Photo: Steve Thurston
Scholarship winners from front to back: Tafat "Taffy" Zurita, Amanda Loayza, Laura Rocha, Monique Span, Jose Vasquez, and Joseph McGeary. Not pictured: Suyapa del Carmen Jaurez Villatoro.
Seven college and high school students were awarded Mary Marshall Memorial Scholarships of $1,800 each from Arlington County at the county board meeting on Saturday.
Three of the recipients have won the honors before. All the awardees are Arlington residents, attended Arlington high schools and go, or plan to go, to Northern Virginia Community College.
Chair Mary Hynes said, "It's always great to see the next generation."
Winners include: Suyapa del Carmen Jaurez Villatoro (Arlington Mill), Amanda Loayza (Washington Lee), Laura Rocha (Wakefield), Joseph McGeary (Yorktown), Monique Span (Washington Lee), Jose Vasquez (Arington Mill), and Tafat "Taffy" Zurita (Yorktown).
On top of good grades, the awardees have extensive volunteer and extra-curricular activities. Awardees all intend to go into public service jobs such as teaching or social work.
The scholarship commemorates Mary Marshall, an Arlington delegate to the Virginia House for 24 years.
"One of my favorite things [about Marshall] is the bumper sticker that she had," board member Chris Zimmerman said. "'George Washington was a northern Virginian.' I always liked that."
