LAKEPORT >> A dozen Lake County students have received the Mendocino College Foundation”s Adopt-A-Fifth Grader award.
The annual program is designed to motivate young students to start thinking about graduating from high school and attending Mendocino College, according to Katie Fairbairn, Mendocino College Foundation, Inc. executive director.
Student recipients were Ana Gonzalez, Erick Bucio and Luis Mosqueda from Kelseyville Elementary School; Deeya Kaylan and Emma Shafter from Lucerne Elementary School; Samantha Carter and Sandra Vital from Riviera Elementary School; Evan Coakley, Jasper Ford and Joy Ingall from Terrace Elementary School, and Treppa Marcks and Maria Tinoco from Upper Lake Elementary School.
Representatives from the Lake County Friends of Mendocino College (LCFMC) attended each adopted school”s awards ceremony and presented recipients with a $25 check and a certificate stating that a scholarship in the amount of $1,000 will be awarded when the student obtains a high school diploma and enrolls as a full-time student at Mendocino College for at least one semester. If the student earns a high school diploma but does not enroll at Mendocino College, he or she will receive a $500 award, Fairbairn stated.
Donors contribute $700 for each fifth-grade student they “adopt” at one of the elementary schools within the college district. The foundation then invests the funds at an average return of 7 percent per year, which will grow to $1,000 by the time the fifth grader graduates from high school, Fairbairn stated.
“The foundation believes so strongly in this program that they guarantee the $1,000 scholarship even if the rate of return is lower than the projected 7 percent,” Richard Cooper, foundation president, stated.
Donors include Kelseyville Sunrise Rotary Club, five adoptions; Lakeport Rotary Club, two adoptions; Mendo Lake Credit Union, three adoptions; and one adoption from the LCFMC, Mark and Kathy Smith, Dick Eschenbach, The Law Offices of Mary Heare Amodio and Judy F. Conard, Fairbairn stated.
For information about the Mendocino College Foundation or to participate in the program, call 467-1018 or visit foundation.mendocino.edu.
