GROUP PLANS TO REACH 2,300 LOCAL STUDENTS VOLUNTEERS OFFER FUNDS FOR COLLEGE EDUCATION.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

For many poor students in the San Fernando Valley, the road to college begins with the belief that a college education is within their reach.

More than 1,000 volunteers hope to plant the idea today when they knock on the doors of 2,300 homes in San Fernando, Pacoima, Arleta and Sylmar during Project GRAD's fifth annual Walk for Success.

Their pitch is simple: If you finish high school, we'll pay you up to $6,000 to go to college.

``Some families might think it's more pressing to get out of school and get a job. We're trying to build a college-bound culture so families and students realize that by going to college, more money will be coming into the family in the long run,'' said Ashley De Lucca, a spokeswoman for Project GRAD.

``We walk them through, step by step, not only how to be admitted to college, but how to be successful,'' De Lucca said.

The volunteers, made up of teachers, administrators, business leaders and politicians - including Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas and Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez - will talk to sixth- and ninth-grade students and their families about Project GRAD's scholarship program.

Students and parents will be asked to sign scholarship agreements, which ensure that a scholarship of up to $6,000 will be available for every student who graduates from San Fernando High School and completes the Project GRAD program criteria.

In addition to completing a pre-college curriculum at school, students participate in two Project GRAD college institutes, four- to six-week seminars that take place on college campuses, to expose them to an accelerated academic program as well as familiarize them with a college setting, De Lucca said.

Several colleges match the Project GRAD scholarships, including Pepperdine University, Pitzer College, Mount St. Mary's College, Marymount College and the University of Judaism.

``For a lot of the students who sign up, they are the first to graduate from high school, the first to even consider going to college,'' Montanez added. ``This is new information that many members of this community do not have access to.''

In June, Project GRAD had its first class of scholars graduate from its program. These students signed scholarship agreements from the 1999 Walk for Success and 184 Project GRAD scholars completed the requirements to earn scholarships.

Project GRAD works with 15 Los Angeles Unified School District schools and has a total student population of more than 20,000. More than 93.2 percent of students are Latino and 3.8 percent are African-American. And more than 60 percent do not speak English as a first language.

``We're thrilled to see the community rally so strongly in support of giving every child the choice to attend college,'' said Cheryl Mabey, president and executive director of the Project GRAD Los Angeles.

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com