Fourteen recent high school graduates will receive scholarships Saturday, June 23, in a gathering sponsored by the Peninsula College Fund.

The students, from East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City, are among the first in their families to go to college. Peninsula College Fund will award each of them $12,000 and provide mentoring and help in securing summer internships.

Former Santa Clara County Municipal Court Judge LaDoris Cordell will speak at Saturday's ceremony, to begin at 4:30 p.m. at Sacred Heart Preparatory School in Atherton. It is open to the public.

"I am passionate about Peninsula College Fund and what it stands for and does," Cordell said.

"I am delighted to have this opportunity to support an organization that so completely understands the importance of education and how critical it is for young people, especially for those from communities of color and with low-income backgrounds, to attend college."

This year's 14 honorees join 67 past recipients of support from the Peninsula College Fund in its seven-year history. All but one of those is in school full time or has graduated, according to Charles Schmuck, the fund's founder.

This year's scholarship recipients include, from Eastside College Preparatory School: Katherine Garcia, heading for Loyola Marymount University; Lauren Longmire, going to the University of California at Riverside and Karen Macias, heading for St. Mary's College.

From East Palo Alto Academy: Suleyma Garcia heading for San Jose State University.

From Menlo-Atherton High School: Cristian Diaz, heading for the University of California at Merced and Diana Lopez Solorzano going to the University of California at Davis.

From Sequoia High School: Alexandra Cota heading for Notre Dame de Namur University; Adrian Esqueda going to the University of California at Santa Cruz; Javier Guzman going to San Jose State and Yarita Lara Alvarez going to Notre Dame de Namur.

From Summit Preparatory: Francisco Trejo going to San Francisco State University.

From Woodside High School: Pierre Abdel-Malek going to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; Yxenia Contreras going to the University of California at Santa Barbara and Martin Esquivias heading for the University of California at Santa Cruz.

— Chris Kenrick

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