Three East L.A. Students Are Awarded Full Scholarships

Los Angeles CA

09 March, 2022

12:16 PM

Description

Three students from Esperanza College Prep, a high-performing Ednovate charter public school in East Los Angeles, are among a handful of scholars to receive a prestigious Posse Foundation award offering full tuition to top universities across the country. Dante Aguilar, Hanani Rodriguez, Zaely Rodriguez (not related) are headed to the East Coast this fall. They'll be far from their homes in East Los Angeles but excited to be the first in their families to attend a four-year university. The Posse scholars attend an Ednovate co-located campus at Our Lady of Soledad Church located at 4545 Dozier Street, Los Angeles, CA 90022. Hanani Rodriguez, Dante Aguilar, and Zaely Rodriguez (not related)| Credit: Joe Macias Three students from Esperanza College Prep, a high-performing Ednovate charter public school in East Los Angeles, are among a handful of scholars to receive a prestigious PosseFoundation award offering full tuition to top universities across the country. Dante Aguilar, Hanani Rodriguez, Zaely Rodriguez (not related) are headed to the East Coast this fall. They'll be far from their homes in East Los Angeles, but excited to be the first in their families to attend a four-year university. The Posse scholars attend an Ednovate co-located campus at Our Lady of Soledad Church located at 4545 Dozier Street, Los Angeles, CA 90023. With nearly 500 students hailing from local public charter middle schools, Esperanza College nabbed 3 coveted Posse scholarships. Posse has an acceptance rate of 4.4 percent. "When you think about the fact that 15,000 students competed for 660 scholarship slots this year, getting 3 from our little schools is a very big deal," said Rosa Alanis, principal at Esperanza College Prep. "This work is very personal for me. Hanani, Dante and Zaely are an example of what is possible. When I see them, I remember what my education was like and how many of my peers didn't get to go to college. Esperanza is proving what's possible for students in East L.A.," she added. Dante Aguilar, who is starting freshman year at Middlebury College in Vermont says it will be hard to be away from younger siblings, but he'll try to be the best role model and big brother he can be. "It's an honor to be a Posse Scholar," said Aguilar, who calls Michoacán, Mexico, a second home. "It's exciting because I'll have a system in place to help me succeed, and that's what I feel our community lacks – a system that wants us to succeed. I know at Posse everyone is looking after me and wants to help me because it's a moral responsibility, like at Esperanza College Prep," he said. With college acceptance letters trickling in throughout early spring, Esperanza College Prep is busy readying students for life beyond its campus. For many families, sending their children to out-of-state colleges is difficult. "The fact that my mom is letting me go to Bucknell University, which is all the way in Pennsylvania…she cries a lot," said Zaely Rodriguez, who was born in East Los Angeles to an immigrant family from El Salvador. "But she's happy she's able to let me do what she couldn't, and that is to be able to explore, get out of my comfort zone, and experience responsibilities on my own," added Rodriguez. Esperanza College Prep, like other Ednovate campuses, is known for its high college acceptance rate. Last year, the school saw 100% of its 96 seniors from its first graduating class accepted to four year-universities with 100% FAFAS/CA Dream submissions, and more than $1 million awarded in scholarships. Among the notable acceptances were UC Berkeley, UCLA, Columbia, Stanford, Princeton, and a Posse scholar accepted to Dickinson College. For Hanani Rodriguez, a student born and raised in East L.A., going to college means breaking the odds. "I'm happy to have the opportunity to attend Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. In my community, college isn't an option. Kids out of school go to work – 9-5," said Rodriguez. "Here, 3.5% of Latinos go to college. I look around my community and think that out of every 100 students, only three will go to college. I want my community to know that they have the courage within themselves, and the ganas to make whatever dream they have a reality and that the 3.5% statistic doesn't define who we are," she added. Ednovate was established in 2012 by the USC Rossier School of Education, Ednovate is a nonprofit charter management organization that oversees a group of high-performing, public and open enrollment, college-prep high schools. Ednovate schools serve 2,500 students across six campuses in Los Angeles and Orange County. For more information about Ednovate visit: www.ednovate.org.