In her role as executive director of Rockford Promise, it’s easy for Kaylene Groh to sometimes get buried at her desk with paperwork and other administrative duties. But when that happens, she makes time to carve out time to sit in on student meetings. She says it reorients her to why Rockford Promise carries out the work that it does.

“You hear a lot of thoughts about youth today,” she said. “What I find far to be truer of them is they are very caring, smart and savvy. You can see the moments where they start to figure things out for themselves. Those are my favorite moments.”

Rockford Promise is a publicly and privately funded program that offers college scholarships to Rockford public high school graduates. Designed after a similar scholarship program in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Rockford

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