press release

May 13, 2003

Marian Catholic High Senior Awarded
Two $1,000 Scholarships

Local student Cristina Jimenez has been selected to win a $1,000 scholarship in an annual competition hosted by the California Special Districts Association (CSDA) and its affiliates. Jimenez was submitted for regional consideration by South Bay Irrigation District, which earlier selected her to win its $1,000 local scholarship.

Each student in the competition was required to research the purpose of special districts and prepare an essay about their value as a form of local government. In her essay, Jimenez noted that a special district “cares more about the job and the people it serves than about procedural red tape.”

Jimenez, who will graduate as valedictorian in her class, has a 4.6 GPA and has already set her sites on earning a Ph. D. so that she may someday teach college English. She has earned awards for outstanding leadership and service, is a California Scholarship Federation and National Honor Society Member, and was commended by the National Merit Scholarship Program. She has been a volunteer daycare assistant, a candy striper, an English tutor, and a Head Start Volunteer.

Jimenez will receive the South Bay Irrigation District Scholarship May 18 and will be honored with other regional winners at a CSDA meeting on May 15. Her scholarship was funded by a CSDA affiliate, the Water Agencies Association of San Diego County.

Editors note: South Bay Irrigation District, with the City of National City, formed Sweetwater Authority under a joint powers agreement in 1997, to provide public water service to National City, Bonita, and the western and central portions of Chula Vista. It sponsors a scholarship each year to promote civic interest among local high school students.

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