Four Santa Cruz Area Students Will go to Sacramento for Awards

Santa Cruz High School's Holly Borg is one of 20 local high school seniors named as recipients of the 2012 Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship.

The company chose 180 seniors from throughout the state to receive the scholarship worth $1,000. Of the honorees, 120 of them are expected to attend a recognition ceremony on the steps of the State Capitol on Thursday, June 14.

"Instead of just giving them a check, we want to invite the students and their families to Sacramento for a day," said Bryan Byrd, director of communications for Comcast California. "They'll get to go on a tour of the State Capitol building and the California Museum of History, Women and the Arts."

Governor Jerry Brown is expected to attend the ceremony. Tom Torlakson, the state superintendent of public instruction, will be there along with state senators and assemblymembers.

Each school's principal nominated one student who best represents his or her school, Byrd said. The final recipients were then chosen based on academic performance, extracurricular activities and involvement in their communities.

"This is not a strictly academic scholarship," Byrd said. "We are looking for leadership qualities, too. Volunteer work is a large part of the scholarship."

As if $1,000 wasn't enough, the names of two students will be drawn during the ceremony for $10,000 scholarships. Twenty-five students will also walk away with a new laptop computer.

"You can imagine the reaction of the families when students' names are drawn for an additional $10,000 scholarship," Byrd said. "There's a lot of happy people."

Borg has already won a for raising more than $100,000 to support ShelterBox International, an organization that provides long-term shelter for families affected by disaster.

The winners from Santa Cruz County are:

• Caitlin Sorkhabi, Soquel High School, Aptos
• Holly Borg, Santa Cruz High School, Santa Cruz
• Ranae Maloney, Scotts Valley High School, Scotts Valley
• Jennifer Smith, Pacific Collegiate Charter, Watsonville