The 2021 Pedrozzi Scholarship applications are open. Livermore students pursuing college and career training are encouraged to apply. At least 80 scholarships will be awarded this year to help defray the costs of attending vocational training programs, community colleges, colleges and universities. Eligible applicants must be graduates of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District, and may be high school seniors, college students or older adults pursuing college degrees or career training certification.

Applications are accessed here and are due March 2, 2021. $327,500 was awarded in 2020.

Now more than ever, the value and importance of healthcare workers is at the forefront of everyone’s mind, and Patrick and Madeline McMenamin have endowed a scholarship to honor the work of highly trained nurses.

Students pursuing all fields of study are encouraged to apply for Pedrozzi Scholarships.  However, with funding from generous community members, some scholarships will be awarded for specific fields of study, including one to be awarded to students pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing.  Now more than ever, the value and importance of healthcare workers is at the forefront of everyone’s mind, and Patrick and Madeline McMenamin have endowed a scholarship to honor the work of highly trained nurses.  Additionally, Pedrozzi Board Member John W. Houghton, Jr. continues to annually fund a scholarship for students pursuing degrees in one of the STEM fields.

“While the majority of Pedrozzi Scholars are studying at community colleges and universities throughout the state and country, we know that college is not required for all career pursuits,” says Carolyn Siegfried, Pedrozzi Foundation Executive Director. Generous community members, including Alan and Mary Burnham, Sharon and Vaughn Draggoo, Donna and Art Pontau, and the Rotary Club of Livermore understand the growing need for students to pursue vocational, technical, and career training to address the projected shortages in the industries requiring a skilled labor force, so have funded scholarships to address this need.  These scholarships also show students that our community values the wide variety of post-high school options students may pursue.

Furthermore, through partnerships, some scholarship recipients have access to additional support. If the recipient of the Charles Amirkhanian Music Scholarship plans to study music at San Francisco State, Amirkhanian’s alma mater, the school’s department of music will match the $5,000 scholarship. Through a Pedrozzi Foundation and Livermore Lab Foundation partnership, the recipient of the Kim Cupps Memorial STEM Scholarship is eligible to receive a paid internship at Lawrence Livermore National Lab when he or she is a rising college junior or senior. The Foundation also works closely with Las Positas College to encourage Pedrozzi Scholars to take advantage of the full range of the college’s student success resources and increases the scholarship amount for those who do so.

In addition to applying for a Pedrozzi Scholarship, the Foundation encourages all high school seniors to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), or California Dream Act Application to access all federal, state and school aid for which they are eligible.

The 2021 scholarship awards will be at least $1,000 per year, up to a maximum of 4 years, depending on the scholarship.

A past recipient shared, “I work a minimum wage job. Due to my $4,000 Pedrozzi Scholarship, I spent hundreds of hours studying instead of working.”