Scholarship Award 2016

May 31, 2016 sacitc Leave a comment

Spanish American Club awards three scholarships

By Herman Santa

From Left: Ariana M. Ramos, Nicholas Gomez and Alexia Cepeda.

For the 23rd 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 recipients are Nicholas Gomez, Ariana M. Ramos and Alexia Cepeda. The tough job of choosing the winners fell to members of the 2016 Scholarship Committee: Nancy Rozon, Fe Vall de Ruten and Melissa Sanchez.

Nicholas Gomez was born in Denville, New Jersey. His parents, Walter Gomez was born in Medellin, Colombia and Ana Maria Giraldo was born in Armenia, Colombia. Nicholas graduated from St. Lucie West Centennial High School in Port St. Lucie. He will attend University of Florida and will major in Engineering. He would like to pursue a career as an Engineer.

Ariana M. Ramos was born in Puerto Rico. Her parents, Raul Ramos and Iris Perez are both natives of Puerto Rico. Ariana graduated from Treasure Coast High School in Port St. Lucie. She will attend Indian River State College and will major in Criminal Justice. She would like to pursue a career as an Attorney.

Alexia Cepeda was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Her parents, Jose Vargas (Legal Guardian) was born in Mexico and Maria Oviedo was born in Mexico. Alexia graduated from St. Lucie West Centennial High School in Port St. Lucie. she will attend University of Central Florida and will major in Biology with a Pre-Med Track. She would like to pursue a career as an Obgyn.

The scholarship was established in 1992 for low-income Hispanic students. Since then, the club has awarded scholarships to 39 High School Seniors. Over the past 24 years, the club has awarded more than $24,000 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.