The Peninsula College Fund announced Thursday that it will be awarding scholarships to 15 high school seniors from the Menlo Park-Atherton community who overcame significant challenges to achieve academic success.
Scholarship recipients are from many Peninsula towns including Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and Redwood City. Each one will be given funds for tuition and professional guidance.
“In addition to the $12,000 scholarship, each PCF scholar will be provided with one-on-one mentoring, summer internship support, and college and career success training,” said Carole Melis, Peninsula College Fund outreach volunteer.
Since the PCF was founded in 2005, it has financially supported 96 college-bound students, including this year’s scholars; all of them are first-generation college students. 95 percent of those students have graduated or are well on their way toward graduation, Melis said.
Ron Gonzales, president and chief executive officer of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, will be delivering the keynote speech at the award ceremony, which is titled “From First-Generation to Success.”
"Representing the Hispanic Foundation, I am honored to support a group whose goals align so closely to our vision of inspiring Hispanic families and children to achieve personal greatness,” Gonzales said.
“The Peninsula College Fund is an impressive example of a local organization that is helping promising low-income students achieve not only in college, but beyond, producing young people who are ready to build their careers and contribute to their communities," he added.
Catherine Crystal Forster, PCF executive director, said she is excited about the future impact these scholars will have on the community.
“With our incoming class of scholars, we will have students at every UC campus in the state. At the same time, we have built on our highly effective model, leading Greatnonprofits.org to designate us a Top-Rated Nonprofit of 2012, based on our stellar student and mentor reviews,” Forster said.
The students will be recognized at a public ceremony this June in Atherton. At the event, Daniel Valencia, a 2009 PCF scholar, will share an account of his academic experiences and trajectory. Valencia graduated from California State University East Bay this year and is planning to attend medical school.
“My family could not be more proud," Valencia said. "I want to thank PCF for providing aid, support and advice. My supporters in PCF have been amazing tutors, counselors and friends. I could never have gotten this far without them," he said.
The public ceremony will be held from 5:30-8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 18 at Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, which is located at 150 Valparaiso Ave in Atherton, California.
The 2013 Peninsula College Fund Scholarship Winners Are:
East Palo Alto Academy High School students: Diana Carranza and David Lozano Camacho
Eastside College Preparatory School students: Alexis Aceves, Gladys Bustos, and Getssiva Hernandez
Menlo-Atherton High School students: Haisaane Fakalata and Niesha Ford
Sequoia High School students: Aureliano Davila, Nereyda Guzman, and Rossmeri Ramirez
Summit Preparatory Charter High School students: Jose Martinez Luna and Jocelyn Morales
Woodside High School students: Stephanie Contreras, Yarely Guzman Lopez, and Gemma Urena
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