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Ford Awards $170,000 in Educational Scholarships to Hispanic High School Students

Ford Motor Company’s 10th Annual Spirit of Accomplishment Scholastic Achievement Award essay contest awarded 80 high school seniors in Hispanic communities a total of $170,000 in educational scholarships

The 80 winners each received a $2,000 scholarship. The top scoring entry, Hector Neira of Silver Spring, Maryland received an additional $10,000 scholarship

Over the past 10 years, Ford has awarded more than $1.4 million in scholarship funds to more than 770 students in Hispanic communities nationwide

A complete list of the 2006 winners can be found on www.fordenespanol.com

This year’s grand prizewinner was Hector Neira, a senior at Paint Branch High School in Silver Spring, Maryland who immigrated with his family to the United States in 2000 from Bogotá, Colombia. Neira received the highest score of the 80 semi-finalists on his essay discussing a threefold plan to encourage cultural diversity, unity, and open-mindedness throughout campuses by creating murals, commemorative plaques and multi-cultural forums. Neira was awarded $10,000 in addition to the $2,000 received as a semi-finalist. In the fall, Neira will attend the University of Maryland at College Park where he was accepted into the honors program and plans to apply his love of math and science by pursuing a career in Engineering.

Over the past 10 years, Ford has awarded more than $1.4 million in scholarship funds to more than 770 students in Hispanic communities nationwide. The Spirit of Accomplishment Scholastic contest began as part of Ford’s ongoing commitment to support the Hispanic community. The scholarship contest was founded with the goal of assisting and encouraging Hispanic young adults to pursue higher education after high school graduation.