Lopez receives President’s SPARKLE Scholar Award
Paulina Lopez, long-time Boys & Girls Club member and current staff member, has been awarded the President’s SPARKLE Scholar Award via Boys & Girls Clubs of America. This unique award includes a $3,100 one-year renewable monthly allowance provided by a generous couple through their SPARKLE Fund. SPARKLE stands for Students Pursuing Academic Rewards, Knowledge, Love, and Empowerment. SPARKLE Scholars are some of the very best ambassadors of Boys & Girls Clubs.
One benefit of this opportunity is a monthly award in a non-traditional sense – providing the scholar with “fun money” to use at their discretion. Award recipients can utilize the funds for clothing, gas, food, hobbies, entertainment, and travel (not to be used for books or tuition, but for fun!). This award may be extended to continue throughout a scholar’s post-secondary education journey, including graduate school, law school and medical school if they are making satisfactory progress.
SPARKLE Scholar Award recipients must meet certain program requirements, such as being a current or former Boys & Girls Club member, enrollment in an accredited traditional four-year post-secondary institution (with a minimum of 13 credit hours each semester), and making adequate academic and steady progress towards graduation. Recipients must also write a letter to the funders each month to update them on their experience in the Club and at school.
Lopez has been a very active and dedicated Boys & Girls Club member since 2010 when she was in 1st grade. She was also named the Club’s 2018-19 Youth of the Year, which is the highest honor a Club member can receive. Lopez is a 2022 graduate of Fond du Lac High School and is starting her college career at Marian University this fall where she plans to major in Special Education with a minor in Therapeutic Art. She plans to continue working for the Boys & Girls Club while pursuing her college degree.
For more information on how to become a member of the Boys & Girls Club, click HERE.