Virginia Smith Trust Honor Scholars Recognized at Annual Dinner
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- VST
Virginia Smith Trust Honor Scholars Recognized at Annual Dinner
Education leaders and families gathered on May 6 to celebrate 16 Virginia Smith Trust honor scholars at the annual awards dinner, hosted at the MCOE Downtown Center.
Honor scholar recipients are awarded a $20,000 four-year scholarship disbursed in $5,000 per year. These applicants were scored highest by the VST committee out of the high school seniors who applied. Only high school seniors qualify for the honor scholarship.
The VST scholarship criteria requires applicants to be high school seniors at a Merced school, have at least a 3.0 GPA, attend school in the city of Merced for at least three years, plan to attend a four-year California university and demonstrate that they are worthy, deserving and in need of financial assistance, as stated in Virginia Smith’s will.
The awards dinner featured remarks from Merced County Superintendent of School’s Dr. Steve Tietjen, who also serves as the Trust Advisor, and guest speaker Don Bragonier, tennis coach at El Capitan High School and a longtime Merced businessman. Both congratulated students on the achievement and emphasized the importance of continuing Virginia Smith’s vision of academic excellence for students in Merced.
“Congratulations to all of our honor scholars for their incredible work inside and outside of the classroom,” said Tietjen. “We are thrilled to provide financial support to 16 of Merced’s outstanding young scholars and look forward to their future contributions to our community.”
Honor scholar recipients included students from Merced High, Golden Valley, El Capitan and Merced Scholars Charter School. Expansion of the VST’s capacity to serve students countywide was approved in 2023 and is projected to take effect by 2026.
In addition to 16 honor scholar recipients, 226 students met the criteria for the $500 VST grant this year. The Virginia Smith Trust has benefitted more than 4,000 Merced students through nearly $6.6 million in scholarships and grants.
For more information on VST, visit www.mcoe.org/vst.
- VST
