This year ’ s seventh cohort of graduating Steve ’ s Scholars is a highly motivated group that includes a student who only missed one day of school since seventh grade , one who volunteered 168 hours and another who is getting his pilot ’ s license . All met the rigors of the Steve ’ s Scholars program in grades , taking college prep classes , community service and attendance .

Katherine Vang , from Roosevelt High School , completed the most community service hours among the scholars , serving 168 hours with several different organizations and clubs . Katherine also was highly involved in mentoring her younger peers , both through the Steve ’ s Scholars mentoring program and the Hmong mentoring program . She also volunteered to assist at almost every Steve ’ s Scholars event for the past four years . She plans to attend Fresno State and study business management .

Timmy Phan , also from Roosevelt , was recognized in two areas . He had the highest GPA , at 4.3 , and the highest attendance , missing only one day of school since seventh grade . He plans to attend UC San Diego , major in computer science and pursue a job with one of the Big Tech companies or in the healthcare industry .

These well-rounded students were involved in a variety of activities on and off their campuses , including Edison High School ’ s Carlos Vargas Bautista , who is on his way to getting his private pilot ’ s license . He will attend San Francisco State and wants to be an aerospace engineer . This year ’ s Steve ’ s Scholars cohort was made up of 31 seniors who graduated from Design Science Middle College , Duncan Polytechnical , Edison , eLearn , Fresno , McLane , J . E . Young and Roosevelt high schools . It was the seventh cohort and included the greatest number of different high schools .

Steve ’ s Scholars honors Francine and Murray Farber ’ s adult son Steven . After his sudden death , they established the Steve ’ s Scholars scholarship program for students at Tehipite Middle School , where they knew financial resources were desperately needed . Their idea was to motivate students to strive for college , starting in the seventh grade . Students not only have to earn good grades , they need to have great attendance , take classes that prepare them for entry into college and serve their community . In total , the scholars volunteered more than 1,312 hours in their communities . Eleven of the students earned the Steve ’ s Scholars Community Service medallion by completing more than 60 hours .

Students were awarded a $ 1,000 scholarship for each of their first two years of college . The Steve ’ s Scholars program currently has 255 on-track students in grades nine through 12 . To date the program has awarded more than 350 scholarships . The Farbers currently are sponsoring research through Fresno State to determine the impact of the scholarship program on the students and their families .

“ We are delighted that early findings point to the significant impact that community service has made on our scholarship students ’ lives . It has opened them up to the world around them and broadened personal and career horizons ,” they noted .

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