by Dan Evans on 2015-05-04

Seniors from 40 San Bernardino County high schools enrolled in Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) classes will be honored Thursday, May 7 at a recognition ceremony at California State University, San Bernardino. The students are part of a record graduating class of AVID seniors in the county numbering more than 2,000 this spring. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m., and the public is invited to attend. There is no admission fee. Among the students to be honored at the recognition ceremony will be 19 county seniors who will receive scholarships from California State University, San Bernardino; University of California, Riverside; the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation; and Riverside, Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino (RIMS) AVID. The Gates Millennium Foundation scholarship winners have not yet been announced. AVID is an international education program that began in San Diego and targets students in the academic middle who have a willingness to work toward college acceptance. Typically, AVID students are the first in their families to attend college, and many are from low-income or minority families. The following county student earned a scholarship from Cal State San Bernardino: Jose Valadez of San Bernardino High School. UC Riverside’s scholarship has been awarded to Hamad Jaharah of Fontana High School. The following county students honored as Dell Scholars are: Krystel Beltran and Gabriela Trujillo of Kaiser High; Cassidy Cox of Fontana High; Andrea Gonzalez of Eisenhower High; Alexis Guerra of San Gorgonio High; Esmeralda Ibarra Nis of Chaffey High; and Anh Nguyen of Middle College High. The following county students earned scholarships from RIMS AVID: Carolina Armenta of Pacific High; Melissa Brito of San Bernardino High; Veronica Cabrera of Chaffey High; Sabrina Cordero of Carter High; Marc Garcia and Kelsey Mann of Kaiser High; Hamad Jaharah and Marcos Serrano-Herrera of Fontana High; Guillermo Ortega of Colton High; and Mellisha Stokes of Oak Hills High.