The recipients of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce scholarships pose for a group photo.
THE Saipan Chamber of Commerce held a ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at the Crowne Plaza Resort during their general membership meeting to award 15 Chamber Education Awards and three Pellegrino Vocational Awards.
The Chamber Education Award is given to qualifying students of Northern Marianas College, while the Pellegrino Vocational Award is given to qualifying students from the Northern Marianas Technical Institute.
The NMC students are: Nelson Acaba, Christel Aninzo, J’Dean Calvo, Zunica Castro, Harley Erich, Hyena Kim, Feifei Lei, Jaren Lifoifoi, Hui Lin, Breanna Mafnas, Zandra Mariano, Maili Peter, Chelsy Reyes, Rhine Russel, and Sylvia Sanchez.
Their NMTech counterparts are: Juan Calvo, Jose Itibus, and Lodel Callejo.
According to the Chamber website, applicants needed to provide two letters of recommendation, list extracurricular activities, and submit an essay. NMC students also had to maintain a 3.0 GPA to qualify for their award.
Chamber President Joe Guerrero expressed his pride in the students’ accomplishments.
“It’s always a good feeling when we’re awarding scholarships, and we always wish we could do more,” he said. “The scholarship helps a little bit to defray the cost of their education. It’s not a full ride. We had a lot of applicants this year, more than last year. To me, that brings hope that people are still pursuing and investing in themselves.”
He said the funds for the scholarships came from the Chamber Golf Tournament and Gala. Students received awards ranging from $500 to $1,000.
“A lot of our events that are pricier, it doesn’t come back just to the Chamber,” Guerrero said. “They’re really for giving back to the community.”
