Graduating seniors from Culver City High School and Culver Park High School received scholarships totaling $145,220 at the Culver City Community Scholarship Fund awards night.
The auditorium was packed with relatives and friends who cheered as each recipient was announced. Students are told they will be receiving a scholarship, but they find out which scholarship they will receive at the event.
Event organizers paid a special tribute to Founding trustee Bettylyle Westbrook, who is retiring from the Fund board. Part of the group that began the Scholarship Fund in 1961, Westbrook was a teacher and counselor at Culver High for over 40 years.
She was originally hired as a Girls’ P.E. teacher at Culver High, then became a teacher of U.S. History, Government and Leadership, and eventually a Counselor and director of the counseling department.
She started the school’s first Drill Team, was a faculty adviser to the Chirons service club, and served as President of the Culver City Teachers’ Association. Her special interest and expertise was college and scholarship counseling.
Upon receiving an Honorary Service Award from PTA, Westbrook commented that she especially loved working with students in academic, extracurricular and personal settings. The Bettylyle Westbrook Spirit Award scholarships are given in her name each year.
This year the fund received a grant from the Bandai Foundation, a charitable foundation established by the Bandai toy company to improve the lives of children and families with a focus on education. Ten students were selected to receive $500 scholarships through this one-time grant.
Other donors to the Scholarship Fund include a wide variety of service clubs, businesses, parent organizations such as PTA, and employee organizations from the school district and the city, as well as individual and memorial scholarships.
Donors selected their recipients in May according to their own criteria, which may include academic status, financial need, career goals or Culver City schools attended.
The Culver City Scholarship Fund is a nonprofit organization administered by a group of community volunteers who meet monthly from November to June.
There are two ways to donate to the fund. An individual, organization, service club or business can create a named scholarship in the amount of at least $300 and then a representative will select their recipient from among the applicants.
In addition, the Scholarship Fund accepts donations of any amount for the Bettylyle Westbrook Spirit Awards. All donations are fully tax deductible.
For direct donations, checks should be made out to Culver City Community Scholarship Fund and sent to Culver City High School, 4401 Elenda St., Culver City, CA 90230, attention Margaret Fujisawa, College Career Center, or you may make a secure donation at the Fund’s website, www.cccommunityscholarships.org.
If you wish to set up a new named scholarship for 2014, please contact Margaret at 310 842 4200, extension 3558.
Scholarship recipients for 2013:
- Aguilar, Jacqueline
- Aladro, Alyssa
- Alcala, Juan
- Alvarenga, Kimberly
- Anvery, Amina
- Appleby, Arman
- Argueta, Natalie
- Bac, Michelle
- Bachrach, Elana
- Baurto, Ruth
- Beer, Martin
- Bellows, Tristen
- Bennett, Isabel
- Benson Garcia, Melody
- Canchola-Miranda, Kristina
- Cardenas, Irais
- Carter, David
- Casillas, Selina
- Castanaza-Gudiel, Michelle
- Castro, Irma
- Castro, Johana
- Cereceda, Clio
- Chastain, Katie
- Chung, Gabriella
- Chustz, Sydni
- Copeland, Emma
- Cornejo, Victoria
- Cronin, Kevin
- Davis, William
- Dimeo, Jasmine
- Dodenhoff, Julia
- Donis, Vania
- Dorsey, Erika
- Duval, Amanda
- Erlick, Miriam
- Espinosa, Orlando
- Estrada, Nataly
- Ezedin, Zacky
- Fente, Adam
- Figueroa, Ariana
- Finnegan, Olivia
- Flores Rodriguez, Jesus
- Furuta, Owen
- Gaines, Brianna
- Gallardo, Penelope
- Garcia, Cassandra
- Garcia, Dayana
- Garcia, Gabrielle
- Goldshine, Marlee
- Guizar, Monique
- Hale, Mychelle
- Handler, Sarah
- Hameed, Hammad
- Hernandez, Caterine
- Hernandez-Garcia, Alejandra
- Hnin Pale, Bibi Zaveria
- Hopfield, Madeline
- Hossain, Anum
- Hughes, Kira
- Ichharam, Jaimal
- Ignant, Delayna
- Im, Jonathan
- Jackson, Kierra
- Juarez, Arlyn
- Kennedy, Ellis
- Khalil, Citra
- Khan, Hamza
- Kumari, Radika
- Kunisaki, Jason
- Kurihara, Emma
- Leist, Madeline
- Lopez, Carina
- Lozano, Teresita
- Lozano, Viviana
- Madha, Fahiz
- Mahmood, Sahar
- Mala, Saher
- Martinez, Magali
- Mateo, Araceli
- McGlothan, Morgan
- Melchor, Thomas
- Melendez, Alexander
- Miller, Jordan
- Miller, Simone
- Mills, Sydnie
- Mitchell, Eric
- Mohammad, Maleeha
- Moniz, Jonathan
- Moreno Jimenez, Lucero
- Moss, Daijah
- Munoz, Fatima
- Nagy, Renata
- Najarro, Noemy
- Nolasco, Christian
- Olivera Grijalva, Andrea
- Ordon, Mark
- Paz, Corina
- Pham, Tori
- Pimental, Kevin
- Price, Tristan
- Ramierez, Nazario
- Rasmussen, Daniel
- Rodas, Diego
- Rodriguez, Liliana
- Rodriguez, Tayler
- Roque, Trixie Anne
- Rosales, Samantha
- Ruidias Gomez, Daisy
- Saito, Kanan
- Saldana, Salvador
- Salvaterra, Sterling
- San Juan, Kevin
- Schaffer, Laura
- Sedeno, Gabriel
- Shohat, Kevin
- Silva, Krystal
- Smith, Magnolia
- Stephenson, Byron
- Sugasawara, Tani
- Suyetsugu, Matthew
- Syed, Bathool
- Tamura, Micah
- Tanita, Taylor
- Tran, Tracy
- Ugalde, Mariana
- Valdez, Olivia
- Valentine, Kayla
- Viera, Jasmine
- Villanueva, Tyren
- Wadibia, Ifeoma
- Wheeler, James (Culver Park Stu)
- Williams, Aariel
- Woodruff, Kimberly
- Zakin, Alexandra
- Zelaya, Kimberly