AFSCME Scholarships Spell S-u-c-c-e-s-s
Paying for college courses this year will be a whole lot easier for 19 AFSCME members and their children — recipients of financial awards from the 1999 Union Plus Credit Card Scholarship Program.
The winners, ranging from high school valedictorians to students with disabilities, will receive scholarships from $500 to $4,000. Although their backgrounds are diverse, they all possess a record of outstanding academic achievement and a strong commitment to the labor movement.
The AFSCME scholarship honorees (in alphabetical order) include: Matthew Baeza, son of Luis Baeza, TX Local 59 ($500); Sara Cole, daughter of Norman Cole, CT Local 2657 (Council 4) ($4,000); Jason Davenport, son of Gail Davenport, NY Local 371 (DC 37) ($1,000); Shari Ann Dela Cuadra, daughter of Sandra Dela Cuadra, HI Local 152 (HGEA) ($500); and Laura DiNicola, daughter of Pamela DiNicola, OH Local 4 (OAPSE) ($2,000).
Also receiving awards were Scott Dunn, son of Mark Dunn, SD Local 519 (Council 59) ($2,000); Margery Faville, daughter of Dain Faville, NY Local 1000 (CSEA) ($2,000); Bernadine Fernandez, daughter of Vivian Kamai — both members of HI Local 152 (HGEA) ($500); Garrett Gossan, son of Thomas Gossan, WA Local 1341 (Council 2) ($2,000); Melinda Hill, daughter of Linda Lou Hill, PA Local 1977 (Council 86) ($1,000); April Huyck, daughter of Gary Huyck, NY Local 1000 (CSEA) ($500); and Kimberly Jones, daughter of Barrington Jones, MD Local 2462 (Council 67) ($1,000).
Among the other AFSCME winners are: Diana Koutinas, daughter of Susan Koutinas, NY Local 1000 (CSEA) ($1,000); Charmaine Lastimoso, daughter of Adoracion Lastimoso, NV Local 4041 ($2,000); Sean Moundas, son of Andrea Moundas, NY Local 372 (DC 37) ($2,000); member Duane Perkins, MI Local 3637 (Council 25) ($1,000); Jodi Smith, daughter of Jay Smith, WA Local 1208 (Council 28) ($3,000); Clayton Wilken, son of Craig Wilken, WA Local 1254 (Council 2) ($750); and Jason Williams, son of Allen and Patricia Williams, NY Local 1000 (CSEA) ($1,000).
The Union Plus Credit Card Scholarship Program is open to students attending or planning to attend a four-year college or university, a community college or technical college/trade school.
Applications for the May 2000 awards are now available. To receive an application, please send a postcard, with return address, telephone number and the word “AFSCME” clearly printed on it to: Union Plus Credit Card Scholarship, P.O. Box 34800, Washington, D.C., 20043-4800. The deadline for applying is Jan. 31, 2000 and award recipients will be announced May 31, 2000. You do not have to be an AFSCME Advantage credit card holder to apply.
Eighteen-year-old Lisa Lim’s favorite all-time movie is “The Sound of Music.” Like the heroine in this film classic, Maria Von Trapp, Lim is searching to find her niche in life. Will it be a career in law or one in international relations? Time will tell.
One thing is certain, though. Lim, a junior majoring in political science at the University of Southern California (USC), is well on her way toward success as this year’s winner of AFSCME’s Jerry Clark Memorial Scholarship.
Lim will receive $10,000 in each of her junior and senior years of study at USC. She will also serve a stint as a summer intern in AFSCME’s Political Action Department.
“I’m really excited that I won and can’t wait to start this semester,” says Lim whose father Danilo Lim is an AFSCME Local 1902 member. He has worked for 21 years as an electrical engineer at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
The Jerry Clark Memorial Scholarship is available to children of AFSCME members. The student must be a college sophomore with a political science major and a 3.0 grade point average. The program opens March 15 and closes July 1. The winner is announced Aug. 1.
For more information, please contact the AFSCME Education Department at (202) 429-1250 or e-mail: education@afscme.org.
Getting that diploma on graduation day marks the closing of one door along life’s pathway and the opening up of another: college. Another way AFSCME can help defray college costs is the Family Scholarship Program, which opened Aug. 1 and closes Dec. 31. It is available to graduating high school seniors who are children of AFSCME members. Winners will be announced March 31. Each recipient is awarded $2,000 per year, up to four years, provided he/she remains in a full-time course of study.
For more information, contact the AFSCME Education Department at (202) 429-1250 or e-mail: education@afscme.org.
By Venida RaMar Marshall
