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All grads get scholarships at Crater High Achievement fulfills goal of the Crater Foundation By VICKI GUARINO CENTRAL POINT -- Crater High School diplomas come with a bonus for students who want to continue their education. Starting this year, every graduating senior who applies gets a scholarship. Science scholars or those just grateful to get through English -- no one is turned down. The prize for students is a long-sought achievement for the community's Crater Foundation, the Central Point School District's fund-raising organization. The foundation celebrated its milestone with a reception for Crater seniors on Thursday. Foundation President Harvey Tonn, a retired Central Point principal, told students he hoped the foundation's accomplishment would be a lesson to students on the importance of goals and dreams. "To you students, we say, `Always have a dream because it may come true,"' Tonn said. This spring, the foundation will award a total of $120,000 to 119 graduates who asked for financial help to continue their education in a recognized program. Awards will range from $200 to $4,000. Scholarship winner Clare Valdes-Sublette is pleased that she is not part of a small, select group of scholarship recipients. "It's nice to know that no one is going to be left out," said Clare, who has been accepted into the University of Oregon Honors College. "I think that it's great that everybody is receiving something," said Emmalee Finney, who is trying to decide between attending Oregon State or Southern Oregon. The foundation's offer is not one that many high schools can afford to promise students, said Crater Principal Ron Williams. A couple of smaller Oregon school districts, including Butte Falls, offer such programs. But Crater Foundation and school officials say they know of no such program in a school as large as Crater. Crater has 1,500 students and will graduate about 340 next month. Williams said the foundation accomplishment, and the community support it represents, shows a high regard for local students and their efforts. The campaign to raise enough money to give everybody something began four years ago. That year, said Tonn, 57 seniors applied, but only 35 received a scholarship. Foundation members regretted that too many deserving and struggling students were being passed by. "At that time, the goal seemed virtually impossible," Tonn recalled. The foundation was only a few years old and didn't have a lot of money to work with. It had organized in 1992 with a $4,000 donation from a family who wanted to establish a community scholarship in memory of their daughter, a Crater grad who died while serving in the Air Force. To raise capital, foundation members went to the community, held fund-raising auctions and solicited contributions from alumni around the world. Donations have come from Crater grads in all 50 states and 74 foreign countries. The foundation today has an investment base of about $420,000 and is continuing to seek contributions -- hoping for enough money, Tonn said, to keep the education promise to students for years to come. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA