During March, the annual Pennies for PEP fundraiser is also held through Paramount Unified School District. For 2016, by way of comparison, the District made a record-breaking contribution of more than $20,000 to the PEP fund. This past March, the Pennies for PEP figure from PUSD was an astonishing $114,000. There were the usual containers for spare change in all elementary and middle schools, the high school campuses and adult school, at the District office, and at City facilities. But this year special events were held and creative ways of encouraging donations were put in place. When all fundraising efforts were combined, a total of $188,000 was made available for college scholarships for local students. This amount allowed the number of scholarships to grow from 24 to 36. Five schools joined the “$10,000 Club,” raising at least that much money (show from left): Zamboni Middle School (Principal Sue Saikaly); Alondra Middle School (Principal Lynn Butler); Jackson Middle School (Principal Kelly Anderson); Paramount Park Middle School (Principal Kevin Longworth); Paramount High West Campus (Principal Elizabeth Salcido). The top fundraising school overall was Jackson and Principal Anderson – $31,000! All of the principals were recognized at the May 2 Paramount City Council meeting and given special PEP Piggy Bank Awards.

Thanks to the generosity of the PEP donors, the following Paramount students received a PEP college scholarship for 2017.

Ashley Almejo          

Neurology, UCLA, Paramount Park

Jully Alvarado                

Statistics, UCLA, Jefferson & Alondra

Celeste Azpeitia             

Aviation, Long Beach St., Roosevelt & Paramount Park

Rommel Barrantes                   

Nursing, Long Beach St., Roosevelt & Hollydale

Samantha Castro           

Biomedicine, UCLA, unavailable

Alejandro Cordova                   

Geological Sciences, Brigham Young, Idaho, unavailable

Christopher Duran                   

Pre-Law, UCLA, Wirtz & Paramount Park

Brian Espiritu                 

Pre-Law, UC, Santa Barbara, Wirtz & Paramount Park

Maribel Flores                

Psychology, Long Beach St., Hollydale & Alondra

Angelina Florimon           

Business Administration, San Diego State, Tanner & Zamboni       

Michael Guerra              

Nursing, UC, Irvine, Lincoln & Alondra

Lizbeth Hernandez                   

English, UCLA, Wirtz & Alondra

Carolina Hurtado           

Nursing, UC, Irvine, Roosevelt & Paramount Park

Martina Ibrahim              

Criminal Justice, University of New Haven

Amalia Macias                

Nursing, Long Beach St., Mokler

Keeanna Magana           

Anthropology, UC, San Diego, Tanner & Zamboni

Nathalia Mendoza          

Education, Chico St., Tanner & Zamboni

Anahi Moreno Ramos    

Psychology, UC, Irvine, Hollydale & Alondra

Judith Murillo                 

Pre-Law, UCLA, Lincoln & Alondra

Sydneysierra Naioti                 

Psychiatry, Brigham Young, Hawaii, Mokler & Alondra

Ezequiel J. Novoa          

Chemical Engineering, Claremont McKenna College, Mokler & Alondra

Natalie Ortega                

Animation, Long Beach St., Hollydale & Alondra

Emily Michelle Ortiz        

Journalism, UCLA, Hollydale & Alondra

Zoe Pamonag                 

Neuroscience, UCLA, Paramount Park

Kaitlin Susan Perez        

Pre-Med UC, Irvine, unavailable

Alberto Quintana Jaquez         

Aerospace Engineering, UC, San Diego, Zamboni

Rosalynn Reyes             

Pre-Law, Long Beach St., Paramount Park

Vivian Elizabeth Rodriguez

Psychiatry, University of Redlands, Alondra

Jisselle Rosales             

Pre-Med, UCLA, Wirtz & Paramount Park

Danielle Ruiz                             

Nursing, UC, Davis, Wirtz & Paramount Park

Nicole Ruiz                     

Nursing, Cal State, Fullerton, Hollydale & Alondra

Beatriz Salazar               

Education, California State, Dominguez Hills, Jackson

Jazmine Solorzano                  

Pre-Med, UC, Irvine, Zamboni

Melissa Torres               

Graphic Design, Long Beach St., Mokler & Alondra

Julia Michelle Vartan Casey

Therapy, Life Pacific College, Jefferson & Alondra

Jesus Victoria                 

Pre-Law, UC, Santa Barbara, Jefferson & Alondra