STUDENTS ARE GIVING BACK IN GRATITUDE.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

Cristina Balderrama beat the odds. The child of immigrants who never finished high school themselves or had any clue how to enroll their daughter in college, Balderrama is now a sophomore at UCLA, with a little help from Project Grad.

She's among about 30 college students who will return today to her Northeast San Fernando Valley neighborhood - along with about 1,000 other students, educators and politicians - to encourage others to sign up for Project Grad, a scholarship program for the college-bound.

``Now it is my turn to give back,'' said Balderrama, a 19-year-old graduate of San Fernando High. ``Education is the one way out. It's how children get out of poverty, do other things and then go back to the community. That's what I am trying to do.''

Balderrama and others will participate in the ``Walk for Success,'' knocking on the doors of 2,300 sixth- and ninth-graders in Arleta, Sylmar, Pacoima and San Fernando, and inviting them to sign Project Grad enrollment contracts.

The contract promises a $6,000 scholarship for students who earn a 2.5 grade point average, take the SAT college entrance exam, attend two college orientations, complete all required preparatory courses to enter the University of California system and go on to college.

Created by a Houston oil executive more than a decade ago, Project Grad took off five years ago at San Fernando High School, which was targeted because of its high drop-out rate. Since then, 330 students have received the $6,000 scholarships.

Most of the recipients are Latino, about 60 percent speak English as a second language and about 91 percent qualify for free or reduced-lunch programs.

``The success stories are our best salespersons,'' said Ford Roosevelt, president and CEO of Project Grad Los Angeles.

He points out that 70 percent of the Project Grad students - 98 percent of whom are Latino - now attend a four-year college. That compares with 30 percent of college-bound Latinos statewide.

Moreover, more than half of the 342 students who participated in the program last year completed classes required to apply for state universities, compared with 37 percent statewide.

``We are just starting to see the impacts,'' said Radia Alouache, scholarship director for Project Grad.

Over the past two years, the program has expanded college-prep workshops at San Fernando High, adding 10 math and science tutors for after-school programs.

``If you are talking about college on campus, you are talking about Project Grad as well,'' said Linda Ibach, assistant principal at San Fernando. ``Many aren't aware of these scholarships. This brings awareness.''

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Cristina Balderrama, now a sophomore at UCLA, wants to encourage teens to sign up for Project Grad, the program that helped her attend college.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer