SAISD News– As they get ready to transition to college, 13 district seniors have received the great news that they are 2023 Dell Scholars.
The students — from CAST Med High School and Travis Early College High School — are part of a group of 500 Dell Scholars nationwide who will receive a $20,000 scholarship, a Dell laptop, textbook credits, personalized, multi-faceted support, and access to therapy and the Scholar Resource Network.
“It’s a huge help for me,” Landon Villarreal, a Dell Scholar at CAST Med, said. “My first year I’m not paying anything out of pocket. It’s really paved the way for me. Without it I didn’t really know how I was going to come up with the majority of the funds. It’s a really great opportunity.”
The Dell Scholars program targets low-income, highly motivated students who demonstrate the drive to succeed despite personal obstacles. More than grades, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation looks for a unique “GPA” of grit, potential, and ambition in a student’s quest for a college education.
Students must demonstrate financial need through federal Pell Grant eligibility and participate at least two years in a program-approved college readiness program such as AVID or Upward Bound. Of the 500 Dell Scholar recipients across the nation, 210 participate in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) elective – including SAISD’s 13 recipients.
“These successes are the result of a collective effort of College Bound Advisors, counselors and AVID teachers who support our scholars through the application process,” Dr. Cynthia Martinez, district AVID coordinator, said.
Students worked with their campus support staff to file their initial application by Dec. 1. Semifinalists were announced before the winter break and filled out their materials in January. Notifications came on March 16.
“I remember exactly what happened when I got named a Dell scholar,” Josue Neftali Ruiz, a Dell Scholar at Travis Early College High School, said. “I was at Camp Bullis, running my mile for my physical fitness test. I checked what time it was, and I saw that I got named a finalist. I was beyond happy when I saw that email. I told everyone and ran the whole mile with a smile on my face.”
Ruiz is one of 12 Dell Scholars at Travis this year, the fourth consecutive year the school has had at least a dozen Dell Scholars.
“I am proud of the tradition we are creating at Travis of having a considerable number of Dell Scholars in our senior class,” Travis College Bound Advisor Myra Fuentes said. “Our students put in the hard work of drafting and reviewing their applications during non-class time periods, after school, and on weekends. They each have compelling stories of their lives to tell, from being the first in their family to attend college while overcoming socio-economic, systemic, and personal barriers to attending and graduating from Travis to deciding to be a change-maker in different professional realms. Their experiential motivators and personal philosophies encourage them to reach their future goals of a university graduation and graduate or professional school admission.”
This year’s SAISD Dell Scholars include:
• CAST Med High School: Landon Villarreal
• Travis Early College High School: Jaden Aguirre, Andrea Alvarado, Fernando Briones Delarosa, Matthew Garcia, Gabriel Gonzalez, Josiah Leija, Brianna Lomas, Josalyn Martinez, Ivana Padron, Ruben Pina, Santiago Reyna and Jose Ruiz.
To learn more about the Dell Scholars Program, click here.
