Hamadeh, a high school counselor at Crestwood High School stands with students.

DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Yusra Hamadeh, a guidance counselor for seniors at Crestwood High School (CHS), pushed many of the students who earned scholarships this past school year to pursue higher education.

The class of 2015 received almost $10 million in scholarships.

“It is really important that our students take advantage of all the scholarship opportunities available out there,” Hamadeh said.

She made sure every senior who graduated from CHS this year applied for college.

“If a senior doesn’t apply for college, she will go out of her way to find them and make sure they apply,” said CHS Principal John Tafelski.

Hamadeh has wanted to become a counselor since she was a student at CHS. In a joking email, one student wrote, “Mrs. Hamadeh, I have applied and gotten into college. Stop bothering me. Stop sending me emails. Stop calling me down.”

For Hamadeh, one of the most rewarding parts of her job is getting students to pursue scholarship opportunities they would not have otherwise considered.

She has encouraged students who initially planned on attending community colleges to apply to four-year colleges instead. She also said some of these students end up being offered full-ride scholarships.

There are often misconceptions that scholarships are only awarded to students with high grade point averages. Hamadeh is very involved in the CHS senior seminar class, part of an effort to dispel misconceptions that exist about scholarships. The class provides students with information about accessing money for college and how to apply for scholarships.

“We want to make sure that kids have the opportunity to go to better schools, more rigorous schools,” Tafelski said. “Schools of their choice at a lower cost for the families.”

Hamadeh and Tafelski said staff members try to raise awareness about scholarship opportunities to students who think they can’t afford a college education.

Many scholarship opportunities specifically target low-income students, those who show leadership skills or have experienced adversity and are overcoming hardship.

Hamadeh has also reached out to parents who are uncertain about allowing their children to go off to college.

“I will bring parents in and then educate them,” she said.

One student received a full-ride scholarship to a prestigious business school in New York, but her parents were hesitant about allowing her to move out of state. Hamadeh talked to the student’s father and tried to encourage him to allow her to pursue the opportunity. She has even had parents who let their children go away to school speak with parents who are still hesitant about the decision.

A lot of the parents Hamadeh speaks with about allowing their children to move out of state or away for college are Arab Americans.

“I really think that all parents are hesitant about letting their children go away,” she said. “We talk to parents about the benefit of going away to another state when they get great opportunities. I cannot influence a parent, but what I can do is educate them.” 

In October, CHS set up an on site admissions event with more than 22 colleges and universities present to meet with the students and offer advice.

“The culture is very college bound,” Tafelski said. “Students have very high expectations for themselves. It is a collective effort by families, the community and then the students have to be willing to take on that work.”

Over the years, CHS students have received an increasing amount of scholarship dollars. In previous years, they were offered between $5 million and $8 million.

“When you look at the number of scholarships and awards that are offered to all of the students, those numbers are impressive,” Tafelski said.

The Crestwood School District has made a number of academic-related achievements. The district’s elementary gifted and talented program, CAP (Crestwood Accelerated Program), has been recognized by the state as a Reward School and in 2013, U.S. News and World report named Crestwood High School one of Michigan’s top 50 high schools.

There is also an increased focus on academics at CHS. In 2011, 148 students were enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes. That number has since increased to 603 students. Seventy percent of CHS graduates attend a four-year college.