2021-22 Scholarship Recipients

Arlette Aguayo Uribe is a graduate of Watsonville High School where she was very active in student organizations including Watsonville Area Teens Conserving Habitats (WATCH – run by the Monterey Bay Aquarium), Link Crew and EAOP College Club. She was a Varsity Cheerleader and worked part time to help her single-parent family. She has been practicing Taekwondo since she was six years old. She cites the skills and determination she learned in this program for not only helping her earn her black belt, but in facing challenges in everyday life. She has completed three Advanced Placement courses and three Cabrillo College courses and has maintained a 3.6 grade point average. She will be the first in her family to attend college. Ms. Aguayo describes herself as a “young, fiery, fierce, proud Mexican” who has prepared herself for success. We are proud to award her the Margaret Pedulla Memorial Scholarship.

Donald Baker, a graduate of San Lorenzo Valley High School, has been admitted to the Bachelor of Music program with a concentration in Jazz Studies. In high school, he was selected for the Kuumbwa Jazz Center’s Honor Band, where he said that the exceptional level of craftsmanship exhibited by others in the Band helped him grow exponentially. He has also played at the Monterey Jazz Festival and for the SLV high school musicals and the concert band. At San Jose State, he plans to play in a number of ensembles and the Marching Band. In addition to his focus on music, he competed in varsity tennis and wrestling. He challenged himself academically, completing five Advanced Placement courses and earning a 4.21 grade point average. He also excels in Mathematics and has been a math tutor for five years. He loves teaching others and envisions becoming a teacher of math and/or music in the future. We are honored to award him the Gurbachan Singh “Bachi” Jauhal Memorial Scholarship.

Kayla Mitchell is transferring from Cabrillo College to major in Nutritional Science. She described her college journey as “non-traditional” , beginning six years ago exploring various subjects. A YouTube video about a school lunch program in Japan peaked her interest in the importance of free, nutritious school lunches. When she took her first Nutrition course, she knew she had found her career goal – to become a Registered Dietician and to work in a school district overseeing the school lunch program. Ms. Mitchell has been independent and self-supporting since she was 18. She will be the first in her immediate family to attend college. She is mature and focused on her goals, has mastered time management and has discovered that she loves science! We are happy to award her a Chapter Scholarship.

Luke Reason is a graduate of San Lorenzo Valley High School who plans to major in Computer Engineering. After purchasing his own computer in the summer after his sophomore year, he began learning new programming and realized how much more he wanted to know and be able to do with computers. While teaching himself about computers, he also found time to play football (he was Captain in his Senior year), work part time, and volunteer as a tutor for middle school students with disabilities. He completed four Advanced Placement courses and earned a 4.13 grade point average. He says he has always wanted to attend San Jose State University and is excited about being on campus and engaging with clubs and organizations affiliated with his major. We awarded Mr. Reason the Lynda Phillips Scholarship.

Noely Escalante-Lopez is a renewing scholarship recipient. She was selected for the George Clark Memorial Scholarship, a one-time award, in 2020. This year, we received a named scholarship for a student who was interested in the field of medicine and decided Noely was the perfect candidate. She entered the University with 26 college units earned through Advance Placement and Cabrillo College. In her first semester at SJSU she earned a 4.0 grade point average with four A+ grades and one A! The following is a portion of our biographical statement from 2020. Noely is a graduate of Soquel High School and plans to major in Nursing at SJSU. In her application essay, she described the path that led her to choose Nursing (and eventually, to become a pediatric nurse practitioner) as starting during a summer camp for children where she was asked to become an instructor. Having no previous experience as a teacher, Ms. Escalante-Lopez worked hard to be prepared and succeeded not only in having a successful teaching experience, but in gaining new insight into her own educational path. She stated, “The whole experience has allowed me to discover a different side of myself, the side that can guide others and be an advocate for education and health for all around the world.”

Ms. Escalante-Lopez is the 2021-22 recipient of the Jeanne Ulwelling Memorial Scholarship.