Outstanding Graduates Awarded $82,000 From Comcast

Portland, May 31st, 2014. The Comcast Foundation honored 65 Oregon and SW Washington high school seniors with $82,000 in Comcast Leaders and Achievers® scholarships at the Portland World Trade Center. More than 150 guests attended including 48 students. Fourteen students are from the city of Portland and 30 students are from the Portland Metro Area.

Each student received $1,000 scholarships for higher education. Fifteen students also won iPads to help with their studies, including five from the Portland Metro Area, and three students received additional Comcast Founder’s scholarship. Abigail Pasion (Roosevelt High School, Portland, OR) and Morgan Baker (R.A. Long High School, Longview, WA) were each awarded $4,000 Comcast Founder’s scholarships which brought their total scholarships to $5,000 each. Jazmin Cruz (South Salem High School, Salem, OR) was awarded a $9,000 Comcast Founder’s Scholarship which brought her scholarship total to $10,000.

Abigail Pasion from Roosevelt High School has been involved in several activities including student government, theatre, and SUN Community Schools. After working with Global Citizens Corps in 2012, Abigail created the program RISE: Reaching Individual Success through Education. It is a peer-run group designed to increase and sustain the percentage of college-bound youth in the St. Johns area of Portland.

Honored students and guests heard from Rodrigo Lopez, Comcast Oregon & SW Washington regional vice president; Mark Lewis, director of STEM for the Oregon Education Investment Board; and Vanessa Dominguez, 2013 Comcast Founders’ scholarship recipient and Oregon State University undergraduate student. 

Recognizing the exceptional academic commitment and community involvement of the students, Rodrigo Lopez joked, “I’d be embarrassed to tell you my community involvement when I was your age.” Mark Lewis commended their leadership and role-modeling in school, noting that “education is a collective responsibility.” Vanessa Dominguez reminded students, “when the going gets tough, just keep on swimming.” Citing her continued community involvement as youth director of Momentum Alliance, she encouraged students to keep up with community service despite possible challenges in adjusting to college life.

“These students are great leaders. They will surely continue to make change happen in their schools and communities by their own actions and the examples they set for their peers,” remarked Rodrigo Lopez.

The Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program provides $1,000 scholarships to students who strive to achieve their potential, who are catalysts for positive change in their communities, who are involved in their schools, and who serve as models for their fellow students. The philosophy behind the program is to give young people every opportunity to prepare for the future and to engage them in their communities. The program also demonstrates the importance of civic involvement, and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community.

To date, Comcast has awarded more than $21.6 million to nearly 21,000 Leaders and Achievers Scholarship winners.

2014-2015 OREGON AND SW WASHINGTON LEADERS AND ACHIEVERS® SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS – PORTLAND METRO AREA (*Asterisk notes iPad winner)

 

Student Name	High School	High School City
Jackilyn Ammons	Milwaukie High School	Milwaukie, OR
Emilia Anderson	Forest Grove High School	Forest Grove, OR
Enat Arega	De La Salle North Catholic High School	Portland, OR
Megan  Barnes	St. Helens High School	St. Helens, OR
*Mitchell Booth	Sam Barlow High School	Gresham, OR
Abigail Bueno Penate	Centennial Park School	Portland, OR
Heriberto Chavez Bolanos	Hillsboro High School	Hillsboro, OR
Diana Delgado	Tigard High School	Tigard, OR
Max Denning	Parkrose High School	Portland, OR
*Valerie Huang	Southridge High School	Beaverton, OR
Tierra Johansen	David Douglas High School	Portland, OR
Emily Kimball	Scappoose High School	Scappoose, OR
Mai Le	Grant High School	Portland, OR
Sienna  Li	St. Mary’s Academy	Portland, OR
*Justin Low	Oregon City High School	Oregon City, OR
*Ashleigh Miller-Hayes	Franklin High School	Portland, OR
Jacquelyn Nelson	Centennial High School	Gresham, OR
Phuong Uyen Nguyen	Benson Polytechnic High School	Portland, OR
Thony Nguyen	Jefferson High School	Portland, OR
Alicia Nunziato	Gresham High School	Gresham, OR
Abigail Pasion	Roosevelt High School	Portland, OR
Jennifer Pedro Miguel	The NAYA Early College Academy	Portland, OR
Zachariah Petett	Lincoln High School	Portland, OR
Hao Pham	Century High School	Hillsboro, OR
*Liam Reese	Wilson High School	Portland, OR
Beatriz Rendon Bautista	Reynolds High School	Troutdale, OR
Jesse Rojo	Glencoe High School	Hillsboro, OR
Kierra Rowan	Wilsonville High School	Wilsonville, OR
Kricia Ruano	Aloha High School	Beaverton, OR
Meuy Saechao	Madison High School	Portland, OR

Connect with the scholarship winners at www.facebook.com/ComcastLeadersandAchievers. Explore and “like” Comcast in the community at www.facebook.com/WePowerDreams.

The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified nonprofit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities—promoting community service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow’s leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $130 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.