Mike McMillen helped start a scholarship fund for all Brooksville graduates and adult learners. Ashley L. Conti photo
Author and illustrator Robert McCloskey found the bucolic setting of Brooksville so appealing he used it as the backdrop for his 1952 picture book "One Morning in Maine."
Passersby might observe this community on the westernmost tip of the Blue Hill Peninsula hasn't changed much since then. With just over 900 residents, it boasts two churches, a volunteer fire station, elementary school, combined town office/public library, and seasonal market. The town, too small for its own high school, sends most of its students to either George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill or Deer Isle-Stonington High School.
Though small, Brooksville has done something bigger than many other towns its size. Over the past two decades, the Brooksville Education Foundation (BEF) has helped 126 students earn post-secondary degrees. Today more than 70 percent of Brooksville high school graduates pursue post-secondary education, and some go on to earn graduate degrees.
The success story began in 2000 when Brooksville residents Mike McMillen and Gerry Bryan started discussions on how they might support programs at Brooksville Elementary School. Both had retired - McMillen from a career in commercial real estate development paired with a lifelong interest in education, and Bryan from teaching.
As they talked to people in town, many encouraged McMillen and Bryan to instead focus efforts on making higher education more affordable for high school students. They met the challenge by convening an informal advisory group, the beginnings of the Brooksville Education Foundation.
That year, the town's median household income was $36,458. Brooksville high school graduates, like many others in rural areas, often had limited financial resources to follow their dreams. McMillen also learned the rate of students pursuing post-secondary education was lower in Brooksville and much of Down East than the rest of Maine.
"From the beginning we have believed that we would be able to raise the educational prospects of all students only by encouraging our fellow citizens to raise the educational aspirations of the community. Our motto became 'Lift all boats,"' McMillen said. "We concluded we could be most helpful by providing financial aid to motivate more kids to go to college and that aid should come from the community that raised them."
The Brooksville Education Foundation sent its first appeal for donations to every household in town, including summer residents. It was a success: $70,000, enough to jump-start a new fund at the Maine Community Foundation. The education foundation's first project was a series of scholarships supported by their friends and neighbors and open to all Brooksville students.
Almost every Brooksville household has, at one time or another, donated something to the fund since the first appeal letter went out 22 years ago, McMillen said.
"It continues to be a community effort," he said. "Some students have written to say that they are encouraged to work extra hard in school because of the community backing of their scholarships."
"We have supported two generations of students and have seen an impact of our presence in the community," McMillen said. "The Brooksville Education Foundation is now a staple in the lives of Brooksville families. Families who might not have seen a path to college before are now taking advantage of these scholarships."
"l believe at times that if it wasn't for this scholarship many kids, including me, would feel there is no hope for them to go to college," said Barbara Blake-Chapman, who earned a business degree from the University of Maine in 2009. She now works as a data manager for Northern Light Health and serves on volunteer boards of the foundation and Brooksville School.
Students can complete a single application to eight funds that comprise the Brooksville Education Foundation. A volunteer board determines which fund will support each student based on the applicant's academic interests and status as a first-generation college student. All applicants receive $2,500 for the school year and first-generation students receive an additional $1,000. The scholarships can be renewed up to five times.
Thanks to the continued support of its donors, BEF can support every applicant who is a year-round resident of Brooksville. Scholarships are available for traditional students attending two- or four-year colleges and for adult learners going back to school or enrolled in certificate programs.
"We are impressed by what our students have achieved in school and beyond," McMillen said. "Our community is proud to have helped them on their way. Between our hardworking, caring families and generous donors, along with the Maine Community Foundation stewarding our endowment, we see this story continuing for future generations of Brooksville youth.
"All in all, a pretty good showing for a little town like ours."
