Two 2016 FON Scholarship & Award Winners at Big Bend

Jennifer Dominguez a Warden High School senior and BBCC Running-Start student was selected as a Pearl M. Hill Memorial Scholarship Recipient.  Only two Upward Bound students from Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Alaska were selected for this award worth $750.00.  Jennifer will receive her check directly and be recognized next month at the Northwest Association for Educational Opportunity Programs (NAEOP) Conference in Boise, Idaho.

Pearl Hill was an Upward Bound student at the University of Oregon in Eugene who later became the Director of the Upward Bound program there.  She served in that position for 24 years helping hundreds of first generation and low-income students gain access to a college education.  Pearl’s passion for her work lead her to become the founding president of the Northwest Association of Special Programs (now called NAEOP) which is the regional association of TRiO programs in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.  She also was a member of the founding committee of TRiO’s national association known as the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE).  Pearl served as its first secretary and sat on its founding board of directors. Pearl remained active in TRiO until she died in 1999. 

The first Pearl M. Hill Memorial Scholarship was awarded in 2002 with a BBCC TRiO Upward Bound student earning the first scholarship.  A BBCC TRiO Upward Bound student has earned this scholarship 12 times out of the 15 years it has been offered.

We also received confirmation that Kimberly Bachman is a recipient of the Scholastic Achievement Award worth $1,500. Kimberly is a TRiO Upward Bound senior at Moses Lake High School and a full-time Running-Start student at BBCC. She is our program’s first recipient of this scholarship as it is open to all TRiO programs in the Northwest. She too will receive a check directly and will be recognized at the upcoming NAEOP conference.

Many students who earn scholarships don’t receive the money directly and it is handled the through the financial aid office so the fact they get the money next month is so helpful because they can use it towards the college housing deposit and college confirmation fees this spring.

We are so proud of these young ladies and the commitment they have made to achieving a higher education.

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