SPARKy News: Update, Hispanic Scholarship Initiative!

26 Jun SPARKy News: Update, Hispanic Scholarship Initiative!

For its 10th anniversary back in 2017, Jennie Franks’ SPARKy Productions created an original play, “The Hispanic Women’s Project,” based on true stories of local Latinas. The production played to sold-out audiences for five nights and opened eyes and hearts to the harsh reality of Hispanic women in the Telluride region. As an adjunct to “The Hispanic Women’s Project,” SPARKy initiated a scholarship fund to help local graduating Latinas go on to a higher education. The first scholarship will be awarded in 2017.

The following is an update from Jennie. Get out your pom-poms; be prepared to cheer.

And/or donate: Please mail contributions to SPARKy Latina Scholarship Fund, 307 Fairway Drive, Telluride, CO, 81435. Funds sent to SPARKy are managed by the Telluride Foundation.

Go here for more on the history of SPARKy.

And here for even more.

Left to right – Jocelyn Nieto, Itary Cortes, Lulu Pumayalli

This year every graduating Latina from Telluride and Norwood High Schools will be going to College or to a Tech School. We had an outstanding group of hard-working, high-achieving students this year and we’re confident they will all do well.

First and foremost, we want to thank you for making their dreams possible

On Scholarship Night SPARKy awarded FIVE scholarships to the following recipients:

The donor-matched SPARKy Veitia Merit Scholarship was awarded to Lulu Pumayalli for $20,000 per year for four years, for a total scholarship award of $80,000. Lulu will be attending Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME.and majoring in Filmmaking and Marine Biology.

The donor-matched SPARKy McLaughlin Imagine Scholarship was awarded to Jocelyn Nieto for $15,000 per year for four years, for a total scholarship award of $60,000. Jocelyn will be attending Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, CO. and majoring in Forensic Science.

The SPARKy Scholarship to attend a Technical College was awarded to Itary Cortes for $8,000 per year for two years, for a total scholarship award of $16,000. Itary will be attending Pickens Technical College in Aurora, CO. to study automotive engineering. Itary has a passion for restoring old cars and building computers

A SPARKy Scholarship was awarded to Gabby Flores for $8,000 per year, for four years for a total scholarship award of $32,000. Gabby will be attending Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction. Gabby excels in math and wants to be a Civil Engineer.

A SPARKy grant was awarded to Francesca Schillaci who received a very generous scholarship from Columbia University in NYC. Francesca is drawn to helping people through the Health Care System and Health Equity.

In addition, Nataly Gonzalez, who graduated from Regis University, was awarded $6,000 per year for three years for a total scholarship award of $18,000 to pursue her Masters Degree in Psychology.

None of that would be possible without you. It is our hope you will continue to support our mission in the years to come and provide even more opportunities to young Latina women to help fulfill their promise.