This summer, Basic Assistance to Students in the Community (BASIC) will award five Borrego Springs High School Students and 28 continuing students scholarships to further their education. The pandemic has challenged every one of these students, but each of them has persisted in his or her goal to graduate from a community college, a four-year college or university or even graduate school. Each of them is succeeding, each of them merits our support.

BASIC’s start-school and stay-in school scholarship programs, now in their 23rd year, have made 410 awards totaling $540, 860. This year’s total of $81,850 will be the most ever awarded and will bring the total amount awarded to Borregans to over $620,000! All of this is possible because of the generosity of our community supporting our fundraisers: our annual Fall donation drive, our St Patty’s Day Dinner Fundraiser supported by Kesling’s Kitchen, and, pre-pandemic, the Circle of Art and the Golf Tournament.

Scholars who are graduating from Borrego Springs High School this year and receiving BASIC’s start-school scholarships are: Daniela Carmona, Jennifer Ramirez, Jennifer Sencion, Laurynn Strate and Aide Valdez.

Scholars who are continuing their education and are receiving BASIC’s stay-in-school scholarships are: Fernando Alcaraz, Chanel Barron, Michelle Delgadillo, Jasmine Fernandez, Carlos Garcia, Karen Garcia, Leslie Garcia, Leyssa Garcia, Greyson Levens, Keylly Lopez, Brian Martinez, Emilia Rangel, Viviana Hernandez Rangel, Edward Rivera, Gabriela Rocha, Vanessa Rodarte, Lisa Salcido, Elizabeth Torres, Maria Arias Torres, Ximena Torres, Erik Tulving, Samantha Vasquez, Lorenzo Vilches and Ty White.

Four adults will also pursue further education: Cecilia Arias, Linsi Clain, Tania Fuerte and Karie Starte.

In addition to these scholarships, many of our scholars will also receive one or more named scholarships. There are two types of named scholarships: those for academic excellence and those in memory of loved ones.

Recipients of named scholarships for academic excellence are:

Karen Garcia, Greyson Levens, Edward Rivera and Erik Tulving will receive the Joanne and Richard Ingwall Scholarship for having a grade point average (GPA) greater than 3.75 (mostly A’s).

Chanel Barron, Leslie Garcia, Elizabeth Torres, Maria Arias Torres and Lorenzo Vilches will receive the Joann and David Scholarship for achieving GPAs between 3.5 and 3.75 (more A’s than B’s).

These nine scholars deserve our congratulations, but all continuing students deserve high marks for staying committed to their educational goals during this challenging time. And 66% of them have earned GPAs of 3.0 or better.

BASIC is proud to also be awarding scholarship awards in memory of loved ones, many who were long time Borregans and all of whom were committed to the value of higher education.

The Williamson Memorial Scholarship, our oldest named scholarship, for scholars attending a community college and planning to transfer to a four-year college: Lorenzo Vilches

The Dr. Edith A. Schmitt Memorial Scholarship for students planning to pursue a career in the healthcare/medical field: Chanel Barron

The Jim McFarland Memorial Scholarship for a student pursuing vocational studies: Linsi Clain

The Jerry R. Goldsmith Memorial Scholarships for students pursuing careers in healthcare or science: Chanel Barron, Karen Garcia, Leyessa Garcia and Elizabeth Torres

The Bill Wright Memorial Scholarship for students pursuing careers in business: Carlos Garcia, Kelley Lopez Brian Martinez and Lisa Salcido

The Sandra Angle Memorial Scholarship for a student planning a career in education: Tania Fuerte

Q & A: BASIC Board members are often asked what schools our scholars attend and do they graduate? Here are the answers.

Q: What schools do this year’s BASIC scholars plan to attend?

A: Arizona State University, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, CSU San Marcos, College of the Desert, Grossmont Community College, Humboldt State University, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, Southwestern College and UC San Diego. A rather impressive list, I am sure you will agree.

Q: Do our BASIC scholars graduate from their programs?

A: The short answer is yes! This year, we look forward to many well-earned graduations. Three scholars will graduate in December and several more will graduate in May. Here is one of them.

Congratulations to BASIC Scholar Karen Garcia who will graduate from UCSD!

If you would like to support our community by contributing to the education of our youth, please visit our website http://www.borregobasic.org and donate!

ATTENTION all Rising Seniors in Borrego Springs High School: You too could be the recipient of one of BASIC’s scholarship awards to help you further your education. Directions on how to apply for both start-school and stay-in school scholarships for the 2022 – 23 academic year will be on the website borregobasic.org by the end of December.