Scholarships

This Scholarship Program is the only one of its kind in Placer County, administering renewable scholarships to students who have graduated from alternative education programs across the county. One high school counselor said, “When it comes to scholarships, many times our students are forgotten or excluded, so I appreciate that your scholarships are targeted for students at continuation or alternative settings. Words cannot express how much I appreciate your organization.” Our unique program provides financial support as well as mentoring by Assistance League members to help our students navigate the demands of college. Our mentors become a valuable resource to our scholarship recipients. For some, as first-generation college students in their families, that extra support is key to their success. Students have expressed profound gratitude for the mentor support. In fact, one student was so excited about her mentor relationship that she told her friends that “my Assistance League Scholarship came with a mentor.” Another student told her mentor that “we are a great team together.”

2023

Assistance League of Greater Placer was proud to award scholarships this Spring 2023 to students from the following alternative education programs: Adelante High (Roseville), Independence High School (Roseville), Rocklin Alternative Education Center-RAEC (Rocklin), and Victory High School (Rocklin).

Shamara Thompson, Christopher Tebbs, and John Miller (L to R) who are all attending Sierra College this fall, are our Charlie Gieseler Fund recipients for 2023. This fund, created in Charlie Gieseler’s honor after his passing in 2021, provides Chromebooks to scholarship recipients who need them. These laptops are a huge encouragement and are much appreciated by our scholarship recipients, who would otherwise not have access to a computer at home. Congratulations, Christopher, Shamara, and John!

Program Successes

Grace Bell

Mariah Giles

Kylie Thompson

Grace Bell:  Grace graduated with honors with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in English from UC Davis.  She was accepted as a research fellow in Developmental Psychopathology and Social Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine. As an undergraduate at UC Davis, she worked as a research assistant where she helped collect and analyze EEG and eye tracking data investigating the visual hierarchy system and attention. Her senior thesis examined the relationship between microsaccades and pupillary responses in a covert spatial attention paradigm. Grace is presenting her research at UC Davis in the photo above.

Mariah Giles: Mariah completed her certificate in Cosmetology at Hoss Lee Academy and plans to work in a local salon.  Long-term she wants to own her own salon.

Kylie Thompson: Kylie graduated with honors from Sierra College with an Associate in Science for Transfer (AS-T) and will attend Cal State East Bay where she will work towards a BS in Business Administration.

2022

Program Success

Rebecca Estrada shared her experience as a scholarship recipient in the April 2022 Assistance League meeting.  Rebecca’s journey included losing a beloved family member and having to relocate from Auburn to Chico and eventually to Sacramento. She attended and graduated with honors from Butte College in 2019.  After finishing her AA at Butte College, Rebecca faced many obstacles, including the challenges the Covid pandemic presented with job losses and a move to Sacramento. She transferred from Chico State to Sacramento State to finish her BA. Rebecca was hired as an intern at Sacramento State to assist one of her professor’s important work with formerly incarcerated youth in Salinas, CA. They were researching the impact of a program called Telpochcalli in the MILPA collective that focuses on the significance of cultural connectivity in the rehabilitation process. Rebecca was passionate about helping these young people and about giving back to the community.  Because of her talent, her passion, and her hard work, and with encouragement from her Assistance League mentor, Rebecca graduated with honors from Sacramento State University in May 2022. Her heartfelt story moved the members to tears and reminded everyone of the importance of the scholarship program for young people in our community. She expressed her gratitude so well when she said, “Thank you all for being there for me through thick and thin. I love you all!”  We are so proud of all she has accomplished!

Rebecca – 2022

Sacramento State University

Rebecca with mentor,

Gayle Gullans

Laura Spitzer has been thriving in the Scholarship Program since Fall 2015. She graduated with honors from Sierra College in 2018 and was accepted afterwards into a nursing program at Chamberlain College in Phoenix, Arizona. Before she left for nursing college, Laura gave a talk to our members in 2018, describing the difficult journey that took her to Koinonia Family Services in the spring of 2015, where she was able to turn her life around.  In her moving talk to the members, she spoke of the life challenges she faced at a young age. She also emphasized the impact of the caring volunteers from the Assistance League Competencies Program at Koinonia (complete with homemade chocolate chip cookies at every class). Laura’s journey has been challenging, including leaving all that was familiar to settle in Arizona, supporting herself while working on a nursing degree through the Covid pandemic, and ultimately graduating debt free with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in August 2022. Laura’s strength of character and determination to succeed has made us so proud! Assistance League has had a lasting impact on her life! She says, “All the members of Assistance League had a hand in my success. Thank you!”

Laura – 2022

Chamberlain University

Laura

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Ruby Chavez de Chavez

Elizabeth Paval

Carolina Hudson

Ruby Chavez de Chavez graduated Magna Cum Laude from Sierra College with the Class of 2022. Ruby completed an AA-T in Political Science/Public Service and transferred to UCLA, continuing her major in Political Science with a minor in accounting.  Ruby was a member of the Sierra College Student Senate (2020-21) and was later elected President/Student Trustee (2021-2022) and is the first ALGP scholarship recipient chosen as a Sierra College commencement speaker!

Elizabeth Paval graduated with honors from Sierra College with the Class of 2022 with a double major, an AA in Business Administration and Social and Behavioral Sciences. She transferred to William Jessup University in Rocklin and is now majoring in Aviation and Business Administration. She plans to become a pilot!

Carolina Hudson graduated with honors from Nashville State Community College with the Class of 2022, completing an Associate of Science in Philosophy.  She transferred to Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee and is now working on completing her Bachelor of Science in Pre-Vet Studies with a minor in accounting.

2022 Scholarship Recipients

Assistance League of Greater Placer was proud to award eleven scholarships this Spring 2022, to students from the following alternative education programs: Adelante High (Roseville), Independence High School (Roseville), Maidu High School (Auburn), Rocklin Alternative Education Center-RAEC (Rocklin), and Victory High School (Rocklin).

Gieseler Technology Fund

The Charlie Gieseler Technology Fund, created at Charlie’s request and in his honor after his passing in July, 2021, provides Chromebooks to students who need them in the Assistance League of Greater Placer Scholarship Program. Charlie Gieseler was a remarkable man who faced tremendous life challenges, surviving foster homes for much of his childhood. But he was determined to be the best person he could be, no matter where life took him.  He faced incredible odds in life but graduated from law school and experienced success as a lawyer, a realtor, and later in life, as a caregiver for friends in need. But he also struggled, even becoming homeless towards the end of his life. He felt that with a little more support from others, his life could have been different.  Charlie Gieseler wished to help young people in Placer County who face life challenges, to give them the tools, like a Chromebook, that would help them thrive. Below are the first recipients of Chromebooks from the Charlie Gieseler Technology Fund. Charlie’s donation makes success attainable for each of these students. His legacy lives on.

2021

Assistance League of Greater Placer was proud to award five scholarships this Spring 2021 to students from the following alternative education programs: Adelante High (Roseville), Maidu High (Auburn), and
Rocklin Alternative Education Center-RAEC (Rocklin).

This year the scholarship program is also providing Chromebooks or refurbished computers to scholarship recipients who need them. Destiny Benson, from Adelante High School, was so excited to receive her Chromebook. What a wonderful way to ensure the success of our students!

2020

This past spring, we celebrated the graduations of two of our scholarship students. Alyson Ingram earned an AA Degree in Universal Design and International Retail Merchandising. Edward Selvidge completed the Electrician Program at National Career Education Center and is planning to enter an electrician apprenticeship in the future.

Including our newest scholarship recipients, we currently have 13 students in our program who are
completing general education requirements or working towards vocational certificates or degrees in
nursing, teaching, photojournalism, forensic science, cosmetology, and pharmacy. Active mentoring by
Scholarship Committee members dramatically increases the likelihood of success for all our students.
Laura Spitzer, who has been with our program since 2015, is currently completing her nurses training at
Chamberlain University College of Nursing in Phoenix, Arizona. Here she is pictured after she received
her first nurses’ scrubs. We are so proud of her!

This year we were honored to present $1000 scholarships to five Placer County 2020 high school graduates. Three of the recipients will continue their studies in the spring alongside ten of our continuing scholarship students. Students retain their eligibility for new scholarships each semester as long as they maintain a 2.0 GPA and 9 units of classes.

New 2020 Scholarship Recipients

Elizabeth Paval

Carrie Hudson

Isabella Gomez

2019

Rebecca

Vanessa

Mitchell

Laura

We were so very pleased to celebrate four students who graduated this spring:

Rebecca Estrada graduated from Butte College with an AA in Social and Behavioral Science and an AA in Anthropology and has transferred to Chico State.

Vanessa Pohley graduated with Honors from Sierra College with a teaching certificate and an AA in both Business Administration and Business Accounting. Vanessa plans to continue at a four year college in the near future.

Mitchell Iwahiro graduated from UC Davis in three years with a BA in Community and Regional Development in Public Planning. He is now in a graduate program at UC Davis.

Laura Spitzer graduated from Sierra College with an AS in Social and Behavioral Science and an AS in Natural Sciences. She is applying for admission to nursing programs.

The pictures below showcase all the recipients who received Assistance League Scholarships for Fall 2019. We were honored to present scholarships to 17 new recipients, each of whom were awarded $1,000, applied to their post-secondary tuition expenses for the first semester.  In addition, 4 of our ongoing recipients received $1,000 in the fall to continue their studies.  Each recipient in the program is eligible to receive $250-$1,000 scholarship each semester as long as they maintain academic eligibility standards and maintain contact with the ALGP scholarship mentor.

2016

Several Scholarship Committee members attended 4 different 2016 graduations to award 5 scholarships.  When they heard some of the stories about the students it highlighted how important the scholarship program can be to helping them go on for further education and turn their lives around.