Scholarship programs a big success at Lake Tahoe Community College

The numbers are in: Lake Tahoe Community College’s scholarship program had its most successful year ever in 2012/13, helping more students to reach their academic goals than ever before. In June 2013, the college handed out $81,000 in scholarship dollars: the most in the college’s history.

All of those dollars will help 66 LTCC students to continue their education, providing much-needed funds to cover the costs of tuition, textbooks, and other resources necessary to academic success.

There were several new scholarship programs students could apply for this year, including the “Be Great” Boys & Girls Club Scholarship, the Liberty Utilities award, the Camp Richardson scholarship, the Cliff Family scholarship, Tahoe Pride, and the Lyra Fisher Memorial scholarship. These new programs brought in just over $9,000 in awards, providing assistance to 10 students with their college costs.

The Camp Richardson scholarship was launched by local business owners and LTCC alumni Bob and Tammy Hassett, who donated $10,000 to start it off with. The Hassetts are the owners of the Camp Richardson Historic Resort and Marina. They were also the longtime owners of the Fresh Ketch restaurant in the Tahoe Keys Marina before selling the popular eatery in early 2013.

Christopher Sidell was one of four students who won $1,000 courtesy of the Hassetts’ new scholarship. Sidell is transferring to U.C. Davis this fall, where he’ll major in viticulture and enology. His plan is to return to South Lake Tahoe after graduation to open up his own brew pub. LTCC Director of Financial Aid Julie Cathie says, “By winning this scholarship, Chris has an excellent chance of succeeding at Davis, and then bringing that success back to Tahoe with his own thriving business.”

The Lyra B. Fisher Memorial Scholarship was established by LTCC’s TRiO-SSS Specialist Anna Lee in memory of an LTCC student who was killed by her husband in 2012. The scholarship focuses attention on how education can play a vital role in preventing domestic violence, which led to Fisher’s death.

“Lyra was an amazing woman, a hardworking student, and a dedicated mother, and I am thrilled that the first of many scholarships honoring her memory has been awarded to a woman who is working as hard as Lyra was to improve her life through education,” said Lee. The scholarship winner, Deanne Belardino, says, “As a single mother and domestic violence prevention advocate, the scholarship itself holds tremendous meaning for me. It’s also going to help me with the cost of text books and school supplies this year.”  

LTCC student Ying Johnson won two scholarships this year; one from the Classified Employees Senate and another from the Bernard Osher Foundation. “This will definitely help me pay my college expenses,” the web development major says. “As a foreigner, winning a scholarship only encourages me more to continue pursuing a higher education here.”

Winning a scholarship can make all the difference to a student’s ability to keep plugging away at their education — a fact well demonstrated by LTCC student Richard Gonzalez, who won a $500 Performing Arts League scholarship. “For a struggling student, any amount of scholarship money helps — whether it’s five dollars or five hundred,” says Gonzalez.

Another scholarship program that keeps on growing and handing out even bigger awards is the Erica Faye Ledbetter scholarship. It started in 2010 with $10,000 in awards handed out to 10 students. This year, thanks to a generous new donation by Jessica Ledbetter in honor of her late sister Erica, $20,000 was awarded to 10 students. That extra money will make all the difference to the recipients, says Cathie. “Both continuing and transferring students benefit greatly when they have additional funds available to help cover their costs,” she says.

If you’d like to donate to an existing scholarship or start a new one in honor of a loved one or cause that’s close to your heart, please contact Peter Bostic at Bostic@ltcc.edu, or call him at (530) 541-4660 ext. 245. You can also donate to scholarships online by going to www.ltcc.edu/web/donate/scholarships.