Ow Family Continues Scholarship Tradition

106 High School Students Receive Scholarships to Attend Cabrillo College

Long-time philanthropist George Ow, Jr. and his family have been providing American Dream Scholarships of $500 to local ethnic minority high school seniors for 28 years. The Ow family awarded 106 high school seniors American Dream scholarships in a June ceremony and George Ow, Jr. told students, “My parents came from China and believed in the power of education. Dozens of our family members have come to Cabrillo College and we are grateful for the opportunities it has provided to us. Our family believes that the American Dream is that you can come from humble beginnings and succeed, and when you do succeed, you give back to help others.”

Since 1989, the Ow Family has awarded over $560,000 to graduating high school students coming to Cabrillo. It is just one of the many ways the Ow Family has supported students and mission of Cabrillo College over the years.

Several scholarship recipients spoke at the ceremony and expressed their gratitude for the support from the Ow Family including, Edgar Mora, who graduated from Pajaro Valley High School this June. Edgar is a hardworking and dedicated student, who has successfully immigrated from Michoacan, Mexico, and has overcome the language barrier to graduate in the top five of his class. Edgar shared, “This scholarship will help me pay for college. I want to thank Mr. George Ow, Jr. and the Ow family for making the American Dream Scholarship possible.” Edgar is eager to attend Cabrillo, he says, “I want to continue to be outstanding in my next step, college.”

Cabrillo College Foundation has been leading the way among California Community Colleges in eliminating financial barriers by providing over $800,000 in scholarships to students each year and helping students achieve the dream of attending college thanks to generous donors like the Ow family.

2017 American Dream Scholarship recipients are:

Aptos High School: • Cassandra Gonzales • Cindy Hernandez-Sanguino • Abigail Gonzalez Hernandez • Carina Hernandez-Sanguino • Alejandra Monroy • Manuel Roman • Alison Tiran-Ceja

Delta High School: • Savannah Norman • Alex Drechsler • Eduardo Fuentes

Pajaro Valley High School: • Edgar Mora • Jonathan Rocha-Zamora • Juan Avila • Ana Cortez-Lopez • Jennifer Ferreyra • Ricardo Gonzalez Sandoval • Sara Grajeda • Chantal Guerra • Eugenia Hernandez • Daniela Saavedra • Juan Salazar • Edward Torres • Maria Valadez-Lopez • Bianca Diaz

Renaissance High School: • Carlos Cortez • Nancy Escobar • Fabian Navarro-Chavez • Alexia Silva • Erik Serrano • Angel Alvarez Lopez • Jose Barajas • Victor Barajas • Alejandro Barreto Anaya • Luis Conda • Jesus Diaz • Angel Estrada Garcia • Axel Lozano • Alexandra Macias • Noemi Navarro • Brandon Perez Flores • Alexis Rangel • Maria Renteria • Aida Rocha • Abril Raja • Cynthia Sanchez-Ayala • Melanie Santiago • Angelica Rangel • Alvaro Velasquez Gutierrez • Maria Herrera Fernandez • Jacqueline Calderon • Christopher Diaz • Luis Zavala • Gabriel Black • Lucia Rangel

San Lorenzo Valley High School: • James Hilberath • Sarah Prucha

Santa Cruz County Office of Education: • Jaqueline Martinez-Garcia • Leticia Ponce • Carlos Hernandez Gonzalez • Karen Rodriguez-Serrano

Santa Cruz High School: • Ulizez Castro • Ramsey Montero Sanchez • Pawornwan Poungjinda • Diego Magana • Yareth Torres

Scotts Valley High School: • Cesar Felix

Soquel High School: • Martin Salazar Alvarez • Karyna Rodriguez • Michaela Thornton • Raneem Zaghlouleh

Teen Center Community School: • Isabel Martinez

Watsonville High School: • Remy Rodriguez • Evelyn Salazar • Gloria Aguirre • Ivan Alfaro-Frias • Luis Angeles • Jose Basurto • Jaleesa Boyle • Miriam Carrillo • Angela Casillas Ruiz • Jocelyn Chipres • Maria Cruz • Raul Juarez Gallardo • Jocelynne Malta • Cindy Manzo • Jose Martinez • Maria Martinez • Marcos Martinez • Cassandra Medrano • Anthony Montero • Juan Nolasco Vega • Rosa Noriega- Rocha • Karina Ortiz • Jasmin Pedraza • Samantha Reynoso • Noe Robledo-Gutierrez • Fabian Rocha • Alondra Salcedo • Alejandra Vazquez • Andrik Villanueva-Vega • Nicole Jimenez • Gustavo Lara • Ines Lopez • Julie Martinez-Lobato • Armando Palmerin • Sergio Rivera • Nancy Bonilla • Kharisma Bonilla • Evelyn Cancino • Stephanie Carrasco-Barajas • Lesli Castillo • Aaliyah Castro • Piiar Conda • Maricarmen Cruz • Josillin Cuevas • Jose Diaz • Barbara Dimas • Anthony Elias-Gonzalez • Frida Flores • Angel Garcia • Rex Gomez • Ashley Gonzalez • Sonia Gudino • Alondra Guerrero • Perla Guerrero • Joanna Guillen-Zavala • Luis Heredia • Jailine Jimenez • Mireya Jimenez • Adilene Lopez • Josefina Lopez • Leslie Lopez Ezqueda • Jisselle Magana • Matthew Manriquez • Anadela Martinez • Jose Martinez • Dominique Mendoza • Jonathan Nunez Esquivel • Priscilla Penilla • Chantelle Perez • Ricardo Perez • Veronica Perez • Yolanda Perez-Cervantes • Nohely Quintano • Merlin Ramirez • Raul Ramirez-Perez • Ana Ramos Nino • Aldo Rocha • Luis Rocha • Elmer Rodriguez • Maria Rosas • Karla Ruiz • Maira Ruiz • Braulio Salgado • Lizette Sandoval-Lopez • Beatriz Solis • Esmeralda Torrecillas • Karla Valencia-Fernandez • Oscar Vasquez • Michea Vidal-Ochoa • Alejandra Vigil Rocha • Obdulia Villegas • Mariely Zuniga • Luz Escamilla • Luis Figueroa • Jaqueline Fonseca • Joshua Hernandez • Cristian Hernandez • Elvira Martinez • Alalo Paniagua • Eduardo Rivas • Lizbeth Santos • Alexis Silva-Guerrero • Eve Verar-Palomino

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Cabrillo College is a leading California community college serving Santa Cruz County with locations in Aptos, Scotts Valley and Watsonville. Its mission is to enhance the intellectual, cultural, and economic vitality of our diverse community by assisting all students in their quest for lifelong learning and success in an ever-changing world.