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Twenty-Two High School Students Each Awarded $1,000 Scholarships By California Desert Association of REALTORS®

The California Desert Association of REALTORS® has awarded a total of $22,000 in academic scholarships to 22 high school seniors from public Coachella Valley High Schools at its Annual Scholarship Breakfast May 24. For more than three decades, CDAR has rewarded bright, inspiring young people who want to further their education.

And for the third time, some scholarship winners were planning to further their education at College of the Desert, trade schools or educational academies rather than attend four-year universities, according to Stephenie  Zinn, Scholarship Committee co-chair. In fact, CDAR also is donating a $1,000 scholarship to the COD Foundation, according to Zinn.

Another first milestone was the awarding of a $1,000 scholarship to a student of a CDAR member, either a Realtor or Affiliate member.  This year’s honoree is  Amaya Gutierrez of Coachella Valley High School. Her  mother is Alma Garcia-Gutierrez of JM Real Estate Group.

“Thank you to all our REALTORS® and Affiliate members who have helped to make our scholarship breakfast presentation one of the most heartfelt events of the year,’’ Zinn said. “With your help, we could present scholarships to 22  of our high school students. I was honored and humbled by the tenacity of these young men and women who have struggled so hard to improve themselves and make their community a better place to live.”

Zinn said she has started her own $1,000 scholarship for an Indio High School student/athlete in honor of her late father who attended Indio High as she did. “I am so appreciative of the ability to keep his memory alive in a way that was so important to him.  He believed that when you give to a child, you are creating the future and I guess he instilled that in me too.” she said.

 The honored students were joined by 95 parents, relatives, and friends along with REALTORS® and real estate associate members at The Lakes Country Club in Palm Desert.

The students, selected by  the Scholarship Committee from hundreds of well qualified applicants, are:

  • San Jacinto High School – Jesus Rodriguez Guzman
  • La Quinta High School – Devan Doyle, Jordan Nadler
  • Indio High School –  Andrea Garcia, Daniela Ramirez
  • Cathedral City High School, Noemi Suarez, Carolina Carrillo
  • Palm Springs High School –  Desiree Fuentes, Itzayana Rodriguez
  • Desert Hot Springs High School – Eilene Fonseca, Yuliana Lievanos
  • Shadow Hills High School – Norberto Vega, Noah Hinojosa
  • Palm Desert High School – Isabella Gomez, Fabien Trujillo
  • Coachella Valley High School – Pedro Aceves, Anais Herrera
  • Desert Mirage High School – Luz Maria Munoz Belman, Jessica Hernandez-Beltran
  • Rancho Mirage High School – Isis Aguilar, Jimmy Andrews
  • Realtor/Affiliate – Amaya Gutierrez

The CDAR Scholarship Committee is comprised of:  Chair Stephenie Zinn,  Emily DiSimone, Priscilla Bowler, Kathleen Buys, Beverly Fitzgerald, Gloria Gutierrez, Judy Gaudiano . Alma Garcia- Gutierrez, Ronda Henry, Maggie Hickman, Gerry Johnson, Bryan Ozur, Jan S. Weinstein, Jay Tennen and Jean Van Beveran.

The monies for the scholarships were raised from the recent Gregg D. Spierling Memorial Golf Tournament and other CDAR member social events like the Sock Hop.  This year’s Spierling Memorial Golf Tournament raised $11,000.  The Affiliate members of CDAR raised an additional $5,000 and the Young Professional Network raised $1,100.

The California Desert Association of REALTORS ®, the Trusted Source for Real Estate inthe Desert Communities, represents more than 3,700 real estate professionals from Palm Springs to Blythe. REALTORS® hold themselves to a higher standard via the National Association of REALTORS®’ Code of Ethics, yet only about a quarter of California licensed real estate agents are REALTORS®.  For more information – or to verify you’re working with a REALTOR® – visit www.CDARonline.org or call (760) 346-5637. ###

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