As I look back over the seven months since the April 21 award ceremony for our lucky scholarship winners, I marvel at how far we've come. Back in the spring, the concept of allowing low-income parents to choose their own schools was unknown in Baltimore. Now, over 400 local children are daily proving that privately funded scholarship organizations can and do work.

Our program has succeeded in meeting its objective, namely, providing winning city parents with the means to select schools of their choice for their children. Table 2 totals the current population of children in the program. To date, 421 children have been enrolled in 91 local private or parochial schools. Almost 60 percent are ex-public-school students. The total cost of scholarships for school year 1999-2000 will be $517,058, and the amount of the average scholarship is $1,228. Almost half our students have selected Roman Catholic schools (205 students out of 421, or 48.5 percent).

I cannot begin to describe to you the gratitude our recipients have expressed to us. So I'm letting them do it for themselves. On page 2, you'll find a small selection from some of the letters we've received from parents and students. I think you'll agree with me that seeing these should remove any doubt about whether we have done the right thing. We have!

So many people deserve to be singled out for praise that it's hard to know where to begin. So let me start with our wonderful institutional funders, such as the Abell Foundation, Erickson Foundation, France-Merrick Foundation, Huether-McClelland Foundation, Morris Goldseker Foundation, Skip Johnson Foundation and, of course, the well known local financial services firms, Legg Mason, Inc. and Provident Bank of Maryland, Inc. Without these organizations' confidence in local children's abilities, none of us would be here today.

I'd also like to thank all our participating families, whose diligence in selecting schools and in maintaining follow-up prove that the whole exercise has been worthwhile.

Credit is also due to my part-time but nonetheless very hard-working staff, Carol Stevens and Duane Duvall, who have cheerfully undertaken much of the administrative work without which our program would grind to a halt.

Finally, I'd like to thank all the individual donors who have so cheerfully responded to our mailings and other requests for funds. As we all relax over the holidays, let's reflect on what we've all accomplished - a job well done!

"Men work together, I told him from the heart, Whether they work together or apart."

These lines from Robert Frost's poem, "The Tuft of Flowers," describe us. All of us involved in the Children's Scholarship Fund Baltimore program - parents, children, teachers, funders, staff and trustees - are working together to help Baltimore children learn. It's not too much to say that we are thereby making Baltimore a better, prouder place to live.

The parents of our scholarship kids are working to provide the bulk of the tuitions. As you can see on the tables on the next page, our average scholarship covers less than half of the total; parents carry most of the load.

The children, of course, do the actual schoolwork, homework, sports and friendship building that are the focus of all our efforts.

Their teachers in our 91 participating schools give the crucial guidance: teaching, coaching and leading the children to that genuine self-respect that comes from accomplishment.

Our funders - foundations, businesses and individuals - provide the scholarship money that backs up our CSFB parents' efforts. The funds are the stored-up reward for hard work present and past.

And our tiny, dedicated staff work tirelessly to answer questions, advise, keep records straight and coordinate the whole enterprise.

Finally, your trustees are working to ensure the long life of our program. Ted Forstmann's and John Walton's magnificent generosity has given us a four-year beginning for 421 children. We're working to invite many new funders to the team so that, by fall 2003, more children may participate, with more years' support guaranteed. This is a wonderful, exciting enterprise. - HB