA.

One early champion of Promise Kosciusko is the Kosciusko County Community Foundation.

“For the past several years, the Community Foundation has been looking at ways to support education, and in particular to help meet some of education’s most pressing needs in our county,” said Suzie Light, Community Foundation Executive Director. “We learned from bringing both Dr. Ruby Payne and Dr. Eric Jensen to the community, the importance of all children having a future story. We believe that Promise Kosciusko offers some simple tools to help children from all socio-economic backgrounds develop their own future story that includes higher education.”

To learn more about Promise Kosciusko or to discuss how you can be involved, please contact Brenda Faulkner at (574) 269-9622, ext. 224 or [email protected].

The Y is the leading nonprofit committed to strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. All the efforts and offerings of the Kosciusko Community YMCA are guided by the core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. Every day, the Y works side-by-side with our neighbors to make sure everyone regardless of age, income or background, has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. So far in 2015 the Kosciusko Community YMCA has provided $46,155 in financial assistance to make sure that happens.