6 Students Win Strawberry Scholarships

Six Ventura County students were honored in the third annual California Strawberry Commission Scholarship Program. A total of 23 students statewide received scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,500. The awards can be applied toward full-time enrollment at a four-year college or university, a community college or accredited trade school. Scholarship eligibility is limited to high school seniors who are the children of strawberry industry farm workers. The local winners are:

Elizabeth Pantoja; Rio Mesa High School; $1,500.

Alma Magana; Rio Mesa High School; $1,000.

Guadalupe Nunez; Rio Mesa High School; $1,000.

Monica Cervantes; Channel Islands High School; $500.

Daniela Tapia; Oxnard High School; $500.

Alma Viramontes; Buena High School; $500.

Young Inventor Cited in National Contest * A sixth-grader from Banyan Elementary School in Newbury Park received a $100 award in a national inventor competition. Nicole Couverley was one of 14 sixth-grade students--chosen from 4,000 submissions--from across the nation who participated in the Invention Convention in Kansas City, Mo. Nicole’s roller soap project won honorable mention.

Magazine Publisher, Pierpont Inn Honored * An individual and a business were honored by the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau during May’s National Tourism Month for their impact on tourism in Ventura. Gerald Nordskog, publisher of Powerboat Magazine, was honored for his involvement in bringing a national powerboat race to Ventura last fall. The Tourism Business of the Year award was given to the Pierpont Inn for “promoting and enhancing the image of Ventura by creating getaway packages with local attractions.”

Rio Mesa Senior Wins Lee Welsh Award * The Mesa Education Foundation honored Rio Mesa High School senior Stefanie Aalberts with the Lee Welsh Memorial Scholarship Award. The $750 scholarship is awarded annually to a former Mesa Union Junior High School student who is a graduating high school senior and has displayed academic excellence. The award was created in 1988 in memory of Lee Welsh, a Mesa Union Junior High School teacher who died in a boating accident off the coast of Alaska in 1987.

Awards and Honors is compiled by Rodney Bosch. Please address items to Awards and Honors, Los Angeles Times, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. Items can also be faxed to The Times at 653-7576 or 653-7548.