U-46 Latino students to receive scholarships

Twenty-three Elgin Area School District U-46 high school seniors will receive $1,000 scholarships at Club Guadalupano's annual Latino Awards Banquet Saturday at Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin.

This year marks the 40th year the nonprofit Club Guadalupano of Elgin has awarded scholarships to local students. The Latino Awards Banquet began in 1977 with scholarships available exclusively to graduating high school seniors from U-46 and St. Edward High School in Elgin. The Club Guadalupano scholarship committee reviewed 66 applications before selecting the recipients based on academic excellence, school and community involvement, and personal essays. Most student honorees are first-generation college students with a 3.5 or higher GPA, and many are graduating in the top 5 percent of their high school senior class.

U-46 CEO Tony Sanders said he is excited to see Latino students being recognized "for their exemplary academic performance and service."

"The strong partnerships in the community are an essential part of their success," he said.

Twenty of those students from U-46's five high schools will receive the Zoilo Santiago Memorial Award for Academic Achievement - named in honor of the late U-46 bilingual teacher. They are:

• Bartlett High - Luis Albarrán, Miya Mesa and Arianna Pérez-Ortiz.

• Elgin High - Karina Blanco, Faviola Carrillo, Nayeli Cisneros, Sofía Mari and Matthew Quezada.

• Larkin High - Melody Contreras, Vanessa Rentería, Jonathan Unger, Diana Vargas and Miriam Velázquez.

• South Elgin High - Gabriel Contreras, Alessandra Cipriani-Detres, Angélica Lizbeth Del Toro, Grace Moreno, Anita Rufino and Stephanie Salas.

• Streamwood High - Mateo Pierre-Masquera.

Streamwood High School senior Eric Loera, U-46 school board's student adviser, will receive the William Castillo Memorial Award for School and Community Service. The award is named after a former school board member who was the first Hispanic person elected to public service in the area, and a former president of Centro de Información.

Elgin Community College will award two ECC Foundation Scholarships to Streamwood High School students Diana Campos and Daniela Garfias.

Tickets are $60 per person. Social hour begins at 6 p.m., followed by the banquet at 7 p.m.