Scholarships Exceed $700,000 for PSUSD Graduates

Students among the more than 1,600 graduates in Palm Springs Unified’s class of 2018 earned more than $700,000 in scholarships from local organizations to help defray post-secondary education costs.

Cathedral City High School graduates were awarded a total of nearly $201,000 ranging from $250 to $14,000. This does not include awards directly from colleges and universities to incoming students. In addition to the community and university-awarded scholarships, CCHS graduate Sadrac Camacho received a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Chicago (totaling over $278,000) from the Questbridge National College Match. Five CCHS students also received TheDream.us scholarship, which provides up to $29,000 annually to DREAMers pursuing a bachelor’s degree at a partner university.

A total of 58 members of Desert Hot Springs High School’s graduating class received scholarships totaling $118,350 from 18 local organizations.

Palm Springs High’s seniors were awarded over $277,000 in scholarships. In addition, the PSHS class of 2018’s Isabella Lanca received a $200,000 NROTC scholarship to the University of San Diego.

Rancho Mirage High School’s graduating class received nearly $149,000 in local scholarships with individual awards ranging from $250 to $13,000. RMHS also had a Gates Scholarship recipient. Erika Gutierrez, who will be attending UC Berkeley, was one of just 300 students in the nation who received an all-expenses-paid scholarship for four years.

In addition to scholarships awarded by community civic and professional organizations to District students, the Foundation for PSUSD also manages and administers individual scholarships at various levels through community donors.

“As the Foundation has grown and become more visible in the community, individuals in the Valley who are looking for investment strategies that benefit youth have increasingly sought out the Foundation as a partner in getting scholarship gift monies to appropriate, deserving students,” said Foundation Director Ellen Goodman.

This year, the Foundation awarded a total of over $27,000 to four Cathedral City High students through the Bianca Gambi Bequest, $1,000 to a Palm Springs High student tor the Letha Cote Latin Scholarship and the Jerry Argovitz Sports Institute scholarship for $5,000 to a Rancho Mirage High student.

The Palm Springs Leadership Association (PSLA) comprised or administrators and managers from PSUSD also awarded six $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors of PSUSD staff members.