In 2014, artist Simon Borst created a thank you for the Kalamazoo Promise by featuring in words and pictures those like him who also benefited from the scholarship program. We reprise his work here during the 20th year for the Promise.
Graduating in 2007, Simon Borst was part of the second class to receive the Kalamazoo Promise, a scholarship that covered up to 100 percent tuition at any Michigan public university or college for those who attended Kalamazoo Public Schools. Now Borst is among those who have returned to Kalamazoo. The artist tells their story in a graphic news form. This is the first of a two-part series.
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(i)
https://www.kalamazoopromise.com/
(ii)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/magazine/kalamazoo-mich-the-city-that-pays-for-college.html?_r=0
(iii)
http://www.upjohn.org/sites/default/files/promise/trends.pdf
(iv)
http://swmichigan.secondwavemedia.com/features/communityprogress0815.aspx
Read part 2 of Promise Retuned
here.
More stories told in comic form by Simon Borst for Southwest Michigan's Second Wave can be found here:
Community Progress in Kalamazoo's Edison Neighborhood
Through Our City: A comic about the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail
Simon Kalil Borst was a Kalamazoo artist and works for the People's Food Co-op of Kalamazoo. His work appeared regularly in the Co-op Scoop. He is currently at work here.
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