GRAD FEEDS COLLEGE DREAMS PROJECT HANDS OUT $1.4 MILLION IN SCHOLARSHIPS TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

GRANADA HILLS - Sara Delgadillo was the last of six siblings but will be the first in her family to attend a four-year college.

She's going with a $6,000 scholarship from Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) Los Angeles, a nonprofit college outreach program that awarded $1.14 million in scholarships to San Fernando High School seniors at a hilltop banquet in Granda Hills on Sunday.

More than the money, it was the expectations and resources that Project GRAD, a pilot program run out of the high school, provided that helped her and about 190 of the Project GRAD scholars attend college.

``It creates a culture, an atmosphere,'' Delgadillo said. ``It wasn't like I was the outcast, like I was the only one of 30 going to college.''

The program, which a Houston oil executive began 11 years ago, took off four years ago in the Northeast San Fernando Valley where only half of the graduating class will attend college.

``The whole idea is to create the idea that college is the norm rather than the exception,'' said Cheryl Mabey, executive director of Project GRAD Los Angeles.

It works by appealing to all high school freshmen with a promise.

If a student graduates with a 2.5 grade point average, takes the SAT, goes to two college orientations, completes all required preparatory courses to enter the University of California system and goes on to college, then he or she will be eligible for $6,000 in scholarships over four years.

Since the nearly $10 million program started in 1999, the percentage of San Fernando High School students that have completed all the required preparatory courses to be admitted to a California state university has more than doubled from 14 percent to 35 percent last year.

The baby-faced Delgadillo, who graduates from the largely Latino high school and will attend Syracuse University this fall, explained how lack of money and neighborhood violence can hem in many teenagers.

``They don't see a future for themselves. They see violence, the day-to- day struggles. If they don't see encouragement they can't surpass it,'' she said.

Her mother, beaming with pride, gave her a big hug. ``I am proud of her,'' she said in Spanish.

Through a mix of accelerated classroom instruction, college orientation classes and tutoring, the program aims to steer those teenagers attending schools with a low rate of college-bound students into higher education and in the process create a ``college-bound'' culture.

Jose Rodriguez, principal at the 4,500 student school, said while the program has increased the number of students eligible to go on to college, it is still unclear whether it has improved academic performance.

``We need two to three solid years of data to show that,'' he said. This year, 650 seniors will graduate, and more than a third of them received some sort of scholarship through the GRAD program.

The program nationally has given out scholarships to more than 3,000 and operates in 15 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses, with hopes to expand.

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

A proud Teresa Delgadillo talks about her daughter, Sara, going to college thanks to a scholarship from Project GRAD, a nonprofit outreach program.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer