Bishop Paiute Tribe honors scholarship recipients
The Bishop Paiute Tribe and its Scholarship Committee are proud to announce scholarship awards for 18 recent Native American graduates of Bishop Union High School (BUHS), including a dozen tribal citizens who are attending 10 different colleges this fall.
“The Bishop Paiute Tribe wishes the best to all the 2015 scholarship recipients and we would like to thank all of the scholarship sponsors for their generous support of our Native students,” said Chairman Gerald Howard, a longtime history teacher who recently retired from BUHS. “The dreams and aspirations of our Native students could not be pursued without the financial support of others.”
Tiarney Andreas (Bishop Paiute/White Mountain Apache) and Thomas Sills (Bishop Paiute) are among those who earned great distinction for their academic excellence, leadership skills and community service.
Tiarney Andreas and Thomas Sills. Photo courtesy: Sheet staff.
Andreas was awarded more than $120,000 in scholarships, including the San Manuel Tribe’s Excellence in Leadership Award that totals $80,000 over four years and the University of Redlands President’s Award for $20,000. Andreas plans to pursue international relations and hopes to travel abroad for some of her studies. She also is bilingual in English and Spanish and learning the Paiute language. Andreas is the daughter of local Paiute attorney Jasmine Andreas, a graduate of Arizona State University Law School.
Sills was named one of 1000 Gates Millennium Scholars for 2015, earning a full-ride to UCLA for four years for approximately $135,000. Gates Millennium Scholarships are awarded to individuals with strong leadership, community service and academic achievements. Sills achievement is especially notable since more than 57,000 students applied, making this year one of the most competitive candidate groups in the program’s history. Sills plans to study computer technology and linguistics at UCLA. He is the son of Angie West of Bishop.
The Bishop Paiute Tribe also provides funding to 14 tribal citizens who are completing undergraduate degrees and/or in graduate schools earning degrees in law, business management, psychology, social work, computer science, fire science, and education.
The Bishop Paiute Tribe Scholarship Committee is chaired by Donna Vasquez and includes Tina Stone, Judy Kinney, Harry Williams and Wanda Summers. Meryl Barlow Picard is director of Tribe’s Education Center and Sharon Nelson is the scholarship coordinator.
Below are BUHS recent graduates who were awarded scholarships:
Tamia Shoshone (College of the Sequoias); Cierra Rossi (Cuesta Community College); Leticia Gonzales (Cerro Coso College); Thomas Montoya (Butte Community College); Troy Watterson (Haskell Indian Nations); River Mallory (Butte Community College); Anthony Brown (Cerro Coso); Rubee Manuelito (to be determined); Ryan Lent Jr. (TBD); Sabrina Stone (TBD).
Other Native American students from BUHS (not Bishop Tribe enrolled) awarded a variety of scholarships:
Julia Loera – Utu Utu Gwaitu Tribe (Cerro Coso), Kerissa Isaac – Choctaw Nation (Cerro Coso), Desmond Frank – Timbisha Shoshone (UNR), Woodrow Reynolds – Mono Paiute (UNR), Shelby Logan – Lone Pine Paiute Tribe (UNR), and Korina Toledo – Big Pine Paiute Tribe (Porterville Community College).
