Education Notes: 70 from TUSD win grade-based scholarships

70 TUSD students win scholarships for grades

A group of 70 TUSD students who kept their end of a deal to earn A’s in core subjects were awarded a combined $125,000 in scholarships.

The Lapan College Club allows students from the Wakefield community to earn $50 for every A on their report cards from sixth to eighth grades and up to $500 a year for a GPA of 2.8 or better in high school.

The top 15 seniors who earned the most money over their academic careers from Pueblo High Magnet School are: Julianna Merino, Anahi Becerra Mora, Judith Carranza, Roberto Cota, Valeria Lizarraga, Maria Louisa Vega, Catalina Julia Flores, Anabel Vera, Celina Durazo, Jorge Ruiz, Ana Lizeth Barrios, Jose Monroy Ayon, Priscila Valenzuela, Candace Fernandez and Noe Durazo.

The top student at Cholla High Magnet School was Dalia Maldonado Lopez.

Scholarships were also awarded for outstanding community service.

2 from S. Ariz. get college scholarships

Two Southern Arizona students have been awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholarship.

The honor recognizes promising high school seniors across the country with up to $40,000 per year for four years of undergraduate study, after which the scholars automatically become eligible for a $50,000 per year Cooke Graduate Scholarship.

Of the 94 high school seniors selected, only two are from Arizona: Alex Frances Buranday of Lourdes Catholic High School in Nogales and Liam Carpenter-Urquhart, a Tucsonan who attended the Thacher boarding school in California.

Buranday plans to attend the University of San Diego while Carpenter-Urquhart will attend Brown University.

Students were chosen based on exceptional academic ability and achievement, unmet financial need, persistence, service to others and leadership.

5 are named National Merit Scholars

Five Tucson-area teens have been named College-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship winners.

The awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study. An additional group of scholars will be announced in July.

Local winners include: Tristan A. Loveday of Basis Oro Valley — Arizona State University; Eric C. Arellano of Catalina Foothills High School — Arizona State University; Meghan K. Elliott of University High School — University of Chicago; Mika Lee Lorenzen of University High School — University of Arizona; Kaylie A. Volpe of Tucson High Magnet School — Arizona State University

Students took the Preliminary SAT as an initial screener before approximately 16,000 semifinalists were named. The semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state.