Fontana Unified Students Earn $7 Million in Scholarships
Graduates Include Gates Millennium, Dell and Questbridge Scholars

FONTANA – Fontana Unified School District’s stellar 2016 graduating class has collected more than $7 million in college scholarship offers. Among the graduates are three Gates Millennium Scholars, a Southern California Edison Scholar, five Dell Scholars, three QuestBridge and three TheDream.US recipients.

“The significant scholarship dollars received by FUSD students reflect the hard work of our young men and women, together with our teachers, administrators, parents, counselors and staff who work tirelessly to support students in their pursuit of higher education,” FUSD Board President Lorena Corona said. “Thank you and congratulations to all.”

This year, three FUSD seniors were selected as part of the final 1,000 students across the nation to receive the esteemed Gates Millennium scholarship. A.B. Miller High graduate Maximiliano Cruz and Kaiser High’s Jaime Hurtado-Lopez and Josue Marin will receive full scholarships for the entirety of their college careers, which includes potential master’s and doctorate degrees.

Cruz is heading to Cal Poly Pomona to study computer science. Hurtado-Lopez will study environmental engineering or computer science, with a minor in creative writing, at Stanford University. At UCLA, Marin will study computer science and engineering.

Fontana High’s Maria Nunez has been named a 2016 Edison Scholar – one of 30 high school seniors chosen across Southern California Edison’s (SCE) service territory for $40,000 scholarships. Nunez will study biochemistry at UC Santa Cruz.

Five FUSD seniors are among 350 Dell Scholars from across the U.S. who have overcome significant obstacles to attend college. Scholars Vivian Badillo Velasco and Breezy Carreno of Fontana High School; Andrew Jelen and Maria Mendoza Del Toro of Kaiser High School; and Alma Hernandez of A.B. Miller High School will each receive a $20,000 scholarship.

Badillo Velasco will study biology at UC Santa Barbara and Hernandez will study engineering at UC Irvine. Jelen and Mendoza Del Toro will travel to UC Berkeley to study biology. Carreno hopes to study business at UCLA.

Javier Moreno-Morales of Summit High will join Gates Millennium Scholar Hurtado-Lopez and Dell Scholar Mendoza Del Toro as FUSD QuestBridge scholarship recipients. QuestBridge’s College Match pairs talented high school seniors with full scholarships to the nation’s top colleges. Moreno-Morales will put his full, four-year scholarship, including tuition, room and board, to good use at Northwestern University, where he will major in mathematics and economics.

Highly motivated Dreamers Victor Castro of A.B. Miller High, Daniela Sandoval of Kaiser High and Edison Scholar Nunez received scholarships from The Dream.US. The scholarship is intended to cover a significant portion of Dreamers tuition and fees up to a maximum of $12,500 for an associate’s degree and $25,000 for a bachelor’s degree. Castro will study at UC Merced and Sandoval plans to major in biology/pre-med at UCLA.

“This is an impressive group of students who truly deserve to be chosen by these nationally recognized programs for college support,” Superintendent Dr. Leslie Boozer said. “We are extremely proud of all our students who not only represent the quality of education here at Fontana Unified, but who will continue to contribute great things to our world.”

For more information on Fontana Unified’s scholars, visit: www.fusd.net/announcements2/2015-16/scholarships.stm.

PHOTO CAPTION:

SCHOLARS: Fontana Unified School District’s stellar 2016 graduating class has collected millions in college scholarship offers. Among the graduates are Gates Millennium Scholars and QuestBridge recipients. Pictured are, front row from left, Maximiliano Cruz, Victor Castro, Alma Hernandez, Vivian Badillo Velasco, Javier Moreno-Morales, FUSD Board Member BarBara Chavez and Summit High Principal Raul Hernandez. Pictured in the back row, from left, are A.B. Miller High School Principal Moises Merlos, FUSD Board Member Matt Slowik, Board Vice President Mary Sandoval, Board President Lorena Corona, Superintendent Dr. Leslie Boozer, Board Member Jesse Armendarez and Fontana High Principal Ofelia Hinojosa.