MOSES LAKE - Big Bend Community College's Upward Bound students are receiving a staggering amount of education funding in national scholarships as they prepare to graduate from high school this spring

There are 29 seniors in this year's class, and all of them have been accepted to colleges. That was not unexpected. However, no one anticipated the success this group would have competing for national scholarships.

"Last year our students received several national scholarship awards, and we thought maybe it was an exceptional class. This year is amazing," said Anita De Leon, Upward Bound Director. 

The TRiO Upward Bound Program at BBCC serves approximately 120 low-income students in local high schools from 9th through 12th grades. It helps prepare them to make the transition to higher education.

"These national scholarships are no longer just a dream for our students. It's something that has happened and continues to happen,"  De Leon said.

Jennifer Murillo of Othello is one of the top scholarship recipients in this year's group. She's been awarded $60,000 in scholarships (Dell Scholar $20,000, KFC Scholar $20,000, Nordstrom Scholar $10,000, and Coca Cola Scholar $10,000). She has also been selected to attend a nine-week summer research internship at the University of Washington.

Upward Bound staff is happy for Stephanie Garza-Vela of Moses Lake. She has been accepted to Stanford University with a $40,000 institutional scholarship. Only 1,700 applications were accepted from a pool of 34,000.

Laura Bautista-Rodriguez of Royal City has commuted to BBCC as a Running Start student for two years and will receive her AAS degree from Big Bend and her high school diploma this spring. She's a Costco Scholar ($40,000) and Dell Scholar ($20,000).  She has been chosen for a six-week summer program for medical and dental students at the University of Washington.

Cesar Sanabia of Moses Lake has learned he'll receive a $40,000 Costco Scholarship, $20,000 Dell Scholarship, and a Gates Millennium Scholarship that covers any unmet needs through undergraduate studies and another $20,000 for graduate school. He was accepted into the University of Washington's Honor Program and was selected to attend a nine week summer program for students interested in science research.

Abraham Guadarrama of Royal City received a $20,000 Dell scholarship and a $10,000 Coca-Cola Scholarship, a $5,000 Horatio Alger Scholarship, plus a $500 Pearl Hill Memorial Scholarship.

Margarita Rodriguez-Figueroa of Royal City earned a Dell Scholarship ($20,000) and a $1,000 Sea Mar Scholarship. All the Dell Scholar awards include a laptop and printer.

These students competed at the national level. There are 1,000 Gates Millennium Scholarships awarded nationwide, 300 Dell Scholars, 250 Coca-Cola Scholars, and 18 Costco Scholars.

"After 44 years of Upward Bound at Big Bend, we have learned that students who apply themselves - who do the work - are more likely to succeed in school and demonstrate outstanding achievement," said BBCC President Bill Bonaudi.

TRiO Upward Bound is a federally funded grant from the U.S. Department of Education and serves the following high schools: Moses Lake, Warden, Othello, Royal, and Lake Roosevelt in Grand Coulee.