Oceanside CA— The ALNC is proud to announce the award of $55,000 in scholarships to twenty high school seniors who each received $2,500.00. This was the first year the organization has been able to fund twenty scholarships. Seniors from schools in Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista were invited to fill out forms located on the Chapter’s website, ALNC.org. After the students completed the information, members of the Scholarship committee, under the leadership of Anna Manwaring, reviewed each application, then interviewed the students. The scholarship provides awards to graduating high school seniors with financial needs for further education or training.
Recipients must have shown a focus on community service, be academically commendable and had a compelling life story. The number of students per school who received the awards was based on the size of the number of seniors attending each school. Beverly Charles, one of the committee interviewees and president of the organization, shared how one of the winners, Karen Antonio, brought her family to the meeting where she was to receive her award. Her younger sister noticed the piles of books on some of the tables and asked what they were for. Beverly explained that they were part of the over 15,000 books bought which were being distributed to students throughout the three school districts. Karen’s sister smiled and said she had just received her’s the week before.
Another young man from Trade Tech High School shared with Mona Ackerman, how life changing it had been for him when he had received a new pair of tennis shoes when he was in elementary school from the chapter’s Footsteps program. He had been embarrassed to go to school because his one pair of shoes were torn and now as a senior he was receiving a scholarship which would again help direct his footsteps toward a better future.
According to Mona, the two winners’ future plans from Trade Tech High include David Llamas who will be attending Mira Costa College. He is interested in pursuing a career in either architecture or engineering and Delanee Haskins who will be attending Mira Costa college and is graduating first in her class. She is interested in the environment and educating other people about taking care of our planet.
Below is a list of the 2021 Scholarship winners and the schools they attended

• Trade Tech High School: Delanee Haskins and David Llamas
• El Camino High School: Dulce Gomez and Brian Mendoza
• Sage Creek High School: Nolan Mejia, Paola Gonzales, and Elizabeth Gerhardt
• New Haven Youth and Family Services: Johnny Richardson
• Carlsbad High School: Karen Antonio, Lena McEachern, Shreya Ramesh, and Ryan Read
• Vista High School: Daisy Cruz, Isabel Carreon, and Colby Rafael
• Major General Ray Murray High School: Arron Littlepaw Gray
• Rancho Buena Vista High School: Jed Quiaoit
• Oceanside High School: Stephanie Gomez, Haley Gray and Fernando Hernandez