Newsletter 12.28.23 | Double Your Impact!
Dear friends and supporters of the Dr. Horace Jackson Legacy Scholarship,
As 2023 closes, we are proud of our HJLS scholarship awardees – and eager to open the applications for 2024. The widow of Dr. Jackson, Cathy, who has been our greatest donor, recently shared the following story:
“The first year out of high school and into college can be very difficult. I struggled my first couple of years and ended up doing three years at Riverside Community College, but I was able to get on track thanks to one of the instructors at RCC who took me under her wing ... I was passing my classes, but I was selling myself short and going in a direction I thought would be easier. With her belief in me I changed my major and went in the direction of teaching which I always wanted to do but did not believe I could. So, it can be done. I believe all you need is just one person believing in you.”
Cathy Jackson, 4th from left, at 2023 ceremony with awardees and Founding Committee.
Horace Jackson's daughter, a Selection Committee member, is 2nd from left.
Please consider a year-end tax-deductible contribution.
YOUR DONATION WILL BE DOUBLED (up to $5,000)
until the end of the year.
Thanks to your generosity, we have raised $110,000
and awarded $6,000 in scholarships
since we founded the Dr. Horace Jackson Legacy Scholarship.
As we enter our third year, we continue to learn more about the needs of those we aim to support – and how to better serve those needs. In 2023, we raised the scholarship amount to $3,000 annually with a 2-year commitment to help HJLS recipients succeed. Our next goal is to reach $130,000 so we can award one scholarship with the interest from the fund. As the fund grows, so will our ability to award more scholarships to graduating Huskies. With $250,000 we can make two annual awards for two years for two students. That is our next goal!
2023 Awardees: Alyssa Martinez, Oscar Alvarez, Isaic Lujan
Our 2023 recipients recently shared these thoughts.
Oscar Alvarez:
“My biggest obstacle so far has been the transition from high school to the college setting. The most challenging thing is having more freedom. In high school, everything is set up: your schedule, what time to go to classes, your homework and all those things. College is more independent ... But not having that experience of freedom makes it hard sometimes to know the best choice to make with your time – when to go to class, when to study, when to work.”
Alyssa Martinez:
“I really like my classes and all the professors are understanding and nice! At first it was a little stressful getting used to the college environment, especially since it requires a lot of time management. But I’ve been getting used to it! My grades are good, so far, and the only class that’s a little tough is Biology.”
Isaic Lujan:
“It’s my hope that the two years I spend at RCC will provide me with an experience that prepares me for a transfer to either a CSU or UC campus. Thanks again for the aid! It helped a lot with textbooks and materials that I needed during the final stretch of this first semester.”
Many of the kids we seek to help are helping their families while also trying to go to college. Family obligations are a reality for many of North’s students including financial support, helping with siblings and household chores. As Oscar and Alyssa point out, the college setting adds another layer of responsibility to time management. Our goal is to try to support our awardees in a way that they can focus on achieving their college dream while juggling family responsibilities.
As we end the year and look forward to 2024, we remain so grateful for all your support, which for many of us was inspired by encouragement we received or experienced in different ways from Horace Jackson, principal at North from 1970 – 1976. We believe John W. North High School is truly a remarkable place and the legacy of Dr. Jackson lives on. Thank you so much for continuing to give back – to help young people – our next leaders – reach their potential and their dreams.
“Horace Jackson was my principal and I admired Mr. Jackson a great deal for his courage, warmth, and diplomacy at a time of very heightened political divisions and emotions (not unlike today, in some ways). Additionally, I faced quite a few difficulties in school and Mr. Jackson helped me out personally and saw positive things in me that others usually did not; as he did for many other students, too. He was a role model and a mentor. I feel very lucky to have been able to thank him in person at my 40-year reunion, where he spoke despite being terminally ill.”
Millie Phillips, Class of ‘72
Please consider forwarding our newsletter to (at least) one person who may want to help. And remember, every dollar counts. Up until the end of the year, every dollar will be matched!
Thank you!
The Scholarship Founding Team
Nancy Biddle Sutterley '75; Riverside City College; BA UCLA 1979; MBA Cal State East Bay 1991
Oscar Edwards '72; Riverside City College; BA UCLA 1978; MBA Anderson School - UCLA 1981; DBA, Grand Canyon University 2022
Michele Himmelberg '74; Riverside City College; BA USC 1979
Cullen Williamson '75; Cabrillo College; BS San Jose State University 1980; MBA USF 2001
Molly Williamson '74; UC Riverside; Cabrillo College; Riverside City College; Santa Monica College; BS San Jose State University 1984