In the news:
13 Pasadena High students selected
as semi-finalists for scholarships

Thirteen Pasadena High School students were selected as scholarship semi-finalists for the Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund. These students interviewed with the selection committee recently, and scholarship winners will be notified on May 16.

The Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund provides college scholarships, support and guidance for high school students in need of financial assistance. Sophomore and junior high school students from selected area school districts with a GPA of 2.0 or above who are planning to attend a college or university in the fall after their high school graduations are eligible for the award.

“I am thrilled to have 13 of my students chosen as semi-finalists,” said Pasadena High math instructor Linda Puckett. “To be chosen as semi-finalists is a great honor for these young men and women. It’s an indication of how well they have represented themselves through the essays they submitted with the application.”

Pasadena High sophomore Angela Johnson and juniors Kimberly Leal, Jason Davila, Sony Perez, Lindsy Rice, Jorge Vargas, Lily Rodriguez, Lucy Rodriguez, Andy Garcia, Anali Gomez, Robert Nunez and Elizabeth Moore were 13 of 261 semi-finalists chosen from 1,100 applicants throughout Harris and Fort Bend counties.

Scholarships are awarded to anywhere between 12 and 15 students and each scholarship is worth $15,000. But the scholarship is more than just a monetary award—it is the start of a two-way partnership between the scholarship recipient and the Scholarship Fund. Each winner is assigned a mentor that will work with them until they graduate from college. New scholarship recipients are also required to attend a series of seminars during their junior and/or senior year to help them prepare for college.

“This scholarship can be a life-changing opportunity,” said Puckett. “The winners will meet other students from around Houston as well as come in contact with Houston-area businessmen and women. The scholarship is just the first of many of the doors that will be opened for the winners.”

Recipients will also receive a laptop and the fund will work with the community to provide quality internships and jobs for scholarship recipients.

Puckett said she required her students to apply for the scholarship as part of their grade and that she hopes this is the first of many scholarships for years to come.

“I required the project so my students could learn the process and type of information necessary for their college and scholarship applications,” she said. “Too many of our students go on to attend community colleges because they do not understand how much money universities and companies have available to assist in the rising cost of tuition. Finances should never hold any student back from attaining an education.”

Puckett said she hopes some of the scholarship winners will be her own students so they have the opportunity to take full advantage of the benefits of this scholarship.

“If some of my students do win this scholarship, I hope they look forward to the new experiences and learn as much as they can but never forget where they came from,” she said. “Their past is a part of who they are and they take their experiences with them wherever they go. They will be role models for their siblings and peers.”

While she hopes all of her students receive the scholarship, Puckett knows there is a chance that some won’t and said for them to always keep trying.

“This is not the only scholarship available to them and this is just the first step,” she said. “They need to keep applying for all the scholarships they can find. It is disappointing to not be chosen, but they cannot allow that to keep them from aiming for the top.”