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Seniors Collect College Scholarships, Awards
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Oakdale High School held its 43rd Annual Senior Scholarship and Award Night on May 10 at the Bianchi Community Center. Student Body President Elise Derby and Senior Class President Kailey Fisicaro served as the Mistresses of Ceremony.

OHS Career and Scholarship Technician Leticia Salas reported that just over $109,000 was raised in scholarship money, with 248 total scholarship pledges.

She added that there were three new scholarships offered this year: the Elmo and Alice Garcia Senior Scholarship, the Lowell C. “Doc” Dorius DVM Scholarship sponsored by the Cowboy Museum, and the Hans H. Boggs Memorial Scholarship.

“Our community is amazing and continually supports our students. We are so grateful of the generosity of our donors,” Salas said.

OHS college counselor Denise Hitch told the audience that some students had a friendly competition with each other to see who could apply for the most scholarships, some even applied for all the scholarships that required essays.

“One a week is all we ask,” said Hitch in regards to students applying for scholarships. “…Applying for scholarships is work, especially for busy seniors.”

Students who collected several scholarships each that night were, Julie Bolme for music, Greg Borba and Lainey Smith for Ag related scholarships, Robert Anderson, Jaime Lahey, and Amy Peterson for academic, sports, or community service excellence. Daniel Dunning received the Leo Volz Scholarship, a four-year full-ride scholarship to the college of his choice.

“Our 43rd award night is the accumulation of all the preparation and work we do to ensure our students have opportunities to gain financial assistance to help their educational endeavors, scholarships are a free gift of money,” Salas said. “We use our motto constantly to encourage our students to apply for ‘one a week.’ The financial reward is evident in the students who consistently came into the Counseling Office, filled out applications, wrote essays, and met the deadlines.”