The Westport-based Charter Oak Challenge Foundation awarded more than $150,000 in scholarships to 15 students who recently graduated from Bridgeport high schools.
Andy Boas, Charter Oak’s president, said each scholar will receive $10,000 over four years and a laptop computer.
The amount of each scholarship escalates each year, he added, from $1,000 in the student’s freshman year to $4,000 by senior year. Each recipient is also paired with a trained adult mentor who provides guidance throughout the student’s college years.
“The students chosen have overcome tremendous obstacles to become leaders in their schools and communities,” said Boas.
“Educating Bridgeport’s young people is crucial to future revitalization of the city, and we are confident that these students will take full advantage of the opportunities a college education affords.”
The 2005 Charter Oak Scholars and the schools they are attending: Vanessa Berrios and Hanha Bou, graduates of Central High School who will attend Syracuse University; Harding High School’s Patrisa Buster who is attending Princeton; Daniela Castellanos of Harding High School who is going to Fairfield University; Qin Chen of Bassick High School who will attend Fairfield University, and Central High School’s Diana De los Santos who has been accepted to Harvard.
Also: Sherwayne Gordon of Harding High School who will attend University of Connecticut; Harding High School’s Karla Henriquez who is off to Arizona State University; Hasan Henry of Central High School who is going to University of Connecticut; Harding High School’s Tracyann Johnson who had been accepted at Temple University; Michael Otzel of Kolbe Cathedral High School going to University of Connecticut, and Victor Santos of Central High School attending University of Connecticut.
Also: Ana Soto of Bassick High School attending Wesleyan University; Marsha Techeira of Harding High School who will attend University of Connecticut, and Bassick High’s Michael Tran who will attend University of Connecticut.
Charter Oak was founded in 2001 to help children and families in the Bridgeport area. The scholarships are aimed at academically talented students who need financial support to realize their potential.
Foremost among the organization’s goals, Boas said, is to reduce poverty in the region. Since the fall of 2003, Charter Oak has donated more than $1 million to 25 organizations in the Bridgeport area.
Boas said the scholarship program, the largest of its kind in the area, has a 95 percent retention rate, almost four times the 25 percent graduation rate among all Bridgeport students who go to college.
