CHANGING LIVES ONE STUDENT, one family and community AT A TIME

In 1992-93 The Rotary Club of Tarpon Springs (RCTS) President, Dan Cullu, asked his Board of Directors to help tackle the appalling 64% graduation rate at Tarpon Springs High School.  The RCTS agreed to award each of 10 qualified students a 4-year tuition scholarship for use once they graduated high school.  At the time these scholarships were $2,000 per student.  The RCTS provided mentors to help them get though school.  These were the first ever “Doorways Students”.   Later the RCTS partnered with the with the Pinellas Education Foundation (PEF) to help identify students, follow their grades though high school and college, administer funds to colleges and provide mentors.   This program is now called “Take Stock in Children” (TSIC) and as of 2026, 1000 students were in the program and the PEF is always looking for more mentors.  To raise $20,000 to fund this project, the RCTS started The Tarpon Springs Rotary Triathlon which has now been running for over 30 years.  The RYT also became a 501c3 enabling donations to be tax deductible.  Now a 4-year tuition scholarship is $5,000 per student and the RYT relies on funds from the triathlon, individual donors and endowments to fun deserving students annually.  With matching funds through the PEF and the State of Florida, $5,000 covers 4-years of tuition (currently ~$25,000 at a state university).  Students are in need each year; just ask a teacher or police officer. The RYT wants to grow the corpus to be self-stainable in order to help all at-risk students that