CC Futures News > Featured Story

Saddling Up for a Good Cause

August 13, 2005, The Daily Local News

by Adrianna Yanez, Staff Writer

Susan Springsteen of Uwchlan is an amateur equestrian, ranked 13th in the nation at Grand Prix in 2003.
She is also a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley in Wayne, a stocks commentator for KYW News Radio and a board member of Chester County Futures.
This year, Springsteen embarked on a new project that combined all of her talents and interests. Springsteen and her horse, Cidor, have started giving riding lessons in exchange for donations to Chester County Futures to start a scholarship.

Chester County Futures is a nonprofit organization in its ninth year. The program targets low-income students with motivation to succeed who are enrolled in Kennett Consolidated, Oxford Area, Phoenixville Area and Coatesville Area school districts.

"We work with school counselors to identify eighth graders who are working hard, trying, but are probably not going to make it without help because of their socio-economic conditions," said Catherine Mesaros, executive director of Chester County Futures. "There are too many battles in their home life to focus and so chances are they will drop out.

The program has 151 students who are being mentored, prepared for college or the business world and given scholarships. Chester County Futures offers 42 subject topics ranging from anger management to money management to job shadowing. The students are encouraged to meet before and/or after school and each one is promised a scholarship upon graduation.

Springsteen, who has been on the board of Chester County Futures for about a year and a half, is using her expertise to give extra help to students.

The equestrian came up with the idea because she wanted to give lessons, but she did not want to lose her standing as an amateur by taking money. The Cidor Scholarship Fund was established last fall.

The first recipient, Tekia Campbell, was chosen from this spring’s graduates in the program.

Springsteen is not letting any of her skills go to waste.

"Because of my training in managing money, I’ve learned to think outside the box. With this way of thinking, I was able to find a way to teach, celebrate my horse, not lose my standing and help a good cause," she said. "Any way you slice it, that’s a win, win, win."

The Cidor Scholarship is the horse’s namesake for good reason, according to the owner.

"Cidor has such a great personality, as far as having drive and a great work ethic, so we look for students with the same qualities," Springsteen said. "He is 21 and still competing. That is like an 80-year-old man still competing in Olympic gymnastics. It’s unheard of."

Springsteen said she and Chester County Futures thought that Campbell lived up to Cidor’s standards and deserved the $1,500 scholarship.

"She demonstrated a type of leadership role and attendance role in the program. It was also her community service that made her exceptional," Mesaros said of Campbell, who will be heading to Millersville University in the fall.

Campbell plans to study psychology at Millersville and then go to graduate school to become a criminal investigator. She was thrilled when told she won the Cidor Scholarship.

"I didn’t know anything about it.," Campbell said. "After a regular CCF meeting, (the director) asked me to stay and told me about Sue (Springsteen) and her scholarship.

"It was funny because I love horses," she added with a laugh. "I always have, but not a lot of people knew."

Campbell is not the only success story to come out of Chester County Futures. The program has a 100 percent high school graduation rate in its nine years. The college attendance and retention rate is 83 percent compared with the national average of 50 percent.

Over the eight years, through high school and college, that the program in actively involved with a student, Chester County Futures invests about $24,000 in each student.

The payoff, however, makes it worthwhile, organizers say. They say the annual pay differential between students who graduate from college and those who drop out of high school is $23,000.