Warren, MI – Tuition to De La Salle Collegiate comes with a $13,000 price tag. But for two metro Detroit teens, attending is free.
“At first we were a little scared, but once we saw what all De La Salle could offer for us, we jumped at it,” said Reynard Robinson.
Robinson is one of two sophomores that now attend the De La Salle Collegiate. The beneficiaries of a businessman’s charitable endeavor, Robinson is part of the Downtown Boxing Gym, which works to marry athletics with academics, sprinkling in a few life lessons as well.
“The youth in Detroit have this tremendous talent, but a lack of opportunity,” said Tom Petzold.
President of Petzold Enterprises, the businessman is paying students to attend the private school, by offering scholarships in conjunction with the Downtown Boxing Gym.
“By developing your talents, you can make a difference in other people’s lives and I think that’s the message the gym teaches young men,” Petzold said, “and the school does the same thing.”
Petzold got the idea to send a few of Detroit’s youth to the school via inspiration from his grandfather. The same man started a similar scholarship fund years ago in Providence. After seeing the positive experience his oldest son had at the school, he sought to mimic that same notion.