A mixture of 10 high school and college students have received scholarships from the Education Commission of the City of San Fernando as part of its fourth annual scholarship program.
Top winner was Xavier Alexander Jimenez of Academy of Scientific Exploration, who was awarded the Republic Services Cesar Chavez Scholarship ($1,000) for his essay on recycling.
Five college and high school students — Aaron Velasquez and Brianna Rios-Gutierrez, both of UC Berkeley; Jorge Mejia of UC Davis; Viviana Alba of UC Santa Cruz; and Shelsie Escobar of the Academy for Scientific Exploration — received $500 each from the Gabriel Fernandez Memorial Scholarship.
Four other students — Arlene Esquivel of Granada Hills Charter High School, Melissa Martinez of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Saidy Taracena of the Academy for Scientific Exploration, and Zoe Silva of Northridge Academy High School — were awarded $500 each from the Elias Rodriguez Memorial Scholarship.
All recipients were honored at an awards ceremony on May 21.
The Gabriel Fernandez Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of the eight-year-old Palmdale boy whose life was taken tragically in 2013. Scholarships were funded with donations from the California Latino Water Coalition Foundation, Independent Cities Finance Authority, private donors, and the Community Investment Funds from Mayor Joel Fajardo and Vice Mayor Sylvia Ballin.
The Elias Rodriguez Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of Elias Rodriguez, an Academy for Scientific Exploration student, who lost his life during the heavy rains of February 2017. Scholarships were funded with donations from California Latino Water Coalition Foundation, Independent Cities Finance Authority, and Elias’ mother Pahola Mascorro.