Rockford Jefferson School Students Earn $2 Million In Art Scholarships

From Rockford Public Schools:

March 5, 2020

Jefferson High School students will participate in an art showcase this weekend with some of the best artists from more than 100 high schools at the 8th Annual Illinois High School Art Exhibition.

Jefferson seniors Jaqueline Aranzolo, Brenda Banuelos-Mendez, Maria Camacho, Erika De La Mora, Isabella Dittman, Erin Giardono, Gianna Lobato, Brittany Lopez, Paulina Padron, Gabi Pina Bautista, Marianna Rosales, Bianca Ortiz, Emily Stremmel, and Angel Villalpando have already received nearly $2 million in scholarship offers!

The following students will display their artwork at the senior show, and they will compete for additional merit awards: Jaqueline Aranzolo, Maria Camacho, Erika De La Mora, Isabella Dittman, Erin Giardono, Gianna Lobato, Brittany Lopez, Paulina Padron, Gabi Pina Bautista, Marianna Rosales, Bianca Ortiz, Angel Villalpando.

These students will display their artwork at the general show as part of the Illinois High School Art Exhibition. They’ll also compete for state merit awards: Michael Bankole, BriAnna Cantrall, Chiziya Richardson-Norman, Maria Rivera, Larisa Sigala Rivera.

Jefferson junior Chiziya Richardson-Norman was awarded a full merit scholarship based on her portfolio to attend Syracuse University’s three-week Summer College Program in New York. This recognition was awarded through the IHSAE’s Early College Scholarship Program. Congrats!

The Illinois High School Art Exhibition is the state’s largest high school student art exhibition, and it’s widely considered the gold standard among high school art exhibitions nationwide.

Front row: Gianna Lobato, Brittany Lopez, Chizya Norman-Richardson, Erika De La Mora, Cookie Ortiz, Jacky Aranzolo, Gabi Pina-Bautista; Back row: Paulina Padron, Maria Camacho, Mariana Rosales, Michael Bankole, Brenda Banuelos-Mendez, Isabella Dittman, Angel Villalpando; Not pictured: Emily Stremmel, Erin Giardono

This press release was produced by Rockford Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.