Lansing - Dart Auditorium at Lansing Community College was packed Tuesday, but Yolanda Botello was one of the lucky few to have a seat.
She could hardly sit still.
Botello was one of more than 500 proud parents who filled the auditorium to watch their children receive an opportunity of a lifetime.
Five hundred Lansing-area sixth-graders received the Helping Other People Excel Scholarship, granting them two years of paid tuition at LCC, providing they graduate from high school.
“I was so excited when I found out,” said Botello, whose son Thomas is a student at Dwight Rich Middle School in Lansing.
“I have five children. This is going to help tremendously.”
The students, who were chosen based on a variety of criteria including economic and personal obstacles, were led by Lansing police Chief Mark Alley in pledging to keep up their part of the bargain.
“Everyone on this stage promises to help you succeed,” Alley said.
Alley’s “everyone” included Lansing Mayor David Hollister, who was a first-generation college student at community college in Battle Creek, Lansing-area police officers and other scholarship program officials.
“This is a very significant occasion,” Hollister said. “I consider the HOPE scholarship the single most important thing we have done in the last eight years.”
Hollister was greeted with cheers and an “amen” from the enthusiastic audience before continuing to pledge an estimated $2.5 million during the next three years.
“Five hundred kids from now to forever will benefit, that’s our goal,” Hollister said.
Program participants also will have the opportunity to have mentors, attend ball games, make museum visits and participate in other supplementary programs.
The proactive and collaborative program is based on a model from Jackson, and is an attempt to lower youth crime, Lansing police Lt. Ray Hall said.
“Statistics show an increase in education can reduce crime,” Hall said. “If we intervene early in children’s lives, they are less likely to be involved in criminal activity.”
The Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation Board, Capital Region Community Foundation and Capitol National Bank were among the scholarship partners. They raised almost $225,000 for students from area schools.
“High school will be hard,” said 11-year-old Darien Vanburen from the Center for Language, Culture and Communication Arts, a Lansing magnet school. “But I really want to go to college and study animals - snakes especially.”
