NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release                       CONTACT: Sarah Idowu or Natalie Rule

July 28, 2008                                                                                         651.917.3525

MACALESTER GRAD GOES FROM COACHING TO COORDINATING

Anna Farrell Joins the Leadership Team of Admission Possible

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Macalester graduate, Anna Farrell, has joined the leadership team of nonprofit organization Admission Possible where she will serve as a Program Coordinator overseeing the college preparatory coaching of low-income high school students in the Twin Cities.  After graduating from Macalester in 2006, Farrell spent two years as an Admission Possible coach at St. Paul’s Central High School, concluding her second AmeriCorps term of service last month.  She joined the Admission Possible leadership team on July 21, 2008.

Biography and Photo for Anna and the full Admission Possible leadership team are available at http://www.admissionpossible.org/Full_Time_Staff 

Admission Possible works to make college admission possible for promising low-income students in the Greater Twin Cities by providing after-school college prep programming to 1,300 juniors and seniors at 17 public high schools.  Each group of 30-40 students has their own full-time coach, and each coach reports to an Admission Possible Program Coordinator. 

“When I first joined Admission Possible,” Farrell reflected, “I had no idea how deeply I would come to care about my students and the mission I was charged with: helping them gain admission to college. Over two years, my students taught me the meaning of resilience, hard work, tragedy, and absolute joy.  It is an honor to remain at Admission Possible knowing that the work that we do will help many more students, follow their dreams and go on to do great things.”

“Anna was a dedicated and hardworking coach, who helped 75 students gain admission to college during her two years coaching Central students,” said CEO Jim McCorkell.  “We are pleased to have this opportunity to place her in a leadership position during such an exciting period of growth at our organization.” 

As an AmeriCorps member with Admission Possible for the last two years, Farrell guided two separate groups of students through the senior year process of college, scholarship, and financial aid applications. She saw 100% of each cohort earn admittance to college, and sent students off to campuses as prestigious as Dartmouth, Stanford, Princeton – and Macalester!  Though she grew up in Wisconsin, Farrell moved to Minnesota for college, majoring in linguistics and Japanese at Macalester, and her experiences in the Twin Cities have kept her here, giving back to her adopted community.

ABOUT ADMISSION POSSIBLE

Admission Possible is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping promising low-income high school students prepare for and earn admission to college.  Admission Possible works to make college possible by providing their students with four free critical services: (1) ACT and SAT test preparation; (2) intensive assistance in preparing college applications; (3) help in obtaining financial aid; and (4) guidance in the transition to college. Admission Possible currently serves 1,300 students at 17 high schools in the metro area, and has helped 98 percent of its students earn admission to college since its founding in 2000. 

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