Eighth Graders Win College Scholarships

Five eighth graders each earned $500 college scholarships recently, courtesy of the Lyman W. and Nancy E. Lough Eighth Grade Scholarship Fund. The awards go to students with average grades (2.0 to 2.9 GPA), good citizenship and a potential for future success. The winners traditionally are students who are beating the odds and continuing to learn despite tough circumstances, such as a disability, a difficult home life or other challenges. The winners and their schools are: Lonnie Adams, Stephens; Jessica Azevedo, Butler; Shaina Locke, Bancroft; Michelle Santiago, Hill; and Eric Valencia-Hughes, Hughes. Each winner receives a plaque. Their scholarship checks are presented upon enrollment in trade school or college. Any Long Beach Unified school with eighth graders can nominate one student to become a finalist. The five scholarship winners are selected from a group of 20 finalists, each of whom receives an engraved plaque. Individuals and corporations who would like to sponsor a scholarship in escrow may do so for only $100 per year. The money is earmarked for a deserving student in eighth grade, with $100 per year added during each year in high school for a total of $500 by the time the student enters college. The scholarships help provide an incentive to prepare for college. As part of the Lough Awards, an additional $180-per-year scholarship from the Frangesch Memorial Fund went to student Erikson Medina of Newcomb. The fund was established in 1998 in memory of John Frangesch, a popular LBUSD elementary school principal who died shortly after his retirement. The Frangesch award selection criteria are the same as those used for the Lough Awards. To contribute to either fund, contact the Long Beach Education Foundation at 997-8054.