Local Church Awards Four SRVUSD Graduates Scholarships

Press release from CPC:

CPC, a community church in Danville, awarded its inaugural FOR Scholarships to high school seniors entering college this Fall. Scholarship winners included Addison Eves of San Ramon Valley High School, Sarah Fiveash of Monte Vista Highschool, Emily Chen of Dougherty Valley High School, and Grace Spievak of California High School. To be considered for a scholarship, graduating seniors from SRVUSD were invited to express in any medium desired how they personally have been “for” others and how their actions made a difference to another person or group.

“We created a college scholarship this year to let the students of our valley know that we are for them,” said Bill Haslim, Associate Pastor for Student Programs at CPC. “As they say their goodbyes to family and friends and head to college, we want them to know that even though they’ve left, we still want to be part of their future.”

CPC launched their FOR The Valley movement three years ago, rooted in the notion that “being for others can change the world” with a hyper focus on serving the San Ramon Valley. Examples of how the church has embodied this initiative include writing notes of gratitude to every teacher in the SRVUSD school district, promoting small businesses through social media, granting $10,000 to I Can Do That Dance Theater as part of their capital campaign, hosting a weekly televised podcast interviewing local experts on topics like COVID, race relations, marriage and finance which was broadcast during the SIP order and most recently, the FOR Scholarship program.

“Our students are a vital part of the community,” said Deana Dickerson, Director of Serve at CPC. “We want to acknowledge the ways students are making a difference in the valley, and we want to encourage and invest in their future.”

Dougherty Valley High School graduate Emily Chen created a video that promoted mental health awareness on TikTok. She wanted to cut through the noise of TikTok and have a video be about something meaningful. 3.6 million people viewed her video. And if that wasn’t enough, Chen created a company called ANEWDAY and it has a mission to make young girls feel empowered. All the profits go to Mental Health America.

“Emily is using social media for social change,” added Carol Mascali, Chief of Staff and Community Ambassador for FOR at CPC who spoke about each recipient at the scholarship awards ceremony. “Her clothing has inspirational sayings like ‘keep going’ or ‘carpe diem’. Her goal is to get other kids to join the conversation on mental health awareness for students.”

Chen is attending Cal Berkeley.

Addison Eves of San Ramon Valley High School, who is using her scholarship at BYU, demonstrated that she was for others during the pandemic by taking her passion for arts and crafts to create activities for younger children to do from home during the pandemic. “She was motivating, uplifting and for the children of our valley,” added Dickerson. “If that wasn’t enough, she also took to her violin and went to a variety of senior living homes and played violin for them.”

Sarah Fiveash, who is attending Trinity College in Connecticut, started “Widows and Kiddos” with her mom, where she mentors other kids that have lost a parent. She created a safe place for kids to talk about their loss, she could empathize and show them there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Fiveash is attending Trinity College in Connecticut and will study biology and chemistry.

Grace Spievak of California High School, who is attending Cal State San Marcos, started a student worship team and has led students in worship the past 4 years. This past year, she has made worship videos called Worship Anywhere, in an effort to communicate that worship isn’t just about singing, but about honoring God and that it can be done anywhere.

“These students are shining examples of the impact you can have by simply showing others you’re for them,” added CPC’s Lead Pastor Tyler Scott. “We are cheering for all of the students in our valley as they embark on this next season of life. Wherever they land, we hope they know God is for them, and we will always be here for them."

CPC offers a weekly high school youth group program for students called ROCK on Monday nights at 7:00pm. The church hosts services every Sunday at 9:00am and 11:00am. To learn more about all of CPC’s programs, visit http://cpcdanville.org.

This press release was produced by CPC. The views expressed here are the author's own.