MVLA Community Scholars has awarded need-based four-year grants and one-on-one mentoring to students graduating from the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District.
The scholarship selection committee chose seven students from among 32 applicants – five from Los Altos High School and two from Mountain View High School.
Two of the scholarship recipients will attend local community colleges, three will attend UC Davis, one Cal Poly Pomona and one Santa Clara University.
Students are selected based on financial need, academic readiness and personal characteristics, such as determination, personal vision, initiative and status as first in the family to attend college. The average annual scholarship grants are $3,200, and most scholars come from the high school district Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program.
Scholarship recipients included Ana Rangel, Tony Li, Andressa Obice, Omar Palominos and Jennifer Perez.
Two additional scholars won special recognition awards – Eddie Olayo, selected for his “tenacity and spirit of generosity toward others,” won the Rich Fischer Scholarship, and Nicolette Bocalon, selected for her “academic promise, perseverance and strong interest in the arts,” won the Gail Wagner DeMayo Scholarship.
Each scholar is matched one-on-one with a mentor – a local volunteer who has a passion for youth and is familiar with the challenges the demographic faces staying in college.
This year’s new mentors include school board member Margot Harrigan and MVLA High School Foundation President Dee Gibson.
MVLA Community Scholars provides workshops for the scholars and the mentors to address potential challenges. Local community volunteers teach the workshops: Mountain View High School parent Claudia Hevel trains mentors in financial aid and working with first-generation college students; local Rotarian Bella Berlly teaches scholars about budgeting and paying for college; Los Altos academic skills tutor Joan Karlin runs workshops on time management and study skills; and high school culinary arts instructor Jan Tuttle teaches students how to cook for off-campus college life, including offering recipes and tips for eating healthfully on a budget.
Rounding out the community of local volunteers supporting the students are 43 mentors, 10 scholarship selection committee members and a 14-member program council that includes Superintendent Barry Groves and several high school board trustees.
All scholarships are funded by local donations – the size of each class of scholars is determined by the pool of funds raised for that class. Donations range from $100 to $20,000 scholarship sponsorships, with the average gift about $1,000. Local foundation donors include SILVAR, the Morgan Family Foundation, the Packard Community Grants Program, the Los Altos Community Foundation and the Whitney Education Foundation. Program founder Jim Strand has endowed a scholarship to honor former district Superintendent Rich Fischer. Los Altos Hills resident Woody DeMayo recently endowed a scholarship in his wife’s memory, the Gail Wagner DeMayo Scholarship.
The program has funded more than 115 students in its seven years of service.
For more information, contact Nancy Lippe at 949-5908, ext. 7, or visit www.mvlacommunityscholars.org.
