Spring Branch Education Foundation doles out 149 scholarships worth $177,675

Some 58 SBISD seniors recently received $1,000 scholarships from the SBEF Employee Campaign. Some 58 SBISD seniors recently received $1,000 scholarships from the SBEF Employee Campaign. Photo: Spring Branch Education Foundation Photo: Spring Branch Education Foundation Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Spring Branch Education Foundation doles out 149 scholarships worth $177,675 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Thanks to the Spring Branch Education Foundation many area students will have a boost in paying for their advanced education next year.

A record 149 Spring Branch Independent School District seniors received a total of $177,675 in scholarships at the SBEF 2017 Bright Stars of SBISD, Celebrating Academic Excellence awards program on May 18 at The Westin Houston, Memorial City.

The event honored scholarship recipients as well as 2016-17 Teachers and Principals of the Year.

"These seniors and educators are stand-outs who represent the many bright stars in Spring Branch ISD," SBEF Executive Director Cece Thompson said. "It's a privilege to recognize them."

"The evening is not just another opportunity to award higher education scholarships," Warren Matthews, SBEF board member and Scholarship Committee chair, said. "We publicly pay tribute to our seniors for their achievements and also to the educators and district employees who have helped prepare our honorees for the next stage of their lives.

"We are especially proud of the community's help in making this possible. While we received a record number of scholarship applications this year, we also had several donors wanting to award a scholarship to each qualified applicant. An anonymous donor family stepped up to the plate with an additional $10,000 donation, and Nexen Petroleum USA donated another $5,000 to boost our scholarship funds over the top. We are grateful the community places such value on our graduates."

Throughout the school year, Spring Branch ISD staff members contribute to the SBEF Employee Campaign, funding scholarships for SBISD graduates who are children of district employees. When employees were asked in August 2016 to contribute to SBEF's 2016-17 Employee Campaign scholarship fund, they eagerly responded.

"The response was so great we awarded a $1,000 scholarship to every applicant - 58 graduates," Thompson said.

Community members who wish to support scholarship programs are invited to make tax-deductible donations to the Foundation and earmark it for scholarships. Call 713-251-2381 or visit sbef@springbranchisd.com for more information.

Recipients

Employee Campaign Scholarship, $1,000

Memorial High School: Kyle Culver, Riley Culver, Carson DeVaney, Rebecca Michelle Hail, Lynette Marie Leal, Joseph Quinn Ledgard, Maria Daniela Serrano Martinez, Anthony Quinn Tomaro McCall, Jasmine Norton, Austin Peterson, Katherine Reese, Ulf Rieder, Gladys Sofia Isart Ruiz

Northbrook High School: Sydney Giselle Lopez, Erik Rodriguez, Anthony Andres Santos

Spring Woods High School: Bruce Beth, Cole Everett Brast, Amanda Cerda, Michael Ethan Gallagher, Maritza Hernandez, Amanda Lee, Hannah Morphey, Daria Ostrovsky, Alejandro Patino, Yuliana Razo, Hector Rodriguez, Brittany Schneider, Quinn Richard Walstead, Karah Welch

Stratford High School: Hani Ahmad, Emma Barden, Andrew Nicholas Demeris, Darius Benjamin Dixon, Mark Duna, Samantha Englund, Samuel Evetts, Katelyn Hamilton, Madeleine Hay, Sol Herrera, Blake Elizabeth Machen, Courtney McCord, Donavon Rixie, Rachel Miriam Stone, Riley Timmreck, Nomaris Velez, Megan Weaver

Westchester Academy for International Studies: Elizabeth Aldana, Alyssa Barry, Isabella Boone, Akashsai Chella, Lorena Del Toro, Assael Guzman Monreal, Roldan Santiago Moreno, Karizbet De La Paz-Castillo, Mario Sifuentes, Raman Srivastava, Samantha Jane Verduzco

Other scholarships

Other scholarships were presented to SBISD graduates by individuals or organizations, funded through SBEF.

Advocates for Education Scholarship, $1,000

Arushi Guddanti – Memorial High School

Celeste Gonzalez, LaSean Roy – Spring Woods High School

Kellan Cerveny, Jessica DeVlieger, Theodore Kimana, Claire Lewis, Justin Moore, Shaima Taheri, Paige Wright – Stratford High School

Warren Barfield Memorial Scholarship, $1,000

Patrick Lewis – Stratford High School

Andres Bautista Memorial Scholarship, $1,000

Jessica Aguilar, Alfredo Aguiluz – Spring Woods High School

Sarah Chidgey Memorial Scholarship, $4,000

Salma Almasri – Stratford High School

Daniel Rahimzadeh – Westchester Academy for International Studies

CITGO STEM Scholarship, $1,000

Breanna Alvarez, Emily Ellis, Jung Woo Park, Andrew Su – Memorial High School

Jillian Ebanks, Rebekah LeMaire – Spring Woods High School

Mays Al-maliki, Mehmet Felek, Adam El-Tablawy, Ernest Kohnke, Heavin Oh, Mackenzie Schlief – Stratford High School

Kalman Mahlich, Grace Tran, Gregoria Uroza – Westchester Academy for International Studies

Melvin Eldridge Memorial Scholarship, $1,000

Ruiyang Liu, Sydney Milanesi – Memorial High School

Friends Scholarship, $1,000

Anali Alejandra Cervantes – Stratford High School

Frostwood Elementary PTA Scholarship, $1,000

Daniel Fonseka – Memorial High School

Goldstein Altman Scholarship, $2,000

Elizabeth Bik, Amelia Caven, Lan Ly Nguyen, Davis Palmie – Memorial High School

Dr. Hal Guthrie Memorial Scholarship, $1,000

Rachel Lootens – Memorial High School

Hunters Creek Elementary PTA Scholarship, $1,000

Wesley Jones – Stratford High School

Sylvia Kirkland Scholarship, $1,000

Zachary Harkins – Stratford High School

Shirley Bales Lincoln Memorial Scholarship, $1,675

Katelyn Coolidge – Westchester Academy for International Studies

Meadow Wood Elementary PTA Scholarship, $1,000

Travis White – Stratford High School

Memorial City Mall Scholarship, $6,000

Katie Dickerson, Katherine Linda Pietsch Koslan – Spring Woods High School

Memorial Middle PTA Scholarship, $1,000

William Donald Ellis III – Memorial High School

Monica Neubauer Memorial Scholarship, $1,000

Samantha Stinson, John William Tucker – Memorial High School

Rachel Pendray Memorial Scholarship, $1,000

Pamela Ortiz Hernandez, Huybinh Ma, Tam Tran – Spring Woods High School

Prosperity Bank Scholarship, $1,500

Ludguin Ruiz Garcia – Northbrook High School

Lary Reap Memorial Scholarship, $1,000

Diana Campos Flores – Northbrook High School

Rummel Creek Elementary PTA Scholarship, $2,500

Joshua Chan, Jessica Sheldon – Stratford High School

Shadow Oaks Elementary PTA Scholarship, funded by Valley Oaks Elementary PTA, $1,000

Ericka Reyes – Spring Woods High School

Spring Branch Education Foundation Scholarship, $1,000

Alexis Bennett, Guadalupe Flores, James Herrington, Brian Kim, Holly Kurisky, Sarah Murchison, Melanie Rodriguez-Mejia – Memorial High School

Lizbeth Galicia, Genesis Godinez, Estefania Castro Ramon – Northbrook High School

Matthew Gilmore, Dean Ramirez – Spring Woods High School

Andrew Christopher Ferguson, Jacob Harrison Finkelstein, Alexis Gervasio, Adam Glover, Oriana Molleda, Alice Morse, KenAsia Woods, Camila Zapater – Stratford High School

Spring Branch Education Foundation Young Leaders Scholarship, $1,000

Dominique Anderson-Rivera – Spring Woods High School

Ronnie Johnson, Jordan Meza – Stratford High School

Spring Branch Lions Club Scholarship, $1,000

Joshua Bryant Arnold – Northbrook High School

Liliana Rodriguez – Spring Woods High School

Spring Branch Middle School PTA Scholarship, $1,000

Samuel Chase Gonsoulin – Northbrook High School

Spring Forest Middle School PTA Scholarship, $1,000

Madison Aycock – Stratford High School

Stratford Senior High PTSA Sister School Scholarship, $1,000

Juana Erik Gamarra Zambrano – Northbrook High School

Valley Oaks Elementary PTA Scholarship, $1,000

Johnny Kaldis – Memorial High School

Judy Weisend Memorial Scholarship, $1,000

Luis Nucette – Stratford High School

Wells Fargo & Company Scholarship, $1,000

Toni Pavlovic – Stratford High School

Wilchester Elementary PTA Scholarship, $1,000

Jacqueline Miriam White – Stratford High School

Wilchester Men's Club Scholarship, $2,500

Caroline Crawford, Hannah Pruitt, Heream Yang – Stratford High School