Salvadori Center Scholarship Students: 2007
Mario's Kids Scholarships -- In 1998, the Salvadori Center introduced the Mario's Kids Scholarships to spotlight former students whose lives were changed dramatically by their participation in Salvadori On-Site Programs. These students, now excelling in their high school or college courses, have set their sights on successful professional careers.
Stephanie Lopez, Mario's Kid Scholarship Winner: Stephanie is a senior at The Renaissance Charter School in Queens. She became a Salvadori student in the sixth grade, and this started in her a love of architecture because the Salvadori program "opened my eyes to a field that I knew I wanted to pursue." And pursue it she has. In the tenth grade she was accepted into her first ACE (Architecture, Construction, and Engineering) mentorship program. ACE allows students to work in industry internships, and throughout the years she has done everything from learning how to use tools to being a construction manager. As she pursues her career in architecture, she wants to focus on two goals. First, she aims to work on sustainable design in order to reduce the severe impact buildings have on the environment. Second, she wants to revive architecture styles in order to give buildings a more "personalized" feel. Her teachers find her "responsible and compassionate" and praise her for intellectual forthrightness, artistic talent, and leadership capabilities.
Francis Mezquita, Mario's Kids Scholarship Winner: Francis is a junior at East Bronx Academy for the Future (EBAFF). The first sentence of his personal essay says everything that needs to be said about him: "I am a peaceful, calm, smart, optimistic young man." He goes on to say his highest ambition is to become an architect. He has pursued this interest strongly. Not only is he a member of the Architecture Club at EBAFF, he has built models that show a real aptitude for blending structure with sensibility, such as the courtroom set design he did for To Kill A Mockingbird in his English class. (Not to mention the 4'-long cable-stayed bridge with a fan design he constructed for the Annual Benefit in 2006.) His teachers see him as a "hard-working, dedicated, creative, and fun-loving young man."
Al Isaac Memorial Scholarship -- In December 2004, the Salvadori community mourned the untimely death of 36-year old Al Isaac, the senior architect-educator at the Salvadori Center. The Center established this award to honor and encourage his former students to pursue higher education.
Jacelyn Bonilla, Al Issac Memorial Scholarship Winner Jacelyn attends Pablo Neruda Academy for Architecture and World Studies, located in the Bronx, where she is a very busy senior. In addition to her excellent academic skills, she has been active in high school in soccer, architecture club, student government, dancing, yearbook, and three internships -- and that’s just the beginning. She remembers Al Isaac as a "very important person in her life," someone who "was inspiring and a great leader." In her own eyes she sees herself as a "young Latina...struggling to prove to my family and myself that I can be somebody in my life." Her teachers find her a person with a strong desire "to make the world a more accepting, less segregated place."
Michael Bennett Memorial Scholarship -- In early 1999, Michael Bennett, a promising 14 year-old high school freshman was tragically and senselessly killed over the outcome of a basketball game. During his three years in the Salvadori Prep Academy of Walt Whitman Intermediate School in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, Michael developed an ambitious goal -- to become an Air Force pilot and computer engineer. The scholarship was created to honor Michael's accomplishments and potential, and to encourage other middle school students to strive for success through education.
Destiny Maitland, Michael Bennett Scholarship Winner: Destiny is a sixth-grader at PS52Q in Queens. She became interested in engineering when Salvadori architect-educator Patricia Shuford walked into her class and took them through a project building a school community. She found that she liked "to build things," and if she were to become an engineer, she'd focus on civil or electrical engineering so that she could improve people's lives. Her teachers find her "exceptionally diligent and hard-working" as well as "nice, considerate, and sensitive." She has won an award for perfect attendance, been on the honor roll multiple times, and plays in a steel drum band.