The Spanish American Club, Inc. – Spanish American Club Community Outreach

Scholarship Award

By Herman Santa

For the 24th straight year, the Spanish American Club, Inc. continues its mission of preserving the Hispanic heritage and community commitment in supporting Hispanic students of Martin and St. Lucie counties.

This year’s winners were Barbara Moreno of Stuart, Moriah Weir of Ft. Pierce, Jennifer Arriola of Ft. Pierce, Gabriela Garcia of Ft. Pierce and Dayana Espinosa of Ft. Pierce.

Barbara Moreno was born in Venezuela. Her parents, Luis Moreno was born in Venezuela, and her mother Monica also was born in Venezuela. Barbara attended Clark Advanced Learning Center in Stuart. She will attend Florida International University and will major in Biomedical Engineering. She would like to pursue a career as an Engineer.

Moriah Weir was born in Manhattan, New York. Her parents, Michael Weir was born in Jamaica, and her mother Jackie Weir was born in Trinidad. Moriah attended Fort Pierce Central High School. She will attend the University of Florida and will major in Journalism and Mass Communication. She would like to pursue a career in Broadcast Journalism.

Jennifer Arriola was born in Ft. Pierce, Florida. Her father, Sergio Arriola is from Matagalpa, Nicaragua and her mother Maria De Sales Marcos is from Oaxaca, Mexico. Jennifer attended Westwood High School. She will attend Florida Southern College and will major in Political Science with a minor in Pre-Law. She would like to pursue a career as an immigration Attorney. She will also be part of the Army ROTC program at Florida Southern.

Gabriela Garcia was born in Ft. Pierce, Florida. Her parents, José Garcia and María Garcia were born in Mexico. Gabriela attended Fort Pierce Central. She will attend University of Florida and will major in Health Science with a Pre-Medicine Track. She would like to pursue a career as an Orthopedic Surgeon.

Dayana Espinosa was born in Ft Pierce. Her parents, Gilberto and Maria Espinosa are from Mexico. Dayana attended Westwood High School. She will attend Florida Indian River State College and will major in the Medical Field. She would like to pursue a career as a Nurse.

This year scholarship committee Chair Nancy Rozon with Co-chairs Fe Valderuten and Ron Bryson did a magnificent job selecting the students and running the program smoothly. This year The Spanish American Club, Inc. board of directors are: Ruben Aleman; president, Nancy Rozon; vice president, Luis Carrillo; treasurer, Al Feliciano; secretary, Ray Guadalupe; public relations, Isa Bryson; director and Carlos Mejia; substitute.

The scholarship was established in 1992 for low-income Hispanic students. Since then, the club has awarded scholarships to 43 High School Seniors. Over the past 24 years, the club has awarded more than $28,000 in scholarships to the Hispanic senior of Martin and St. Lucie counties. The board raises money for the scholarships by having monthly dance parties and organizes other events such as picnics, cruises, bowling, golf and dominoes tournaments to raise funds for the scholarship and to run the club.