Clovis Unified Hosts 2021 Students of Promise Awards

Clovis High School’s Montray Skinner, is one of the recipients of the 2021 Students of Promise scholarships. (CUSD YouTube)

Since 2001, Clovis Unified has awarded and recognized high school juniors with The Students of Promise scholarship for those who have shown responsibility and success despite challenges faced in their personal lives such as homelessness, abuse, loss of a guardian, foster care, or critical illness.

On April 22, 16 juniors in Clovis Unified were awarded the $2,000 dollar scholarship as a form of encouragement to stay in school and to keep pursuing their dreams of furthering their education.

On the Foundation For Clovis Schools website, it states that a Student of Promise doesn’t need to meet specific requirements to be selected as a nominee or awardee for this scholarship.

“A Student of Promise may not be a 4.0 student, a star athlete or the most well-known student on campus. Some have to work very hard to keep that “C” average and to get to school most days. Considering some of the events in their lives, they are doing a tremendous job,” the website states.

Juniors at each high school in Clovis Unified can be nominated for the scholarship by their teachers, counselors or an employee on staff.

Once nominated, the Foundation Directors then select students based on their tenacity and courage as award recipients of the scholarship.

Each year, honorees are celebrated in the spring at a dinner event alongside their family, friends, teachers, administrators and the Foundation Directors, but due to COVID-19 the event has been postponed until the following year where 2021 Student of Promise recipients will be honored alongside the scholarships 2022 recipients in a combined celebration.

The Foundations for Clovis Schools created a video highlighting each of the scholarships awardees which can be watched on their website which shares staff testimonies and photos of all 16 students awarded the scholarship.

“Every year the Foundation for Clovis Schools honors a group of remarkable high school juniors who have faced seemingly insurmountable challenges,” the video states.

“These students show us the power of determination and drive.”

2021 Student of Promise Scholarship Recipients categorized by high school

Gateway
Micaela Villa Sanchez

Buchanan
Crispine Garcia Espinosa
Knox Folsom

Clovis High
Dakota Dean
Taryn Anderson
Montray Skinner
Donovan Dean

Clovis West
Logan Earheart
Victor Guerrero

Clovis North
Heaven Vallejos
Alexis Foshee

Clovis East
Brielle Aguilar
Arijana Laird
Serenity Jones
Robert Flath
Dennis Cardenas

Halle Sembritzki was born in the small Swedish village of Kingsburg, California and graduated from Kingsburg High School in 2017. She now attends Fresno State and will graduate with her Bachelor’s in Multimedia Journalism in spring 2021. She aspires to use her voice as an outlet for those who can’t use their own and hopes to educate the public on important news topics happening within her community and the country.