Ida Baker students update scholarship Web site
Students from Ida S. Baker High School presented an updated version of a college scholarship Web site on Tuesday afternoon to the Lee County School Board. Originally created two years ago, the site has a new look and is a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral.
The Web site (www.collegescholarship4u.com) will act as a one-stop location for graduating seniors looking for scholarships, financial aid and other information on college or professional schools.
It will include a list of state and national scholarships, links to FAFSA and OSFA, student tools, an application timeline for juniors and seniors, and a list of technical schools in Lee County.
Ida S. Baker graduates Philip Shevlin and Robert Reid designed the original version of the site. Baker seniors Nathan Loxton, Patrick McKart, James Commiskey and Joshua Poulston carried out research to provide additional information on the site. Student designer Daniel Quintas assisted with the site’s redesign.
According to Aaron Quaintance, the information technology teacher at Ida S. Baker, the entire project took students between 30 and 40 hours.
“Information on the site was brought on hard copy so they had to type it and the design time is where the majority of time was spent,” said Quaintance.
In its partnership with the chamber, the site will allow local businesses to purchase advertising space on the site which will in turn raise funds for the chamber’s education committee.
“We have tried to develop a good working relationship with schools in Cape Coral,” said Tom Guess, of the chamber’s education committee. “Over the past four years we have accomplished that. The Web site is a way to help students in the future.”
Besides being linked on the chamber’s official Web site and Ida S. Baker’s school home page, the scholarship site will be networked with the Southwest Florida Foundation. It will increase the local scholarship list by approximately 200, explained Superintendent James Browder.
Other school board members said they are impressed with how students from Ida S. Baker were able to create the site.
“It is so complex to get through all of the hoops to get through college, and you just placed all of that in one area that the students can go,” said Board Member Robert Chilmonik.
Board Member Steve Teuber said he would introduce the new site at the upcoming District Advisory Council meeting.
“We are having a special presentation on this, the more people who know about this the better,” said Teuber. “This is a phenomenal job.”