Dist. 46 superintendent awards scholarships
Elgin Area School District U-46 Superintendent José M. Torres hosted a special award ceremony April 30 at Kenyon Woods Middle School to recognize 33 high school students, who were awarded with this year's Superintendent's Scholarship Program.
More than 70 applications were submitted for the program, which was established in 2012 by Torres to support students who are the first in their families to attend college or secondary institution.
"I am grateful that the community continues to generously support students who are the first in their families to pursue their college dreams," Torres said. "I established this scholarship to send a message to all U-46 high school students that college can be a reality to any student who works hard regardless of their circumstance or background."
The 33 high school students who received a $1,000 scholarship through the 2013-2014 Superintendent Scholarship fund include:
Bartlett High School: Cinthia Calixto, Anna Ramos, and Amber Runyan
Elgin High School: Destiny Alicea, Daniel Corona, Daniel Gonzalez, Elizabeth Lara-Vargas, Lizbeth Mancilla, Anthony Rosado, Ricardo Perez, and Vivana Perez
Larkin High School: Laura Barrios, Mayra Corona, Javy Delgado, Jocelyn Delgado, Maximiliano De la Paz, Cesar Dimas, Baylee Matison, Wendy Ramirez, Jamila Riley, and Alejandra Soto
South Elgin High School: Elizabeth Ariza, Tanya Ocampo, Jaguar Ramangkoun, and Natalie Rutkowski
Streamwood High School: Taylor Boley, Melissa Chavez, Lauren Parker, and Ashlynn Hill.
Note: Some of the scholarship recipients are not listed as the students' names cannot be released to the media.
Some of the schools the students plan to attend include Dominican University, Elgin Community College, Iowa State University, Loyola University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Southern Illinois University.
During the award ceremony, scholarship students networked with U-46 donors and administrators, handing out the business cards Torres provided to them as part of the scholarship program.