By HELEN MANSFIELD - hmansfield@nwnewsgroup.com

ROUND LAKE – The Christmas holiday break is a nice, three-week period when most school-age kids veg out. They don't think about school. They don't care what happened last semester, and they're certainly not looking forward to the next one. But, a small group of sophomores have a little added incentive to care.

Earlier this year, 23 Round Lake High School sophomore were selected to participate in the Schuler Family Foundation Scholarship Program. Students that successfully complete the program throughout the next three years will receive $20,000 for college.

Kylee Butler, of Round Lake, and Priya Dhingra, of Round Lake Beach, have both enjoyed their first semester in the program and are looking forward to getting back to school.

"We're going to see 'Wicked' on Jan. 10," said a rather excited participant, Dhingra.

Since 2002, former Abbott Laboratories president and chief operating officer, Jack Schuler, and his wife Renate, established the Schuler Foundation.

According to the Schuler Foundation Web site, The goal of the program is to, “help hard-working and talented teens [who] are fighting an uphill battle to realize their dreams of graduating from college.”

According to participant Butler, the first semester has consisted of preparation for the ACT and SAT college assessment exams, and tips on time management.

"They're working with us to keep up," Butler said. "It's been surprisingly easy to fit [the extra workshops] in."

Dhingra agrees and adds that the Schuler councilors have been very nice and helpful.

"I can't believe I'm in it," Dhingra said of the Schuler program.

Butler said even after just a few months in, the Schuler program has already made a difference in her studies.

"I'm doing much better this year over last year, and last year wasn't so bad," Butler said. "Working with the others has really helped; we're becoming really close."