Editor’s note: This story originally ran in 2015 but has been updated with information about 2018 scholarship winners.
By Joyce Coronel
For many high school students, a higher education — the key to a brighter future — is an impossible dream. Thanks to Tempe Dollars for Scholars, 275 students from the Tempe Union High School District have received the financial help to achieve their goals since 2006.
That’s because 12 years ago, Frank Schmuck, who serves on the board of Tempe Dollars for Scholars, met Dr. Irving Fradkin, the retired Massachusetts optometrist who in 1958 challenged others to give at least $1 to help local youth receive a college education.
Fradkin’s efforts resulted in the development of a nationwide program with 700 affiliates in thousands of communities across America. The Tempe chapter of Dollars for Scholars, now part of Scholarship America, was founded in 2006 and has awarded some $173,000 in scholarships so far.
“The neat thing about the program is, they’ve never been frivolous with the money. They’ve always put it in the child’s name and delivered it to the institution they’ve decided they wanted to attend,” Schmuck said.
Although the deadline to apply for scholarships for this year has passed, Tempe Union High School students are encouraged to apply during the upcoming school year. This year there were hundreds of students vying for the 39 scholarships, each worth $1,000 or more. Some colleges and universities have agreed to match dollar for dollar, thereby doubling the amount of the award.
And while the organization is looking for applicants with good grades who don’t have the financial means to pay for post-secondary education, the selection committee considers each student’s particular circumstances.
“Good grades don’t necessarily mean you were a stellar student forever. Some of them have life-altering events. Some of their stories are heartbreaking to hear,” Schmuck said. A few of the applicants are homeless.
“We’ve had students like that who lived out of the back of their car with their family. We’ve had students where the mother or father died,” Schmuck said. At the award ceremony, a brief narrative about the recipient is read aloud to the audience and the individual or a representative of the organization that funded the scholarship presents a certificate to the student.
Schmuck said the sheepskin certificate is framed and includes the donor’s photo or logo so that years down the road, when the student has graduated, there will be a tangible reminder of how their dream was launched.
“They’re going to see that one day and say, ‘This helped me, and now I’m going to help somebody else,” Schmuck said.
At this year’s awards ceremony, each winner’s impressive accolades were read as they headed to the podium.
Connor Richards from Corona, for example, starred on the tennis team and was also active in numerous service clubs, all while maintaining a 3.97 grade point average. He plans to attend Arizona State University and study software engineering.
Joshua Patterson of Marcos de Niza played baseball and was involved in several clubs and the National Honor Society. He’ll be studying business management and play baseball at Kansas Wesleyan University.
Spencer Pote of Corona earned a 4.0 GPA, played in the marching and steel bands and was a National Merit semifinalist. He plans to attend Cornell University and study biology with a specialization in genetics.
Esmerelda Hernandez of Tempe High was described as a person of integrity who has persevered through hard times. She plans to study physical therapy.
Madison Didea of Marcos held down a 32-hour-a-week job and played volleyball. A National Honor Society student, she’ll begin studying criminal justice at Chandler-Gilbert Community College this fall.
Several other TUHSD students received scholarships at the Dollars for Scholars awards ceremony. Among them were Kevin Dunnahoo and Keionta of Marcos who will enter ASU this fall; Benjamin Sandberg of Corona who plans to serve a two-year mission for his church and eventually go to medical school; Alyssa Winkler and Chloe Hettenback of Compadre who will attend Grand Canyon University; Marena Younan of McClintock who will begin studies at Mesa Community College; Elinor Griffin of McClintock who will attend the University of Arizona; Emma Barnes of Marcos and Lindsay Durland of Tempe High who will study at Northern Arizona University; Ryan Dinnan, Natalie Swanstrom, Hannah Eastwood, Alison Fahy and Nicole Newman of Corona will each attend ASU; DaJae Doral of McClintock who will study at NAU; and Jose Renteria of Tempe who will enter ASU.
The Blake Norvell Smile Scholarship was awarded to two students: Tatum Stolworthy and Jordan Alperin of Corona.
Information: tempe.dollarsforscholars.org
