By: Rose Lu
Janelle Perez and Kelly Thich were awarded a $1000 scholarship at Senior honor night on May 1. The money came from a donation by Eunice Jackson, the mother of former AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) teacher Ken Jackson. Mrs. Jackson donated a large sum to Piedmont Hills in order to provide more opportunities and scholarships to other students.
Her donation was given to the AVID Dep. as Mr. Jackson was a former AVID teacher for 32 years, before retiring in 2015. Mr. Jackson was known for his upbeat, encouraging attitude during his time teaching at Piedmont Hills. The Jackson gym is dedicated to him.
“She wanted to make a donation to (Mr. Jackson’s) school through Parent Booster Club and they decided to turn her donation into a scholarship. It has been a dream of President Kellie Guevara of Parent Booster Club to give a scholarship but it’s hard to get the proper funding for it,” shared longtime friend of Mr. Jackson and English teacher Nancy Kennett.
There were five nominees from AVID teacher Lynne Murray’s class. The students had to submit a resume, personal statement and a letter of recommendation. Afterwards, the Parent Boosters club chose the recipients.
“I’m pretty surprised that I won, I didn’t think I was going to win, but I’m thankful the Parent Booster Club chose me as one of the recipients,” commented recipient (senior) Janelle Perez.
The donation serves to help AVID students pay for college and their goals.
“It was a huge help by helping me pay for school supplies like a laptop for school work,” shared recipient (senior) Kelly Thich.
Parent Booster Club hopes to present this scholarship opportunity to AVID students for many years to come.
“(Parent Booster Club) is hoping to continue this scholarship at least until next year,” continued Mrs. Kennett.
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