Press Releases

Gonzales High School senior Valeria Tinoco has been awarded a Mental Health Awareness Scholarship from the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS).  The scholarship was given to students who demonstrated positive efforts in spreading awareness and affecting change regarding mental health.

To qualify for the scholarship applicants were required to submit an essay focused on two prompts related to mental health.   Tinoco's essay described her involvement with the Gonzales Youth Council (GYC), the mental health survey project they conducted, and her efforts to spread awareness in her community around mental health.

The GYC is a unique youth leadership program sponsored by the City of Gonzales with support from the Gonzales Unified School District.  Every year the GYC undertakes a service-learning project to improve the community. One area that was greatly aggravated by the pandemic was youth mental health.  The GYC chose youth mental health as their service-learning project as they recognized students were stressed by school closures, social isolation, and the challenges of remote learning.  The GYC conducted a mental health survey among Gonzales middle and high school students and the survey findings resulted in the City Council and the Gonzales Unified School District jointly funding a second school-based clinical social worker.

"My takeaway from working on the youth mental health project is that it is important for the youth to speak out about problems or have a voice to represent them to solve any problems," said Tinoco.

In addition to the NSHSS Mental Health Scholarship Tinoco received five other scholarships.  She will be attending the University of Davis this fall and major in molecular and medical microbiology with the goal of pursuing a career as a physician.  Once she becomes a practicing doctor she would like to return to Gonzales to work at a clinic in Monterey County.

The NSHSS is a distinguished academic honor society, committed to recognizing and serving the highest-achieving student scholars in more than 26,000 high schools across 170 countries. Criteria for membership is based on academic performance and is the highest among national high school honors programs.  Since 2002, the NSHSS has been supporting young academics on their journey to college and beyond, providing them with the resources and network to excel in college, career and community as they prepare to become the leaders of tomorrow.