The students, Cindy Huang, 17, from Encinal High School and Adley Wong, 17, from Alameda High School, both received full scholarships to the University of California, Berkeley through the university's Incentives Awards Program.

The program is UC Berkeley's largest privately funded scholarship fund. This year the program awarded 36 Bay Area students $28,000 each toward their college tuitions. The program also offers academic support and counseling to students as they transition into college life. Students who accept the scholarship are required to return to their high schools and promote college programs to younger students who face socio-economic hardships.

Maryellen Himell developed the program in 1992 with $50,000 seed money from businessman Kirk Underhill. The program started in 12 schools in San Francisco and has since grown, with the aid of $42 million from more than 1,000 private donors to 37 schools throughout the nine Bay Area counties and 22 schools in the Los Angeles area.

The IAP awards scholarships based on a student's socio-economic background, academic achievement and willingness to give back to the community.

Staying Optimistic
"These kids manage to keep their optimism and sense of hope in the face of incredible hardship," Himell said. "Each of the scholars we accept to the program is dedicated to pass on that optimism and hope to younger scholars who face similar difficulties. For that, they're heroes and we consider it a privilege to lend them a hand along the way."

The IAP is throwing a celebratory dinner at the Oakland Marriott for this year's scholarship recipients. The keynote speaker at the event will be California Secretary for Education Richard Riordan.

Alameda High School senior Adley Wong, 17, maintained a 4.0 grade point average while also volunteering as a tutor at elementary and middle schools and the Alameda Free Library.

Wong stayed focused on school despite coming from an immigrant family that struggled to survive in a new country. His parents came to the United States from Canton in the early 1980s. Wong said he grew up in a "cockroach-infested" studio apartment in Oakland's Chinatown with his parents and younger sister. His father worked in a restaurant and his mother sometimes earned as little as $20 a day as a seamstress.

Positive Role Model
Wong, who is considering a career in education, said the IPA will allow him to receive an education that otherwise would not have been financially possible. He said it was his mother who knew the value of an education and kept him focused on his studies.

"My mom motivated me. She kept saying I had to do well in school and as I grew older, I was able to understand what she meant and I just went for it," he said. "My mom did not have an education and could not choose what she did for a living. Because of this scholarship, I will have a choice. I feel very proud about that."

Cindy Huang, 17, whose parents also immigrated from Canton, said she is looking forward to giving back to her high school and the community she came from.

"That's the one thing I will really enjoy doing, is going back to Encinal to let students know about the opportunities that are there for them," she said.

Other East Bay recipients include Sophia Song from Oakland Technical High School, Michele Lei from Oakland High School and Laila Nossier from Berkeley High School.

Since the program's inception, 320 scholars have received IAP scholarships. Of those, 123 have graduated with degrees in a variety of disciplines including law, medicine, education, social services and the arts.

Angel Ward-Jackson, 22, graduated earlier this month from UC Berkeley with a degree in linguistics. She is the first in her family to receive a college degree and said the real value for her is that she will be able to return to her community and show young people it's possible to go to college.

She said her college education would not have been possible if not for the Incentive Awards Program.

"It has been the foundation for my success. Not only the financial help but also the support for the transition into the university and the strong academic support," she said. "It's like a family, that's how we define it."

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
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