Chester Education Foundation to open Marie and Cynthia Jetter College and Career Center

Posted by Chester Education Foundation on December 11, 2018

Chester Education Foundation to open Marie and Cynthia Jetter College and Career Center

Chester, PA, December 4, 2018, The Chester Education Foundation (CEF) is excited to announce the opening of the Marie and Cynthia Jetter College and Career Center (Jetter Center). The Jetter Center will continue the work of the College Access Center of Delaware County (CACDC) and the Chester Higher Education Council (CHEC) spearheaded by Widener University & Swarthmore College After the closing of CHEC and CACDC, CEF recognized a continuing need for supplemental college and career programming for the Chester community. Based on their 30-year history of partnering with multiple organizations and providing educational support services, it was a natural fit for CEF to continue and expand the work of the
CACDC.

The Jetter Center is named in memory of Marie Jetter and in honor of her daughter, Cynthia Jetter, who drove the creation of CHEC and the CACDC in her role as the Director of Community Partnerships and Planning at Swarthmore College’s Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility (Lang Center). Cynthia’s work was inspired by her mother Marie, a lifelong Chester resident, who passed away in 2015.

The Jetter Center will extend college and career services to the Chester Upland community at CEF’s Offices on Avenue of the Arts in Overtown, at the local high schools, and in partnership with community-based organizations at convenient locations throughout Chester.

Current programming includes Let’s Get Ready SAT prep classes, college visits, and college and career workshops as part of the after-school programs at Chester HS and STEM Academy and CEF’s summer programs. In addition to Lang Center funding of Let’s Get Ready, students from both Swarthmore College and Widener University are providing one-on-one tutoring and support to Chester residents. Upcoming activities include tutoring, parent workshops, and career and college exploration. A community advisory board guides this work.

CEF has received funding for the Jetter Center from Ohev Shalom, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, and the Foundation for Delaware County. The former CHEC institutions (Widener, Neumann, and Penn State Brandywine Universities, Swarthmore College and Delaware County Community College) have agreed to partner with CEF to continue these critically needed services in our community.

CEF is a Local Education Fund (LEF) created in 1988 by a consortium of local and state leaders. CEF’s mission is to support educational excellence and promote community revitalization in the Chester community. Year-round academic enrichment, social-cultural enrichment and college preparation services are provided to more than 500 middle-through high school students and young adults.

For more information or to get involved, contact Cheryl Cunningham at cheryl@chestereducation.org or Marcy Boroff at collegeandcareercenter@chestereducation.org