Last Monday the 22nd of May, our seniors were coordinately invited to the PioneerValley annual senior awards night. This year our school has had the most seniors invited to this event in comparison to previous years! The cause for this remarkable announcement was the newly introduced PV Sash our principal, Mrs. Herrera, has debuted. Students were able to earnthe new PV Sash in many ways for example: pass two AP exams with a score of 3 or higher, taken a year of college now classes, passed the ELA SBAC with a 3 or more, and/or passed the MATH SBAC with a score of 2 or higher. These are some ways that a good amount of our seniors earned the sash.
During the night, other awards were given from merit accomplishments to participation and exceeding in clubs. Students were recognized for their achievements throughout high school and lastly they were also recognized for their scholarships. These students were well deserved of them! (Note: Some scholarships were not announced during senior awards night. Awards refer to scholarships, cords, sashes, and medals.) Among the top winners were Erica Diaz Cervantes, our valedictorian (15 awards), with a grand total of $27,800. Part of her total was the Dell Scholarship of $20,000. Other recipients of the Dell scholarship were Ana Martinez Navarro and Andrea Pasillas Camarillo. Kayla Alarcon (14 awards) received $5,950, and Coryn Nodal (13 awards)$7,750. Vanessa Gomez received $24,000 from the University of Iowa to play softball at their campus, and lastly Jordan Vasquez ($7,100) and Raquel Salazar ($6,000) both earned scholarships from FFA.
“Most of the scholarships I received, I was notified before Senior Awards Night. What surprised me in the event was the Henry Mayo Scholarship which is $5000. I was unsure if I would be a recipient of it or not since I know many of my peers were just as qualified or better. I also received other various scholarships such as the Elks Student of the Month, the Minerva Scholarship, the Santa Barbara Foundation Scholarship, the Breakfast Rotary Scholarship, and the Dell Scholarship. Thanks to Mrs. McDonald, I was able to apply to all of these scholarships and Mr. Wolstenholm also encouraged me to apply for some scholarships that were more national than local. I plan to utilize this money to pay for my books and supplies, some housing expenses, and other necessary items while attending college. I am very thankful to my teachers and friends who have always revealed many opportunities for me to take. I served my community as a thank you for all it has done to help me be where I am and to this day they continue to help me and many other students. Money has always been an issue for my family and I am eternally grateful that, that burden is no longer on my shoulders (at least for the the first two years of college). Having received this aid served to be another case of proof that you can always find a way to achieve your goals and the only obstacle that stands in your way is your unwillingness to seek for those opportunities.” -Erica Diaz Cervantes (12)“The scholarships that I got by surprise on senior awards night were the Altrusa Scholarship and Henry Mayo Newhall Scholarship. The names of all the scholarships I received were the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Fil-Am Scholarship, Filipino Seniors, Breakfast Rotary, Santa Barbara, Altrusa, and the Henry Mayo Newhall. I heard about these scholarships from Ms. McDonald. I also went on other school’s websites to see what scholarships they had. I will use these scholarships to my tuition, housing, and other supplies for school such as a laptop. I feel really thankful and relieved that I was awarded with so many scholarships because I had no idea how else I would be able to pay for college. It brings a lot of weight off of mine and my family’s shoulders because we won’t have to pay for much out of pocket. Something I would like to add is to keep applying for scholarships! There are so many existing scholarships and to put the time and effort into doing them because it will pay off in the end.” -Kayla Alarcon (12)“On senior Awards Night, I was surprised to be awarded the Altrusa Scholarship of $750 and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Scholarship of $500. Overall, I have received the Santa Barbara Scholarship ($2,500), Altrusa Scholarship ($750), FCA Scholarship ($500), Minerva Club Scholarship ($1,000), Burger King Scholarship ($1,000), Sigmund G. Sandrock Memorial Scholarship ($1,000), and the PG&E Scholarship ($1,000). I heard about these scholarships through the college and career center. These scholarships will be used directly for my tuition/ room and board at Cal Lutheran. I feel so excited that I received these scholarships because now my freshmen year is fully paid off! In total, I received $7,750 in scholarships.” -Coryn Nodal (12)
Hello! My name is Brenda Linares, I am a senior here at Pioneer Valley. I am happy to be part of the PVHS Panther Tales. This organization has brought...
