A Bridge for Kids Awards $10,000 to Class of 2020 Scholarship Winners

In February, A Bridge for Kids proudly announced that we were launching a new Scholarship Program to recognize and support low income high school seniors throughout San Diego who have excelled in academics, athletics and/or the arts during their high school years.  A total of $10,000 in college scholarships will be granted to low income, high achieving seniors who are committed to attending a four year college. Funds are intended to provide financial support for college expenses, including but not limited to tuition, books, housing deposits, transportation, and expenses relating to dorm living. We invited all seniors who qualify for the Government Free and Reduced Lunch Program and can demonstrate excellence achieved in high school academics, athletics, and/or the arts to apply for this support.

Applicants were asked to supply information including GPA, SAT/ACT scores, and college they plan to attend. Additionally, they were asked to provide one mandatory essay answering the prompt: A Bridge for Kids helps level the playing field for low income teens by supporting their academic, athletic and artistic endeavors. In 500 words or less, please explain how you have achieved excellence in any of these areas. Feel free to submit or list any supporting material such as athletic awards, art you have created or any academic recognition you have received as a supplemental exhibit to your essay. Students were also given the opportunity to answer an optional essay of no more than 200 words stating: Describe what financial needs you expect to have during your first year of college and how this scholarship would help you address them.

Applications were judged by a panel and winners were chosen based on the following criteria: 

• Adherence to application requirements. 
• Strength of evidence demonstrating participation in and achievements obtained in academic, athletic, and/or artistic programs. 
• Essay content and clarity.

After a difficult deliberation of 50 impressive applications, we are excited to announce the following recipients of the 1^st Annual A Bridge For Kids College Scholarship:

$1,250 Scholarship Awarded to:

• Michelle Fox - Hilltop High School -  Attending Stanford University
• Ariana Bermudez - Patrick Henry High School – Attending Arizona State University
• Isabella Fuller - The Preuss School, UCSD – Attending UC Berkeley
• Mayerling Colin - The Preuss School, UCSD – Attending Yale University

Samuel Martinez, Hilltop High School Class of 2020

$1,000 Scholarship Awarded to:

• Sebastian Gonzalez  -  Hilltop High School - Attending UC Berkeley
• Alethia Moreno  -  Sweetwater High School - Attending UC Santa Barbara
• Samuel Martinez  -  Hilltop High School – Attending San Diego State University
• Karla Roman - Hilltop High School – Attending UC Berkeley
• Linda Velasquez - Gompers Preparatory Academy – Attending UC San Diego

Sebastian Gonzalez will be attending UC Berkeley this fall

Congratulations to all of our Scholarship recipients and to all applicants for their college acceptances. 

Thank you to all of those ABFK supporters and donors, as without your support, we would not have been able to finance this Scholarship Program.