Tag Archives: EPISD Education Foundation

The EPISD Education Foundation announced Thursday that they had awarded $70,250 in scholarships to 72 members of the Class of 2020.

“The EPISD Education Foundation is grateful for the commitment of our donors who understand the great need to support the Class of 2020 during this unprecedented time,” said foundation president Russell Wiggs.

“We hope these scholarships help our recipients realize their college dreams.”

The total amount includes: the foundation’s traditional scholarships, STARS Foundation Scholarships, EPISD Council of PTA Scholarships, the Amalia Muro Scholarship, the Genevieve Gonzalez Scholarship, the Coach Lou Robustelli and the Del Norte Lion’s Club Scholarship.

The foundation last year began a partnership with the STARS Foundation, which matches the $1,000 foundation scholarship for students who have 12 credit hours of college.

Eighteen EPISD seniors received this scholarship.

Scholarships are made possible through the generosity of EPISD employees, partner funds and donors including: ABM, Engage2Learn, Jacobs Engineering, Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare, Hospitals of Providence, Teachers Federal Credit Union, Texas Gas Services, Mounce Green Myers Safi, Hilltop Securities, Norton Fulbright Rose, Piper Jaffray and Georgina Williams and the EPISD Council of PTAs.

All scholarships are for $1,000 unless otherwise noted with the exception of STARs, which will be matched. Below are the winners of the scholarships:

High-school seniors in the District will still receive scholarships from the EPISD Education Foundation in May even if the school closures prevent organizers from hosting award ceremonies.

“We had an overwhelming response from our seniors this year and remain committed to helping our seniors reach their college dreams,” said foundation president Russell Wiggs. “Given the current circumstances, we know our scholarships will be especially important to our seniors.”

Students who are selected as scholars can expect to get an emailed letter in May with details on how to access their scholarship to ensure their college or university receives the funds for the fall semester.

The EPISD Education Foundation’s biggest fundraiser – the annual District Address – was canceled this spring, but many of the sponsors and donors chose to continue their financial support to the foundation to support both scholarships and classroom grant programs.

“We are grateful for the businesses and our community partners who understand the financial need of our seniors – especially ABM, who committed $25,000 to the District Address,” said superintendent Juan E. Cabrera.  “Their outpouring of generosity and support for the Class of 2020 is humbling. It gives our seniors a glimmer of hope during this uncertain time.”

Sponsors include: ABM, Engage2Learn, Jacobs Engineering, Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare, Hospitals of Providence, Teachers Federal Credit Union, Texas Gas Services, Mounce Green Myers Safi, Hilltop Securities, Norton Fulbright Rose, Piper Jaffray and Georgina Williams and the EPISD Council of PTAs.

“We also are grateful for the employees of EPISD who participated in the Employee Giving Campaign in the fall,” Wiggs said. “Every dollar we receive makes a difference to our EPISD students and teachers.”

Other businesses or individuals interested in supporting EPISD Education Foundation’s scholarship fund can email foundation@episd.org.

That’s the word that prevented Mesita Elementary fifth grader Sheneli De Silva from winning the regional spelling bee in 2019, and it is the concept that finally helped her become the area’s top speller this year.

Sheneli on Friday beat out more than 150 spellers from west Texas and southern New Mexico to win the EPISD Education Foundation’s El Paso Regional Spelling Bee at Bowie High School. She will represent El Paso at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.

“I feel excited and happy and proud of myself because I practiced so hard and I get to go to Washington,” the 10-year-old said following her win.

Sheneli corrected spelled the word ‘montage’ to win on Friday after four rounds of spelling in the finals. Another EPISD student, Wiggs Middle School’s Isai Sanchez, was in a heated spell-off to earn third place in the contest.

The spelling champ, however, said she was happy with her performance and her parents credit her determination for her win.

“She reads a lot,” said her father Sohan De Silva. “We ask her to go to sleep ad she’s reading. She has her little light on … reading at night.”

Mesita Elementary reading teacher Monica Montes-Quiñonez coaches Sheneli and is hopeful that she will become the fifth El Pasoan to win the national spelling bee.

“She’s an amazing student who works really hard,” Montes-Quiñonez said. “I am so proud of her and happy for her family. They’re so kind and represent Mesita very well.”

Sheneli’s family immigrated from Sri Lanka to El Paso and speak Sinhalese at home. Sheneli also speaks English, Spanish and is studying Mandarin.

Getting to the finals of the regional spelling bee was no easy feat. She, along with about 60 other spellers qualified to the stage round of spelling by tackling a strenuous preliminary written test asking students to spell words like ‘paramecium,’ ‘maquillage’ and ‘lotophagi.’

During the finals, Sheneli kept calm and collected during the heated competition, correctly spelling ‘tabernacle,’ ‘joule,’ ‘ermine’ and ‘chrysalis’ before she spelled the championship word.

She will now begin preparation for the national spelling bee, and advises future local spellers approach their campus spelling bees with the same determination she did this year.

“Try your best. You can do it,” Sheneli said.

The judges for the 2020 spelling bee included El Paso Public Library Marketing and Customer Relations Coordinator Jack Galindo, El Paso Times Librarian Trish Long and El Paso County Human Resources Contract Administrator Michael Martinez.

The pronouncer for the competition was 2009 Spelling Bee winner Katie Stone, a grant writer for the non-profit organization Families and Youth, Inc.

The 76th edition El Paso Regional Spelling Bee was organized by the EPISD Education Foundation.

Story by Liliana Gonzalez  |  Photos by Leonel Monroy – EPISD

Teachers throughout the District are putting the EPISD Education Foundation grants they received to good use.

Irvin High School teacher Sonja Quintero used her extra funds to beef up her food science students’ food truck project and pay for their food handler’s certificates.

Quintero’s students showcase their knowledge and culinary skills during their annual showcase this week which required them to design a pint-sized food truck to display alongside a sample menu item. Sweet and savory smells of food truck fare filled the food science lab as students busily baked pizzas, made homemade tortillas for quesadillas, and made enchiladas, churros, Korean barbeque, sliders and other menu items.

“I had no idea we’d make such extensive food in this class,” said senior Dylan Brito, who made flan as part of his team’s food truck El Wuarito. “We have gotten to bond with each other over making food in general. It’s been fun.”

Quintero walked around the room checking out her students’ creativity – both from the building of their food trucks to the foods they cooked up. The extra funding from the foundation gave her program a boost this year, allowing her to pay for 50 students to receive food handler’s cards and extra equipment and materials for her classroom.

“Every little penny helps me because a lot of it I can just take out of my own pocket to cover what I need when I’m short,” Quintero said of her 2018 grant. “The foundation money was a great resource for me.”

The food handler’s certification gives the students more knowledge and an edge if they decide to start their own food truck or work in another area of the foodservice industry.

“For me it means, the certification means I have more experience and more extensive knowledge,” Brito said.

Chef Samuel Rivera Jr., a former Irvin student and chef at the Greenery, made his way to every food truck, tasting and talking to the student chefs. He asked questions, offered advice and ultimately judged them on taste and creativity.

“I’m super impressed by how organized the kids are at this age and how much they know. I’m so surprised that they were able to take them through sanitation class,” he said. “They’re above what I thought they would be when I got here. I’m super impressed by the children. It shows how good their teacher is.”

Quintero was one of more than 20 EPISD teachers to receive a foundation grant in 2018. Teachers needing up to $1,000 in their classroom to do an innovative project in 2019-20 school year have through June 17 to apply for a grant online.

Grants will be awarded in the fall.

Teacher Isabel Malone’s dream of creating an art club to foster the talents of her young students finally came to fruition this school year after she applied and was granted a Classroom Impact Grant from the EPISD Education Foundation.

The Powell Art Club meets regularly to allow fourth- and fifth-grade students to grow their talent using materials and tools bought through the grant.

Malone was one of 20 teachers to benefit from the Classroom Impact Grants last year.

“I wanted to be able to provide some motivation as well as a place to unwind and get creative,” Malone said. “I have zero art background and am influenced by my own experiences and ideas of how art can be freeing, experimental, and fun.  It relieves stress and tension and takes my mind off things.”

The students used a variety of media to design a silhouette of profile filled with images representing their likes including dogs, cartoon characters and other pop culture icons.

“My hope is that they take something away from their time in the Art Club that will stay with them, inspire them, and possibly pursue and explore more on their own,” Malone said.

Her students collaborated with each other, sharing the mediums and checking out each other’s work – all in tune to the to 1970s and 80s music playing in the background.

“I really enjoy it because I love to draw all the time I never get to show anyone my art, so this a way to show everybody my art,” said Sanjuana Herrera.

Fourth grader Taylor Ross enjoys the extra time to explore her creativity.

“I draw constantly,” she said. “I love drawing. When I go home I draw a lot. The club helps me learn about water colors and different materials you can use for art.”

Peyton Fry, also in fourth grade, likes that the club provides a no judgement zone.

“I like it because I’m able to draw whatever I like without being judged on what I want to draw or how I draw,” she said.

Malone plans to apply again to expand the program next year.

The Classroom Impact Grant application will be open April 5 through June 15. Teachers can apply for up to $1,000 to do an innovative project in their classroom. Grants recipients will be announced in September.

Go to episd.org/educationfoundation beginning April 5 for more information.

With the end of the 2018-19 school year rapidly approaching, Seniors in El Paso ISD have an important deadline regarding scholarships coming up on Friday.

The deadline to submit an application for the EPISD Education Foundation Scholarship and the STARS Scholarship is 4 p.m. Friday.

The EPISD Education Foundation expects to award more than $60,000 in college scholarships to the Class of 2019 this spring through two different scholarship opportunities.

This $1,000 scholarship is open to all EPISD graduating seniors.

The traditional EPISD Education Foundation Scholarship can be accessed online under the scholarship tab.

The Foundation this year has partnered with the STARS Foundation to offer scholarships with matching funds for seniors with at least 12 dual credit hours. EPISD STARS Scholarship recipients can receive $2,000 if they enroll at UTEP and $3,500 if they attend the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M.

“We are proud to join with the STARS Foundation to maximize our scholarship dollars and give our seniors more opportunities to fund their higher education,” said Foundation president Russell Wiggs. “Offering both the traditional EPISD Foundation and STARS Foundation scholarships will help us serve more seniors throughout EPISD.”

The EPISD Education Foundation has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to high school seniors throughout the District since its inception in 1994. All scholarships are restricted to furthering the student’s education including tuition, books, housing, and other related expenses.

All scholarships are awarded on a one-time basis. The application also can be accessed on the EPISD Education Foundation website.

Scholarship recipients will be announced in late April and awarded at a reception on in early May.

The EPISD Education Foundation visited 13 senior awards assemblies this year to surprise 67 graduating seniors with a $1,000 scholarship.

Board members awarded scholarships at all 10 traditional high schools, Silva Health Magnet, Transmountain Early College High School and the College, Career and Technology Academy delivering scholarships during graduation season.

“Every year, we look forward to the senior award assemblies and presenting scholarships to our students,” said Russell Wiggs, foundation president. “We’re happy to be able to play a little part in helping our students get a college education.”

The $70,000 included scholarships from the Foundation’s partner funds – the Irvin Alumni Association, Paso del Norte Foundation, Del Norte Lion’s Club, EPISD Council of PTAs and the Coach Archie Duran Memorial Scholarship.

All scholarships were for $1,000 with the exception of the two PTA Scholarships, which were $500 each.

“When I was awarded the Foundation Scholarship I was overjoyed,” said Michelle Paxon, a Silva Health Magnet graduate.

“This scholarship gave me hope to believe that there is a way for me to reach my dream – college. I have always planned to get into medical school, and I now understand that being able to achieve that dream requires a lot of money. With scholarships like the Foundation scholarship, I now know that there is hope towards reaching such a goal and I am thankful to have received this scholarship.”

Since 1994, the EPISD Education Foundation has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships in scholarship and grants to benefit EPISD students and teachers.

Scholarships are being made possible through the Foundation’s major sponsors: Engage to Learn, El Paso Electric, the Hospitals of Providence, Wet and Wild Waterworld, Hunt Family Foundation, Peter Piper Pizza, Teachers Federal Credit Union, Hellas, Jacobs, Imagine Learning, K-12 Insight, Gibson Ruddock Patterson and Mounce Green Myers.

Story by Reneé de Santos