NM SCHOLARSHIP SEMIFINALISTS

Over 90 high school seniors have an opportunity to compete for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million.

Lester Racca, 17, will be honored by the Filipino American community at the Pamana Awards.

Racca is receiving the Manoa Youth Award, given in the spirit of the late Manoa Alcantara Jojola, son of Dr. Dely Alcantara and Dr. Ted Jojola, both UNM professors, of the Manoa Foundation for excellence in academics and community service. He will receive a $500 scholarship fund from the Manoa Foundation.

Racca graduated with a cumulative GPA of 4.317 from Eldorado High in May 2019. He has been a performer with the Filipino Performing Arts Group since 2016, which helped raise funds for the scholarship funds of the Filipino American college students in New Mexico. In high school, Racca briefly joined the Best Buddies program, which promotes one-to-one friendship with Special Ed students.

He is the son of Larry and Marita Racca.

The Pamana event, which will also honor three adult awardees and recognize graduates, is held in October, the Filipino American History Month. The biennial event is cosponsored by the Filipino American National Historical Society Rio Grande Chapter and Filipino American Community Council. The event will be held on Oct. 5 at 2 p.m. at the South Broadway Cultural Center. Tickets are $15 at pinoy-newmexico.com/2019-pamanaawards or call/text 440-6883.

The Camilla Rowe Memorial Scholarship has been awarded to Camille Loonam of Eldorado High School in memory of teacher Camilla Rowe, who died of a rare form of cancer. To qualify, the student must have attended Eisenhower Middle School where Rowe taught. The $1,000 award is to be used for college expenses. The selection process includes an essay and an interview. The essay topic this year was “How an Historical Figure in American History Has Influenced Me.” Loonam is attending Northern Arizona University.