Virginia Smith Trust recognizes 15 Honor Scholars at Annual Dinner Celebration

Families and educators gathered at the MCOE Downtown Center yesterday, May 4, to celebrate 15 Virginia Smith Trust (VST) honor scholar students at the annual awards dinner.

Honor scholars represented multiple high schools in the City of Merced, including Merced High School, Golden Valley High School and El Capitan High School. Each VST Honor Scholar is awarded a $20,000 scholarship, distributed over the course of four years in $5,000 annual installments. Honor scholars were selected based on the highest scores they received by the VST committee. 

The event featured remarks from each honor scholar recipient in addition to County Superintendent of School’s Dr. Steve Tietjen, who also serves as the Trust advisor.

To qualify for the VST scholarship, applicants must be high school seniors with a minimum 3.0 GPA who have attended school within the City of Merced for at least three years. Students must also plan to attend a four-year university in California and demonstrate that they are of worthy and deserving character as well as in need of financial support, as outlined in Virginia Smith’s will. 

In addition to the 15 honor scholars, 387 students also met the criteria for the VST grant this year. A total of $487,000 will be awarded in scholarships for the 2026-27 school year and $154,800 in grants. 

Since its inception in 1975, the Virginia Smith Trust has generated $7.2 million in scholarships and grants for more than 4,000 Merced students.