San Marcos High School senior Alexis Villa-Tavera was completely surprised when administrators, dignitaries and media entered her classroom and presented her with an unexpected $40,000 scholarship awarded by Southern California Edison.
Villa-Tavera is a senior in the AAPLE Academy who has helped create a school culture that celebrates excellence and a focus on giving back to the community.
As an AAPLE student, Villa-Tavera completed a minimum of eight Advanced Placement courses and/or high level community college dual enrollment courses and completed over 200 hours of community service.
She also participated in the leadership development elements of the academy, participating in leadership and team building excursions, attending leadership lecture series, completing integrated leadership base curriculum and participating in numerous leadership communities within the AAPLE Academy.
AAPLE Academy Director Erik Nielsen said, “This confident, hardworking, independent young lady will definitely bring leadership skills and traits to the university she attends next fall. Alexis’ broad range of interests and abilities has implored her to participate in many school activities.”
Villa-Tavera has been a member the Community Leadership Institute, the Institute For Equity In Education, the Cornell Engineering Catalyst Academy, the California Ivy League Project, the California Young Latina Project, the AAUW California program, Tech Trek Science Program, the School For Scientific Thought program, the California Nanosystems Institute and the UCSB SACNAS Outreach Program.
She also has served on numerous committees in the AAPLE Academy, including the AAPLE Kids Caring Day Committee and the AAPLE District Academy Showcase.
“Alexis is a wonderful example of how effort and persistence positively affect learning and produce results,” Nielsen said.
According to Southern California Edison, “Each year, the $1.2 million Edison Scholars Program awards $40,000 scholarships paid over four years to 30 high school seniors who want to become engineers — electrical, mechanical, civil, computer, industrial, computer sciences/info system, environmental or environmental sciences — and plan to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering or math, the STEM fields, full time at a four-year college or university.”
— Barbara Keyani is the coordinator of administrative services and communications at the Santa Barbara Unified School District.