The Hoboken Dual Language Charter School has awarded an alumna with their inaugural $1,000 Diversity, Inclusion, Community, and Equity (DICE) scholarship.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The DICE committee awarded the funding, made possible through the Friends of HoLa organization, to Angelle Garrido Pascal, a recent graduate from the Jose Marti STEM Academy who attended HoLa for grades 6-8.
Pascal will be attending Rutgers University in the fall to study biochemistry.
“My time at HoLa created a foundation of values that I continue to carry with me to this day. Thanks to HoLa, I have been able to use my Spanish skills to help others in my community,” Pascal said in a statement.
“I’m so thankful for this scholarship and I’m so proud to continue carrying part of HoLa with me when I go off to college.”
According to Hola officials, she is an honor roll student and frequent community service volunteer, is receiving the DICE scholarship for her demonstration of HoLa’s core values of integrity, scholarship, kindness, global citizenship, and innovation in action over the course of her high school career.
Using the foundation in the Spanish language that she honed at HoLa to serve her community, Pascal volunteered her time at the Palisades Family Success Center two days a week, helping migrant children complete homework and providing other tutoring assistance.
“Supporting our former students and encouraging them to bring the lessons they learn here at HoLa with them wherever they end up is part of what makes our work so rewarding,” HoLa’s Executive Director Jen Sargent said in a statement.
“We are so proud of Angelle for everything she has done for her community and how she has continued to use her multilingual skills to help others. This scholarship is a recognition and a celebration of all of her hard work.”
Additionally, key part of her volunteerism was helping with the translation of students’ homework, a selfless use of the multilingual skills that she honed as an HoLa student and summer camp counselor. Pascal has also received the NJDOE Seal of biliteracy in Spanish.
“Friends of HoLa is committed to supporting HoLa’s students and alumni, mission, and core values in all forms,” noted Friends of HoLa President Marina Palombini.
“The DICE scholarship is an important way to continue supporting these core values and extending these principles into the world beyond HoLa’s walls as our students continue their academic careers to college.”
All alumni graduating high school who attended HoLa were eligible to apply for the DICE scholarship and the DICE committee is made up of a group of HoLa educators who review applications through a blind process to allow for an unbiased selection.
