ATLANTA (June 3) — Kilpatrick Stockton announced today that the Booker T. Washington High School (BTW) Freedom Writer students achieved a remarkable 99% acceptance rate into college and have been offered more than 330 scholarships worth over $8 million. The graduating Freedom Writers included both the valedictorian and salutatorian of Booker T. Washington High and four Gates Millennium Scholarship recipients.
In 2006, Kilpatrick Stockton committed to making a difference in the lives of a group of 9th graders at Booker T. Washington High School (BTW) by starting the BTW Freedom Writers Mentoring Program. The program was inspired by famed educator, Erin Gruwell and her original Freedom Writers, made famous in the 2007 movie starring Hilary Swank and Patrick Dempsey. For four years, Kilpatrick Stockton attorneys and staff have collectively spent thousands of hours working, a more than $1.3 million investment, in three-to-four person teams to mentor this group of Freedom Writer students once per week since their freshman year. Mentoring sessions have focused on improving the reading, writing, communication and life skills of our students.
“As Atlanta’s oldest law firm, Kilpatrick Stockton has a long tradition of giving back to the community — it’s a part of the firm’s DNA. And with education our overall signature community initiative, the Freedom Writers project was a natural fit,” said Whitney Munn, Kilpatrick Stockton’s Associate Director of Corporate Social Responsibility. “The past four years have been remarkable and I’m so proud of our graduating seniors and the impact that they are sure to make in this world.”
The program has meant a lot more than classroom mentoring — a field trip to Birmingham to the Civil Rights Museum, college tours, financial literacy and etiquette lessons, and a senior trip at the beginning of April to DC which was sponsored by Kilpatrick Stockton. The firm also hired a fulltime Academic Coach, Charles Allen, for the students. It is the firm’s hope at least one of the students will one day practice law at Kilpatrick Stockton.
About Kilpatrick Stockton
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP is a full-service international law firm with nearly 500 attorneys in nine offices across the globe: Atlanta and Augusta, GA.; Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, NC.; New York, NY; Washington, D.C.; Dubai; and Stockholm. Kilpatrick Stockton’s delivery of innovative business solutions provides results-oriented counsel for corporations, from the challenging demands of financial transactions and securities to the disciplines of intellectual property management. Collaboration among Kilpatrick Stockton’s corporate, litigation and intellectual property attorneys provides knowledgeable and proactive guidance for companies at every stage of the business life cycle. For more information, please visit www.kilpatrickstockton.com.
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