Alex Cranberg, businessman and founder of the ACE Scholarship program, announced today during a school-wide assembly that he would pay college tuition for each of the 550 students currently enrolled at Horace Mann Middle School if they graduate from high school and enroll in college.

“I will guarantee that your college tuition will be paid for by ACE Scholarships or myself,” he said. “You can count on it being guaranteed.”

Cranberg committed to covering the equivalent of four years of tuition at Metro State College; students will be able to apply Cranberg’s gift toward any college or university.

Cranberg told students, “That’s a small amount of money compared to the amount you’ll make for yourself if you go to college...There’s no reason why every single one of you can’t do it...I believe in you; believe in yourselves. It’s not your circumstances or where you come from that matter, but what’s inside yourself.”

Mayor John Hickenlooper was on hand to lend support. Earlier this year, he had promised college scholarships to every student at Cole Middle School who graduates from high school.

“You are the future of our city,” said Mayor Hickenlooper. “It’s in our best interest to do whatever we can to make sure you have a future...In the end, you’ve got to do the work, but it’s the rest of the community’s job to make sure your future is bright.”

Superintendent Jerry Wartgow commended Cranberg for answering the Mayor’s challenge to the business community to step forward. “There are many places where men like Mr. Cranberg can put their money,” Superintendent Wartgow told students, “but he has the same high expectations for you that we do.”

Area Superintendent Joe Sandoval summed up the school-wide assembly by saying, “We have people going out of their way so that you can be role models in society.”

ACE (Alliance for Choice in Education) is a privately-funded scholarship program for low-income Denver families.

Horace Mann Middle School is located at 4130 Navajo St. For more information, contact the DPS Public Information Office at 720-423-3414.