WINNERS Ashley Gong (left) and Laura Gholmieh were awarded scholarships. The Distinguished Young Women of Cerritos Artesia Scholarship program awarded seven scholarships to be used towards college expenses, totaling $6,500 to six very deserving young women on Saturday April 25.
Ashley Gong, from Whitney High School, was selected as the Distinguished Young Woman of Cerritos Artesia by a team of five Judges and was awarded $1,700 in scholarship money. Laura Gholmieh, also a student from Whitney , was selected as the alternate and received a $1,300 scholarship. The other winners of the evening were: Kristen Rivera, (CHS) – Fitness ($600),Anastacia Son (WHS) – Self Expression ($600), Lalita Sabat (WHS) – Talent ($700), Ashley Gong (WHS) – Interview ($800), Shravani Khisti (WHS) – Scholastic ($800).
This year’s program looked very different from our usual two day event due to the COVID19 virus. All events weredone virtually. The interviews and Self Expression were completed via Zoom with our five judges on Saturday. The talent and fitness routines were submitted by the girls earlier in the week and also judged virtually. The scholastic portion of the competition was completed by an additional judge familiar with academic standards. Our final event which usually takes place at Cerritos College and includes the announcing of our scholarship winners, also took on a new look. A Zoom meeting, where participants, their parents, donors, and city and school district officials were invited, took place at 6:00 P.M. on Saturday evening.
The Distinguished Young Women Committee would like to thank our generous donors, including Kaiser Permanente, MSI, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, Assemblymember Christina Garcia, the City of Cerritos, the Optimists and Soroptimists of Cerritos, and countless personal donors.
Begun in 1958, Distinguished Young Women has impacted the lives of more than 770,000 young women. Their mission is to empower high school young women by providing scholarship opportunities, developing self-confidence and teaching crucial life skills needed for success in college and beyond.
For more information about Distinguished Young Women, contact Tara Principe, National Headquarters Marketing and Communications Director, at 251-438-3621 or Tara@DistinguishedYW.org or visit www.DistinguishedYW.org .
