The Sánchez Scholars, a local program that offers first-generation Latinx youth an articulated pathway with scholarship support from ninth grade through a college degree, will be celebrating a quarter century with a special Sánchez Scholars Program 25th Anniversary Celebration this Friday, April 11, at the Madison College Truax. There are so many students who have come through the program over the years that have formed a rather large Sánchez Scholars family.
“I think it’s really important to all of us to be sharing the same space at the 25th Anniversary Celebration because that’s when you truly see the impact that the Sánchez Scholarship has … that it doesn’t only reach the student that’s picked to be part of the scholarship, but the family, the cousins, aunts and uncles, and people around them who just benefit from the services and the supports that the students receive from the scholarship,” Lesli Vázquez, coordinator of the high school Sánchez Scholars Program, tells Madison365.
“So I think that the evening of the 25th-anniversary celebration, it’ll be very emotional for a lot of us, especially those of us who have been either working or collaborating with the scholarship for a really long time because we get to see people who are still in our minds and hearts as high schoolers …. but they’re really not,” Vázquez adds.
Sánchez Scholars receive financial support in high school to help cover costs such as computers, graphing calculators, supplies, extracurricular activities and fees for summer enrichment programs, according to the Friends of Sánchez Scholars website, and staff members monitor academic progress and help ensure pre-college planning. Throughout the year the Sanchez Scholars keep busy with a variety of field trips, activities, and events.
As the Madison area’s Latinx population grows, there has been an increasing gap in the ability to ensure adequate staffing and scholarship support. That’s where the Sanchez Scholars Program, along with the Mann Scholars Program who serve students of color in the MMSD, can really help make a difference for young people in the greater Madison community.
“Both the Sanchez Scholars and the Mann Scholars programs don’t really have a lot of funds available for operations. It’s just scholarship money. So it’s key to have the support of not just the families, but other people in the community who have reached out, and they’ve really been amazing at supporting us and donating things from a wish list to help our students feel special … because they are,” Vázquez says.
Retired UW-Madison Professor Roberto Sánchez initially established a scholarship fund at the Madison Community Foundation in collaboration with the MMSD to inspire academic excellence by local Latino/a youth and to build a pathway for those in high school and postsecondary institutions to achieve their academic dreams.
Vázquez has been involved with the Sánchez Scholars since 2003, starting as a volunteer.
Vázquez says she is looking forward to the very first Sanchez Scholar being at the event. Sandra Becerra graduated from Madison West High School in 2004 and went on to earn a bachelor’s of science degree in Spanish and psychology at Beloit College in 2009, and a master’s degree in 2011 at the Chicago School of Psychology.
“Sandra has an active part in the programming for the 25th anniversary event which is all being done by former scholars,” Vázquez says. “I don’t even like to call them ‘former scholars’ because once you are a Sanchez Scholar, you are a Sanchez Scholar for life.
“We are looking forward to Sandra being there along with some early Sanchez Scholars who haven’t been to a lot of our events,” she adds. “They now are married and have children. We even have a parent of a scholar who graduated last year … she was a scholar back in the day!”
At Friday’s event, Sanchez Scholars will also be recognizing Elizabeth Zarate-Pérez, its second Full Circle Scholar. Zarate-Pérez was a Sánchez Scholar at all three partner institutions (MMSD, Madison College, UW-Madison). She will be earning her bachelor of arts diploma in Spanish & Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies with a minor in Chicano/Latino Studies.
“It should be a really fun event. [Longtime Sanchez Scholars board member] Lalo [Mancilla] has connections with a mariachi band, I believe they are some families from Edgewood, and they will come and perform at the beginning of the event,” Vázquez says. “We are planning on seeing old Sanchez Scholars there. It’s going to be like a family reunion.”
Kathy Price, who helped launch the Sanchez Scholars program 25 years ago, was MMSD’s longtime partnerships coordinator.
“One of the things that we’re most pleased with is that former Sanchez Scholars have taken the lead in designing the 25th-anniversary event and in highlighting what they feel is really significant about their participation and about what the program offers,” Price tells Madison365. “We love the fact that we now have graduates that have been launched into their own careers. They have created their own families. It’s a whole new generation of energy going into the program.”
Sponsors of the Sánchez Scholars Program 25th Anniversary Celebration include NK Community Advocate, Madison College, Summit Credit Union, Dan Steffen Wine Guy Photography, Aztlán Mexican Grill, and Friends & Family of the Sánchez Scholars.
Vázquez says she can’t wait to see some of the old scholars at the event. Some of the very first Sanchez Scholars are now in their 40s.
“I’ve been having communication with some of the scholars as we build up to this big event. I was telling one scholar ‘It’s really hard for me sometimes … I have to remember that you’re not 15 or 16 anymore, because every time I talk to you or I think about you, I’m still thinking about you when you’re 15 or 16.’ And he just started laughing. He’s like, ‘Well, I’m an old man now.’
“It’s rewarding to know that our kids are doing well, that they’re being successful, and most of all, to me, that they’re happy. I want them to be doing whatever it is that fills their heart, whatever it is that makes them feel like successful humans,” Vázquez continues. “I go back to when these scholars were young and first interviewing to become a Sanchez Scholar. Every single one of them towards the end of their interview answers includes something to the effect of wanting to give back to the community.
“And in the end, it really does come through some way or another. It really does become true. They all give back.”
