The seeds of the Alice Kleeman and Joseph Buttram Impact Scholarship were planted in 2008, when Joe Buttram was a senior at Menlo-Atherton High School and Alice Kleeman was his college advisor. Their small interactions at that time helped point Joe on a path to success. Despite financial and family challenges, Joe went to college with the help of financial aid and scholarships, and followed his education with a highly successful career in a variety of business and financial enterprises.

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Joe was the perfect example of a student who wasn’t an academic superstar in high school, but whose heart, work ethic, and motivation proved that students with those qualities can go far. Over the years, Joe never forgot the personal qualities that contributed to his impressive trajectory and the people who believed in him along the way. His motivation now is to support students who show some of those same qualities, and who deserve encouragement and a financial boost to realize their college dreams.

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Meanwhile, Alice had retired after 20 years at Menlo-Atherton, but has continued, as a volunteer, to help students find their way to college. As Joe reflected on his high school experience, he wanted to share his good fortune with students who are starting on the path he began in 2008; he remembered Alice’s encouragement and sought her collaboration on a new scholarship for students who might remind him of the student he was in high school—and who will go far!

• Current graduating high school senior attending any of the following high schools and planning to enroll full-time at a two-year or four-year college the following academic year:
    - Menlo-Atherton High School, Woodside High School, Carlmont High School, Sequoia High School, Redwood High School, TIDE Academy, Summit, Everest, Cañada Middle College, East Palo Alto Academy, Eastside College Prep, Summit Prep High School (Redwood City), Summit Everest High School
• Current community college attending any of the following schools and planning to transfer full-time to a four-year university the following academic year:
    - Cañada, College of San Mateo, Skyline College, Foothill College, DeAnza College
• Minimum Cumulative GPA of 2.75
• Work, extracurricular, or volunteer experience
• Demonstrated financial need