8 Riverside students receive Beca Angelita STEM scholarships – Press Enterprise

Gracie Torres, Division 2 director of Western Municipal Water District, is continuing Beca Angelita, a STEM scholarship program in honor of her grandmother, and has expanded the program to two more schools in the Riverside Unified School District, granting eight $500 awards.

In addition, Torres partnered with Tenacity 8, a local nonprofit focused on career growth and women’s empowerment, this year.

Each award recipient was nominated by a high school site counselor, and the scholarships were presented in early September, in time for students to begin classes in pursuit of STEM-related fields ranging from emergency medical services to computer engineering.

“It was early investments such as Beca Angelita that allowed me to earn a degree in chemistry and launch a water-quality career,” Torres said in a news release. “I expanded the scholarship to the EOC (Educational Options Center) and CSDR (California School for the Deaf, Riverside) because they were schools I walked past every day on my way to Matthew Gage Middle School and wanted to make sure their students were included.”

Following are this year’s Beca Angelita award winners, their high schools and their college choices:

• Ahmed Alaqabi, North High School, Cal State San Bernardino.

• Manuela Andres Poly High School, UC Davis.

• Natasha Barraza-Beltran, California School for the Deaf, Riverside, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester, N.Y.

• Aidan-Bryce Hudson, King High School, UCR.

• Daniel Lopez, Arlington High School, UCR.

• Angel Uriostegui, STEM Academy, Cal State San Bernardino.

• Alisa Urtez, Lincoln High School, Riverside Community College.

• Alexis Wall, Raincross High School — Educational Options Center, University of Arizona.

Torres launched the Beca Angelita scholarship program in honor of her grandmother and the scholarships are paid for with funds Torres saves from her stipend as a director of the Western Municipal Water District, according to the news release.

Each year, Torres reaches out to high schools in the water district’s Division 2 service area and asks for nominations of students of color interested in STEM careers.

Torres received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and master’s degree in environmental science from Cal State San Bernardino and is pursuing a doctorate in public administration from California Baptist University.