Salute to Education Inc., a scholarship program created and funded by the South Florida Ford and Lincoln dealers and Ford Motor Company, has announced that its has awarded $75,000 in scholarships and laptop computers to 50 Miami-Dade County high school graduates.
The South Florida Ford and Lincoln dealers are committed to continue supporting South Florida students with their post secondary education, especially during difficult economic times. The 50 Miami-Dade County scholarship winners were honored recently at the 21st annual Salute to Education Scholarship Awards Luncheon that took place at The Signature Grand. There also were 50 winners chosen from Broward County.
“We recognize the tremendous potential in the students within the South Florida community and we are committed to helping them pursue their dreams of a higher education,” said David Menten, president of Salute to Education and president of Sawgrass Ford. “With the consistent rise in college tuition, students have come to rely on scholarships like ours to help fund their schooling.
“Although we still live in challenging economic times, the South Florida Ford and Lincoln dealers are still committed to continue granting scholarships and assisting high school seniors in South Florida with their educational goals.”
Salute to Education Inc., established in 1994, is a non-profit organization funded through dealership contributions and corporate support from Ford Motor Company divisions. Salute to Education is one of the largest private scholarship programs in South Florida and has awarded nearly $3.7 million in scholarships to more than 4,100 deserving public and private high school seniors in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Following are the names of area Salute to Education Scholarship winners separated by school and the category in which they won the scholarship:
• Archimedean Upper Conservatory, Mariacarla Doval, Natural Sciences;
• Booker T. Washington High, Lucia Solano, Leadership Service; Taylohr Alexis, Performing Arts & Visual Arts;
• Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Cristina Villena, Foreign Language & Language Arts; Sofia Carratala, Leadership Service;
• Coral Gables High, Maria Arroyave, Leadership Service;
• Coral Reef High, Claudio Martinez, Leadership Service;
• Felix Varela High, Kayla Cerezo, Natural Sciences;
• G. Holmes Braddock High, Joyce Caba, Athletics;
• John A. Ferguson High, Ernesto Rosales, Leadership Service;
• MAST Academy, Daniela Garcia, Mathematical Sciences/Computer Sciences;
• Miami Killian High, Michelle Goldgewicht, Foreign Language & Language Arts;
• Miami Palmetto High, Sajni Persad, Leadership Service;
• Miami Senior High School, Erick Morales, Mathematical Sciences/Computer Sciences;
• New World School of the Arts, Katie Camero, Performing Arts & Visual Arts;
• South Dade High, David Lester, Leadership Service Jared Worthley, Natural Sciences;
• Southwest Miami High, Reinaldo Perez, Foreign Language & Language Arts;
• St. Brendan School, Cristina Fernandez, Foreign Language & Language Arts, and
• TERRA Environmental Research Institute, Samantha Esposito, Performing Arts & Visual Arts.
