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Sunny. High 87F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph..
Clear skies. Low 53F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph.
Updated: June 12, 2025 @ 2:58 pm
Photos courtesy Patriots Jet Team Foundation
From left, Heritage’s Katharina Wallace and Suyash Dash, along with Liberty’s Marcial Gavino all received scholarships from the Patriots Jet Team Foundation.
Photos courtesy Patriots Jet Team Foundation
From left, Heritage’s Katharina Wallace and Suyash Dash, along with Liberty’s Marcial Gavino all received scholarships from the Patriots Jet Team Foundation.
A local nonprofit organization has awarded college scholarships to a group of young adults, including three from local high schools.
The Byron-based Patriots Jet Team Foundation (PJTF) awarded seven college engineering scholarships to students from four high schools. Suyash Dash and Katharina Wallace of Heritage High, and Marcial Gavino of Liberty High joined Christian Belmar, Rebecca Dubie, and Tanusha Koll of Merrill West High in Tracy, and Gia Keiper of Dublin/Los Positas Middle Collegein receiving the scholarships. They include six $5,000 awards and one of $2,500.
Aerospace engineering was the most popular discipline among the award receipts this year, followed by mechanical engineering, according to Patriots Jet Team Foundation Executive Director Don Paiva.
“We take a holistic view in our finalist and award recipient selections,” he said. “Beyond academic and extracurricular achievements, we look for students who have a keen interest in engineering, a collaborative spirit, strong character, and enjoy giving back to the community. Scholarship candidates must submit an application form, three short essays, a recommendations letter, and official transcripts.”
According to Paiva, the scholarship awards are named in honor of Philip E. Gannon, a former president of the San Francisco Bay Area Engineering Council, who during his lifetime wanted to attract and encourage Bay Area students to pursue Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related careers, specializing in engineering and construction disciplines.
In 1993, Gannon started a foundation that provided scholarships to Bay Area college-bound students interested pursuing engineering majors.
“Four are members of the high school Robotics Teams (Heritage and Merrill West), which receive support from STEM grants,” Paiva said. “Four have volunteered at the annual PJTF Annual Benefit Gala, while two are active PJTF student volunteers. All students were accepted to top engineering programs, including UC Berkeley, Cal Poly, Los Positas, Montana State, Purdue, Stanford, and UCLA, The recipients will pursue engineering disciplines including aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, molecular and cell biology and biomedical engineering, and robotics engineering and technology.”
The Patriots Jet Team Foundation is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) non-profit that has served the community for over a decade, enhancing the lives of 5,000 students annually from approximately 30 schools across the Bay Area and Central Valley offering them experiences that are both valuable and life changing, according to their website.
The success of the foundation, according to their website, is attributed to a supportive, culture, enabling collaboration with educators while involving parents and corporate educational partners.
“We are dedicated to getting students excited about aviation, space, and STEM subjects and careers through our school outreach programs, learning center activities, mentoring, and scholarships,” Paiva said. “Our innovative, hands-on programs are free of charge to students and also instill the importance of leadership, teamwork, commitment, and community service.”
For details, visit www.pjtf.org/
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