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Paramount honors dozens of student scholars as PEP hands out 2026 awards
Summary
Paramount City Council and the Paramount Education Partnership recognized PEP scholarship recipients, named top students and announced donors supporting $189,000 in scholarships this year; officials said PEP has awarded roughly 714 scholarships totaling about $2.2 million since 2004.
Paramount City Council and the Paramount Education Partnership (PEP) spent the majority of their May 26 meeting at Paramount Community Center recognizing student achievement and thanking scholarship donors.
John Tanklage, introduced as chairman of the PEP board, led the Pledge of Allegiance before the ceremony of recognition. City manager John Moreno and other officials called dozens of scholarship recipients by name and said the PEP program has awarded about 714 scholarships since 2004, totaling roughly $2.2 million; this year PEP distributed 59 scholarships amounting to $189,000, officials said. Donors named in the meeting included local businesses and foundations listed by contribution tier.
The city read names of students headed to University of California campuses, Cal State and trade schools and community colleges. Examples from the list presented at the meeting include Samantha Gutierz (UCLA), Mika Marcado (UC San Diego), Johanna Gallardo (UC Santa Barbara), Brian Chow (Cal State Long Beach) and Destiny Ryas (Cypress College). Organizers also announced that the top 25 students from Paramount High will be featured on Boulevard of Scholars banners along Paramount Boulevard.
Officials singled out two students who received Gates Foundation-funded scholarships and noted that since 2001 a total of 31 Paramount students have been selected for that national program. Organizers invited scholarship winners and donors to photos and said event photos will be posted to the city’s SmugBug site.
City staff and council members thanked the PEP board and the business community for supporting local scholars. The recognition portion of the meeting concluded with a short recess before the council moved to its business agenda.
The meeting materials and announcements provided at the event contained the numbers and donor lists referenced here; the council’s business portion followed after a 10-minute break.
