In 2005, when the City Council put Baltimore in the hotel business by approving a $305 million bond for the construction of a 752-room Hilton Hotel at the Convention Center, Councilman Kenneth Harris Sr. made sure the Hilton was willing to invest in Baltimore as well.
On Wednesday, at the National Academy Foundation High School in Federal Hill, the Hilton Hotel Corp. presented a $200,000 down payment on what will ultimately be a $3 million Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel Scholarship Fund for local public high school students.
The Hilton scholarship, funded with an annual $200,000 contribution over 15 years, is dedicated first to graduating students from the NAF?s Academy of Hospitality and Tourism, but applications for the scholarship money also will be encouraged and accepted from other city public school students.
“This is part of the same proposal I negotiated to get $9 million from Hilton Baltimore Convention Center deal for city recreation centers,” said Harris, on hand with Mayor Sheila Dixon and city schools interim CEO Charlene Boston for the ceremonial check presentation. “We need to continually create opportunities for our youth, and use the schools and recreation centers to out-recruit the gangs in the city.”
Officials from the CollegeBound Foundation, which will manage the fund along with the Baltimore Hotel Convention, the Hilton Hotels Corp. and the NAF, said the criteria, number of students and amount of money distributed has yet been determined.
NAF students Purmellappe Seaberry and junior Amia Fowlkes said they?d like to continue studying culinary arts at the Baltimore International College and are already in the process of looking for scholarships.
“This is good for students here,” Seaberry said. “Financial aid is a big concern.”
They said they?d like one day to open a downtown cafe, possibly near their school.
Charelle James, director of the National Academy Foundation, which includes three academies: Information Technology, Finance, and Hospitality and Tourism, said the majority of 300 students at the school receive freeor reduced-price lunches and have financial hurdles that must be overcome to further their education.
“Part of our mission is to get our students into the college or career of their choice,” James said. “We don?t want to give them everything they need to get there except the actual dollars.”
Examiner Staff Writer Stephen Janis contributed to this report.
