The Sotero Scholarship Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded to provide scholarship opportunities to students in the Perris Union High School District in Southwest Riverside County, California.
2017-2018 was the inaugural school year for The Marjorie Sotero Scholarship. Congratulations to Grand Prize winner Hailey Matthews! You may read more in our press release here:
The Sotero Scholarship Foundation has announced today the Grand Prize winner of the first annual Marjorie Sotero Scholarship. 2018 Paloma Valley High School graduate Hailey Matthews is the recipient of a $500 scholarship for her essay “envisioning [her] life ten years from now.” Ms. Matthews will begin her studies in Marine Biology at the University of California San Diego this fall.
The Sotero Scholarship Foundation was established in 2017 by five alumni of the Perris Union High School District to give back to their hometown communities and to honor longtime educator Marjorie Sotero. For its inaugural year, the Marjorie Sotero Scholarship essay competition was open to all graduating seniors from Paloma Valley High School, where Ms. Sotero taught for 15 years.
“It’s important to remember where you come from and to give back to your community and those who have helped you along the way,” said Richard Vaughn, founding member and President of The Sotero Scholarship Foundation. “If Ms. Sotero taught those of us who were fortunate enough to know her as a teacher anything, it is that you should always have an open heart and open arms to those around you.”
For the 2018-2019 school year, The Sotero Scholarship Foundation Board will be exploring ways to offer scholarship to more students across the Perris Union High School District. Offering guidance to students working their way through their academic careers, Marjorie Sotero said, “Your education is not only an investment in yourself and in your future, but an investment in the future of the world. Don’t sit idle. Don’t settle for less than your best. ‘Be all that you can be.’”