February 7, 2008

Twenty-Six CCOC students earn Grove Foundation Scholarships

Twenty-six Central County Occupational Center students and six former students will receive a Grove Foundation School-to-Career Scholarship valued at up to $4,000 for tuition, books and related educational expenses.

For some students, the Grove Scholarship means they will be able to focus on school instead of needing to work full time and attend college full time.

“The Grove Scholarship takes the stress off my shoulders on being able to pay for college,” Adrianna Rodriguez, CCOC Medical Assisting and Mt. Pleasant High School student, said. “I learned about the scholarship through my class at CCOC and I’m really happy that I was awarded the scholarship.”

CCOC is one of 10 high schools in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties that are eligible to participate in the Grove Scholarship program. CCOC--a unit of MetroED--provides career-technical education for more than 35 high schools in six Silicon Valley school districts: Campbell Union High School District, East Side Union High School District, Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, Milpitas Unified School District, San Jose Unified School District and Santa Clara Unified School District.

Students attend CCOC for half of their school day and the other half is spent at their home high school.

Nineteen of the students who received scholarships applied through CCOC while seven other students applied through their home high school. Six other students who attended CCOC last year will also receive a Grove Foundation Scholarship. CCOC’s Scholarship winners come from 14 different high schools and represent 15 CCOC programs. The Health Occupations program had the most winners with eight, followed by Truck Mechanics, Auto Body and Medical Assisting.

The Grove Foundation received close to 200 applications from eligible schools in the San Jose and Santa Cruz area. Out of that, 96 students were awarded scholarships with CCOC having more winners than any other San Jose area school, said Jaime Kemmer, program associate for the Grove Foundation.

While in college, Grove Scholars must maintain a minimum 2.5 grade point average, take a full course load, attend Grove Scholars events and program offerings and continue their college career path. The scholarship is for up to $4,000 as determined by the student’s education plan.

CCOC Grove Scholars include seniors: Adrian Trujillo and Fredy Montes from Andrew Hill High School; Maranda Starks from Leigh High School; Ezekiel Lee and Jeanette Salceda from Leland High School; Cory Laubscher and Melissa Garcia from Pioneer High School; Kevin Firchow, Basil Hernandez, and Giovan Espinoza from Santa Teresa High School; Tejinder Singh, Edgar Gonzalez, and Traci Stanger from Silver Creek High School; and Maria-Lorena Garcia from Wilcox High School.

The Grove Foundation was founded in 1986 by former Intel Chairman and CEO Andy Grove and his wife Eva. The Groves founded the School-to-Career program in 1998 to give students an opportunity to achieve their focused career goal in careers such as automotive technicians, paralegals, nurses, accounting, and medical assisting. The scholarships are limited to students who will attend Cabrillo College, Evergreen Valley College, or San Jose City College to earn their career-focused two-year associates degree or technical certificate.

For more information on CCOC’s Grove Scholarship winners, contact Michelle Alaimo at 723-6464 or malaimo@metroed.net.