Justina Estrada graduated from Scripps Ranch High School in 1997. At the time, her high school counselor, Jane Morrill, recommended that she apply for a San Diego Education Fund (SDEF) scholarship to help her reach her academic goals of becoming a teacher and a counselor. As a first generation college student with no financial support from home, this scholarship allowed her the opportunity to focus on her studies. She was able to graduate with her BA degree and teaching credential from CSUSM, and in 2013 she received a Master’s Degree in Educational Counseling with a PPS credential. She is now a high school counselor at Scripps Ranch High School, her alma mater, alongside her mentor and fellow counselor, Jane Morrill.
Christina Conley was admitted to the SDEF scholars program her senior year of high school. She had heard about it from her teacher at Patrick Henry, as her teacher encouraged future teachers to apply. Christina's college experience is due in large part to this scholarship and the counseling that she received in this program. With the help of this scholarship she received an Education Specialist Credential for Mild/Moderate disabilities and a Master's degree in Education from San Diego State University. She is now an Education Specialist at Rosa Parks Elementary School.
According to the study by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, a teacher shortage crisis is looming due to the decreasing number of Californians seeking to become teachers and an aging teacher population nearing retirement. We also know that student achievement is markedly improved when teachers have similar backgrounds with their students.
SDEF believes that education provides the basis for individual opportunity and economic vitality. To bring that mission to life, SDEF provides scholarships, mentoring and counseling to first generation, ethnically diverse college students to become teachers, scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians in San Diego. These scholarship awards are renewable annually based on satisfactory academic progress towards an undergraduate degree.
Applications for a STEM scholarship and a Future Teacher scholarship are open now, and will remain open through February 28, 2020. Please visit SDEF's Website for more information and to apply.
