Two Santa Maria High School students have a reason to smile after winning $20,000 scholarships.
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District says Isabella Blanco and Jennifer De Leon-Dominguez were two of 150 students nationwide chosen as Coca-Cola Scholars from among 95,715 applicants.
District officials say the scholarship is achievement based and “awarded to students who show the capacity to lead and serve, as well as, their commitment to making a significant impact to their school and community.”
“I am ecstatic to be able to receive the Coca-Cola scholarship,” Blanco said in a press release. “This award represents a culmination of my efforts to create progressive change in Santa Maria and I am ready to represent my community in Atlanta.”
De Leon-Dominguez said, “I am so excited and honored to have been selected as a 2019 Coca-Cola Scholar. “This program does not only provide me with financial support for college but also a network of 6,100 other visionary leaders who are the future. I know that this program will give me a family and countless opportunities that will help me succeed in the future. I am thankful for my Latinx community that has helped me get to where I am.”
School counselor Margarita Guillen-Franco said the two are “change agents, positively affecting others in their community,” and “represent what being a ‘Saint’ is all about.”
