Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Seven graduating seniors named Gates Millennium Scholars

Victoria Capuchino
Victoria Capuchino
Leslie Chavez
Leslie Chavez
Not pictured: Triet Pham Brandon Zambrano
Dacia Dunn
Dacia Dunn
Luis Galvan
Luis Galvan
Daniel Milion
Daniel Milion
Seven members of the Class of 2014 have been named Gates Millennium Scholars.

Each of the 1,000 students named nationwide is awarded a good-through-graduation scholarship that can be used to pursue a degree in any undergraduate major at the accredited college or university of his or her choice.

Named to the scholarship program from San Diego Unified are: Pham Triet, Crawford High; Luis Galvan, La Jolla; Dasia Dunn, Lincoln; Leslie Chavez and Daniel Milion, Preuss UCSD Charter; Victoria Capuchino, SCPA; and Brandon Zambrano, University City.

“I am extremely proud of these talented students," said Superintendent Cindy Marten. "Their hard work, commitment and perseverance are being rewarded with amazing good-through-graduation college scholarships.

"The door to a bright future is wide open and the possibilities are endless. My advice to these students is to continue to Work Hard. Be Kind. Dream Big. No Excuses.”

Established in 1999 with the goal of developing "Leaders for America’s Future," the Gates Millennium Scholars Program is funded by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The program is removing barriers to education for high-performing, low-income students.

Each year it enables 5,000 students to attend and graduate from 800 of the most selective private and public schools in the country, including Ivy League colleges, flagship state universities, United Negro College Fund member institutions and other minority-serving institutions.

The program provides recipients with leadership development opportunities, mentoring, academic and social support as well as financial support. The program is known for its recipients' high graduation rates – a six-year rate of more than 87 percent (28 percent higher than the national graduation rates for all students and comparable to the rates for students from high-income families).