BRIDGTON – In the spirit of the Alfond College Challenge announced on Dec. 11, Bridgton Academy will grant a $2,000 scholarship to every young man who is born in Maine, who graduates from a Maine high school, and who applies and meets the academy’s admission requirements.

Named the BA for ME Grant, the program will begin during the academy’s bicentennial year in 2008. The admission office will immediately offer the grant to its applicants for admission to the Class of 2009.

David Hursty, Bridgton Academy headmaster, and Kevin Hancock, president of the Bridgton Academy board of trustees and president of Hancock Lumber Co., said they are excited and motivated to react quickly to the need to help college-bound students of Maine.

“Over the past five years, Bridgton Academy has enrolled 75 Maine students and given these students over $300,000 in aid, and we want to increase and expand this offering. The Alfond gift has provided us with the catalyst to move forward,” said Hursty.

“Young men, in particular, are increasingly finding themselves in the uncomfortable situation of being in their freshmen year at college and discovering that they are simply not prepared to learn, and data suggest that they will probably not succeed there either. Without the right skills and tools, they will be unable to concentrate, and they will be unable to study well,” added Hancock. “Young men, especially for those who are closest to us – right here in Maine – will find our environment the most important step toward a college degree.”

Founded in 1808, Bridgton Academy is the only accredited college preparatory school in the nation whose student body is comprised entirely of postgraduate students who attend after high school and before college.

The mission is to ensure that young men leave with the academic skills, study skills, self-discipline and self-confidence necessary for success in college.