Graduation Announcements

Congratulations to the following Scholars for successfully completing their undergraduate degree this Spring! We are immensely proud of each of you and are honored to call you Simon Scholar Alumni. While we were unable to join you in person on your big day, please know that we were there with you in spirit and cheering for you from afar. It has been a pleasure watching each of you grow into the people you are today, and we look forward to seeing the future that unfolds for you. 

Class of 2016 High School Graduates:

Congratulations to the following Scholars who graduated high school this Spring and are now entering college! These students were honored during our first official Simon Scholars Graduation Ceremony, held at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque on May 7, 2016. Alumnus Aurelio Corral served as the Master of Ceremonies for this inaugural event. Please keep an eye out for these Scholars on your campus this fall and welcome them to your communities!
 

Capital High School                                                                 Santa Fe High School
Jose Andazola: University of New Mexico                            Isaiah Wilder: University of New Mexico    
Taylor Tyndall: University of New Mexico                              Octavio Zambrano: University of New Mexico
Selma Gutierrez: St. Edward's University (TX)                    Mia Garcia: Loyola University - Chicago
Selina Fernandez: St. Edward's University (TX)                                                                                                         Lesley Estrada Diaz: SF Community College 
                                                               

South Valley Academy                                                             Albuquerque High School
Luis Pulido: New Mexico State University                              Arabella Valdes: University of New Mexico
Justin Krawic: University of New Mexico                                Imelda Nevarez: University of Denver
A.J. Granados: Cornell College (IA)
Jasmain Rodriguez: St. Edward’s University (TX)

Scholar Highlights

In preparation for creating these newsletters, we have the opportunity to reach out to our College Scholars and Alumni to gather stories of  your recent and noteworthy accomplishments. It is always rewarding and inspiring to hear what you are up to! Please let us know throughout this semester if have an accomplishment or announcement you would like to share with everyone!

Welcome Class of 2018 Simon Scholars!

This spring, we had the honor of welcoming the following students to the Simon Scholars family. As always, we received many more applications from amazing students than we were able to accept into the program. Our alumni Marilyn Cisneros, Aurelio Corral and Janeth Santos served on the selection committee and offered invaluable input throughout the process.  Thank you for your contribution!
 

Capital High School                                      Santa Fe High School
Anna Martinez                                                  Alyssa Pena
Gabriella Rodriguez                                         Diego Herrera
John Sotelo                                                      Gabriel Lopez
Jordan Quintana                                              Sakara Griffin
 

Albuquerque High School                            Native American Community Academy
Carlos Loera                                                     Reshawn Edison
Leticia Jiminez                                                   Shaylee Skidmore
Sergio Grajeda
Yamileth Vazquez
 

West Mesa High School                                 South Valley Academy
Brandon Trevizo                                                 Alejandro Rivera
Gabriela Gaspar                                                Genesis Gordiano
Serina Chavez                                                    Maribel Montes

Alumni Updates

College Engagement and Alumni Program

As demonstrated above, we have a long-standing tradition of utilizing our College Scholars and Alumni in our high school program. Our Scholars and Alumni have worked as tutors and retreat staff, assisted with workshops, served on the Selection Committee, assisted with planning group gatherings, and given back to the program in any way they can. We are grateful for your time and continued interest in the Simon Scholars Program, and moving forward, we would like to create more opportunities for you to engage with our High School Scholars and one another. This tradition of service and strong sense of community is, we believe, what differentiates Simon Scholars from other programs, and we want to capitalize on this strength.

Our vision for the Simon Scholars Program is that, over time, it will become largely Scholar driven and operated. In order to bring this to fruition, we need your input! During this academic year, we can foresee many opportunities for our College Scholars and Alumni to continue serving in the ways that you have in the past, and we can also foresee some new/expanded opportunities. We are also interested in providing opportunities for you to develop and practice your leadership and facilitation skills, as we believe that these skills will serve you in whatever professional path you choose. But most importantly, we want to hear what you would like to do in your capacity as a Simon Scholar college student and alum.

Early in this semester, we would like to host a gathering for any Scholars and Alumni who are interested in helping us identify the ways in which you would like to contribute to the program this year. We have discussed the possibility of developing a Simon Scholar Advisory Group, and if there is enough interest among you, then this gathering could be our first step in that direction. We have added most of you to our Facebook College Scholar and Alumni Groups, and we plan use this tool more this year given our early success with it. Please stay tuned for more news and updates!