WATSONVILLE >> The flooding of Pajaro in March 2023 marked a significant chapter in the lives of its nearly 3,000 residents who were displaced from their homes and had to set up living situations elsewhere. This included Watsonville High School students, four of whom recently graduated and will be heading off to college with the help of scholarships from the Freedom Rotary Club.

At its Tuesday meeting at El Vaquero Winery, Freedom Rotary presented scholarships of different tiers to recent graduates who reside in Pajaro and also honored Pajaro Middle School teachers who supported students that had been displaced.

The money for the scholarships — totaling $2,500 each for three different students and $10,000 for the prestigious Hall Hyde Scholarship — was raised through the club’s annual Uncork Corralitos fundraiser, which netted more than $27,000, enough to provide scholarships for all students who applied.

Martha Denny, outgoing Freedom Rotary president, shared her personal story of how financial assistance for education was important to her. She grew up in Mexico, and by the age of 14, she had completed all available public education and landed a spot at a technical school. However, the $20 tuition was more than her family could afford, so she went to work full-time instead of going to school. She came to Watsonville as an undocumented immigrant at the age of 15 and the only English word she knew was “sir.” Nonetheless, she was finally able to achieve her goal of continuing her education.

“I persevered and looked for every opportunity to pursue my education,” she said. “My passion for education has been my guiding light, enabling me to achieve the American dream. Today, I stand before you as an American citizen for 15 years, I own a couple of businesses, I own my home and I have truly acquired the American dream.”

Denny highlighted the four scholarship recipients who also overcame obstacles and will be going to college. Jennifer Fernandez-Zamora, she said, was a “compassionate, resilient and purpose-driven student” who will be attending UC Davis in the fall and plans to major in human biology with the goal of going to medical school to become a pediatrician or OB-GYN.

Fernandez-Zamora said her mission is to improve health care access for underserved or immigrant communities.

“I’m from an immigrant background,” she said. “I really honor my parents. They deserve everything in the world because they brought me up to this point, and I wish to give back to my immigrant community as well.”

Andrea Puente, another $2,500 scholarship recipient, was lauded for already having received four associate degrees from Cabrillo College while still attending high school. She also served as a regional officer for Future Farmers of America and was named Watsonville High Student of the Year. She will be attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she will study agricultural business with a minor in accounting.

However, Puente said she will keep pursuing education after her two and a half years at Cal Poly are done, and she plans to go to law school to study immigration or family law.

“I have more to give and want to continue studying,” she said. “I’m really excited to give back to the community that has given me so much.”

Denny said the next recipient, Ricardo Paz-Hernandez, was one of the most honest people she had ever met. After being notified he would receive the scholarship, he told her that he would be changing his path and felt the award should go to someone else.

“I said, ‘Heck no, you’re getting it because you’re so honest you deserve it,’” said Denny.

Driven by a dual passion for political science and video game design, Paz-Hernandez initially intended to go to Cabrillo College but was later accepted off the waitlist at UC Santa Cruz for his dream major: art and design for video games.

“Video games for me were comfort,” he said. “They were there for me when I was alone, when I struggled, when I was sad and they gave me some of the best memories I could have possibly asked for. Moving forward, I want to give back to my community through that medium. I want to create stories that youth that come from places like me are proud of.”

Paz-Hernandez plans to double major in political science and become a lawyer.

The final Pajaro scholarship awarded was the club’s $10,000 Hall Hyde Scholarship, named after a local Rotarian, founder of Cabrillo College and namesake of Hyde Elementary School in Watsonville. This year, the award went to Zaida Garcia-Santiago, who will receive four annual payments of $2,500 for the scholarship.

Prior to her graduation, Garcia-Santiago spoke to the Sentinel about her experiences evacuating during the Pajaro flood, when she and her family lived in a hotel for a month and had to miss several days of school due to traffic resulting from road closures. She noted, however, her teachers were very understanding.

“They knew what was going on, and they also knew that some of the students who attend Watsonville High also are Pajaro residents,” she said. “It’s just about the communication, and coming back from that, it was just catching up and putting in the work.”

Garcia-Santiago will study political science at UC Davis, with plans to become an immigration attorney and eventually open a legal resource center.

“Coming from my part of the family, they’re all immigrants,” she said. “Also, being part of different clubs in my community, I have witnessed the help everybody needs, especially when it comes to the legal side.”

Garcia-Santiago thanked her father who was in attendance, highlighting his constant work to help her and her brothers with their educational needs.

“Without him, I wouldn’t be able to do this,” she said through tears. “I’m just really happy to have the opportunity, and I just wish to give back.”

Freedom Rotary also presented a pair of $1,000 Interact Club scholarships to Pajaro Valley High School students Katie Hernandez Acosta and Jennifer Martin-Gonzalez for their service in their school’s Interact Club, a youth-based Rotary service club. Additionally, Freedom Rotary recognized five Pajaro Middle School teachers whom the eighth grade class voted most supportive after they were relocated to Lakeview Middle School for their sixth and seventh grade years due to flood damage at their school. The teachers honored were Kevin Eagleson, Arnoldo Figueroa, Christopher Harris, Ebelin Mata and Benjamin Waite.

Waite said that even with Pajaro Middle School reopening, the work should continue to fix the school’s lighting as well as other issues that have not been resolved.

“Not everything’s done,” he said. “We spent half the year with a teacher bathroom that another teacher had to buy a lamp for.”

Figueroa said that even though only five staff were recognized, the entire faculty deserved credit.

“It wasn’t just the five names here today,” he said. “It was the whole team effort.”