5 Arizona high schoolers surprised with $20,000 scholarships during senior celebration

PHOENIX – Five Arizona high school seniors were surprised Monday with $20,000 checks for their future college or postsecondary education plans.

The scholarships come from the Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury Foundation, Helios Education Foundation and the Arizona Board of Regents as part of the El Valle Puede Celebration at Mortgage Matchup Center.

The event hosted more than 1,700 high school seniors to tip off Arizona Decision Day, where high school seniors confirm their postsecondary plans. Thirty vendors from different universities and post-secondary programs held a resource fair at the event to inform students of their options.

During the resource fair, five students and their families were awarded the scholarships.

Jocelyn Ortega, a student at Sahuarita High School in southern Arizona, attended the event thinking she was a scholarship finalist. But she was shocked when all five finalists were actually announced as winners.

“I was just really grateful, and, like, I’m so emotional. … I’m going to the University of Arizona to study marketing, and this money will really help me put it towards my school, my supplies, everything that I need. So, it really helps a lot,” she said.

Scholarships were just a part of El Valle Puede Celebration

Salime Olivares Attias of Horizon High School in Scottsdale is planning to attend Arizona State University to study premed. She said when her school offered her a spot at the event, she decided to attend. She isn’t one of the scholarship winners but learned about other potential college funding sources.

“I kind of just want to see what ASU is offering because that’s where I’m going, and I didn’t even know about the TRIO program and they told me about that and I’m a first-generation student so I would love it,” she said.

The TRIO program at ASU offers fully funded college programs to first-generation, low-income and veteran students.

Sarah Krahenbuhl, executive director of the Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury Foundation, said the goal of the El Valle Puede Celebration is to get the students involved in the community and excited about college.

“We invite about 2,000 kids out from 50 different schools across our community to celebrate going to college. We want them to feel that we see them, that we want to be fun about it,” she said.

The event also featured a concert from Mexican-American hip-hop artist Baby Bash.

Paul Luna, president and CEO of the Helios Education Foundation, said having the celebration feature Latino and Hispanic influences is recognizing the diversity of Arizona students.

“When you look at the state of Arizona and you recognize a large percentage of our students come from Latino or Hispanic backgrounds, it’s a way of showing students that we understand where … their culture comes from,” he said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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