Charter School's Video Spreads the Word About the Importance of the FAFSA to a Hip-Hop Beat

ALBANY, NY (02/04/2010)(readMedia)-- The Williamsburg Charter High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. is pitching the importance of completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to college-bound students through a self-created hip-hop video, "FAFSA Hooray," in recognition of New York State Student Financial Aid Awareness Month, which runs from January 25 to February 25.

The video, featuring the school's "Charta Squad," is being highlighted as part of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation's (HESC) month-long campaign to inform and educate students and families about the various types of college financial aid opportunities, and to promote completion of the most important tool in securing this aid, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

"Now is the time for students to fill out the FAFSA and this video really brings that important message to life in a creative way. We're so proud of their hard work and are excited to see their video educate a widespread audience," said HESC Executive Vice President and Acting President Elsa Magee.

"HESC is familiar with Williamsburg Charter School's "Charta Squad," so we approached them to create a FAFSA hip-hop video so that important information could be shared with students and families during Student Financial Aid Awareness Month in a new and exciting way," said Kathy Crowder, HESC's Senior Vice President for Communications. "We're pleased that the culmination of their work is now available on HESC's Student Financial Aid Awareness Month Web site, StartHereGetThere.org."

Williamsburg Charter High School in Brooklyn, NY, is part of the Believe network of charter schools and conducts a number of activities throughout the school year to help their students apply for college. Young professionals from the local area are brought in to serve as college essay writing mentors and the school holds "FAFSA Parties," during which students and parents use school computers to fill out the FAFSA and other applications with the help of school administrators. In addition to these activities, the "Charta Squad" has provided support with other successful videos including one that prepares students to take the SAT exam.

Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol (D-North Brooklyn), whose district is home to the charter school, said, "I am so proud and impressed by the students at Williamsburg Charter High School. Through their dedication and creativity we will be able to reach out to New Yorkers throughout the State with this important message about college financial aid."

Arthur Samuels, director of college guidance and academic culture at Williamsburg Charter High School said, "We are thrilled to share our FAFSA video with HESC and college-bound students across New York State. We believe there's real value in taking a topic such as financial aid and using a creative outlet such as hip-hop to share vital information with students. Our hope is that our video sheds some light on the FAFSA process in a manner that makes it less intimidating and scary, and makes college more accessible to students."

For details about Student Financial Aid Awareness Month and general FAFSA information, visit StartHereGetThere.org.

About HESC: The New York State Higher Education Services Corporation is the State's student financial aid agency, providing more grant and scholarship awards to students than any other state in the nation. In 2008-09, HESC helped nearly 600,000 students achieve their dream of attending college by providing $4.6 billion in grants, scholarships and loan guarantees, including $813 million awarded through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to more than 375,000 students. HESC also assists schools and students with advanced default prevention, financial literacy and counseling programs, and provides training and technical services to college financial aid administrators and high school counselors.

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