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For the second year in a row, San Andreas High School students can apply for locally sourced scholarships, thanks to Celeste Toledo-Bocanegra, who helped eight graduates last year to get money for college.
“As much as I enjoy seeing other high schools benefit from community members donating,” she said, “I noticed no children from San Andreas received anything. I didn’t want them to feel left out, so I created a program for them.”
A San Andreas graduate, Toledo-Bocanegra herself benefited from a $300 scholarship check she described as “so generous.”
“It was a big thing for me when I graduated,” she said. “I couldn’t believe somebody out of their own pocket would write a check to me for $300. It wasn’t organized. It was just an individual. I wanted to continue that generosity.”
Toledo-Bocanegra raised $2,850 in donations last year, ranging from $50 to $1,000. Applicants are asked to write an essay, which potential donors use to choose a recipient. The money is given directly to the student by the donor.
“It helps if they need books or anything to get started,” she said. “If they go to a trade school or college program, they will be more ready. It’s just another way to help our youth and empower them.”
Jezabella Sandoval, a scholarship recipient last year, said it had a positive impact by ensuring she had the money to buy the proper resources needed to continue her education.
“After believing I wouldn’t graduate and walk the stage for the longest time,” she said, “I felt extremely honored that day to receive a scholarship. It made me feel successful, inspiring, and self-confident. Most importantly, it made my family proud.”
Donor Eric Kristofferson, manager of Purchase Green Artificial Grass, said he became interested in helping partly because he received a scholarship under a now-discontinued program when he attended San Andreas.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity I got,” he said. “Going through the process of trying to get scholarships and then accomplishing that, even at a small level, made me more motivated to accomplish the goals that I had set out.”
Kristofferson said when he found out Toledo-Bocanegra was trying to restart the scholarship program, he quickly agreed to help.
“I told her, ‘I’m a small business owner. I’m a former student. I’d love to get involved.’ I wanted to do what I could to encourage some of the kids to go to college.”
Kristofferson said he read several of the essays the applicants wrote and connected with one who had a life similar to his in his youth.
“We both had divorced parents,” he said. “We had similar struggles connecting at bigger schools. I was reading an essay that I could have written 22 years ago. It reminded me of where I was when I did not know if I would amount to much.”
Alternative Education Principal Garret Quindimil said obtaining student scholarships has been an ongoing process for the last four years.
“The community has been amazing,” he said, “and we have an outpouring of scholarships. Getting our students to apply for the scholarships is the true challenge. We have to explain that this is money you don’t pay back.”
Quindimil said that some students are not interested in getting the money because they do not have immediate plans for college, and others consider the amount of the scholarships not worth their time.
“However,” he said, “some kids can’t wait to fill out the scholarship forms. They understand the importance of taking advantage of this incredible chance to earn money for school.”
Last year, Quindimil said, there were 34 continuation school graduates, eight of whom received scholarships.
“Our students don’t have these opportunities come by often,” he said. “We call them promised youth, and often they go forgotten. We just want to make sure that everybody hears about this tremendous effort to help them.”
To donate a scholarship, contact Celeste Toledo-Bocanegra at (831) 524-1633.
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