Contributed Photo
The Salinas Valley Ivy League Project participants in front of the U.S. Capitol building
GONZALES — A group of Gonzales High School students recently visited the East Coast to take tours at such colleges as Georgetown, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Brown, Harvard, MIT and Boston University.
From July 8 to 15, the Gonzales students were part of a group of 29 students from the Salinas Valley Ivy League Project who were able to visit historical monuments in Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston.
The program requires that students maintain a 3.75 GPA or above and raise $2,200 to pay for the trip.
Among the Gonzales High School students to participate in the Ivy League trip were Cindy Aguilar, Adilenne Ramirez, Valeria Reyes, Madisyn Schweitzer and Alexandro Mendez.
The City of Gonzales also sent Nayeli Gomez, who attends Alisal High School.
Ruben Pizarro organized the East Coast trip and is the director of the Salinas Valley Dream Academy.
The idea behind the Ivy League Project, founded in 1992 by Martin Mares, is to encourage economically disadvantaged students to apply to the most prestigious universities in America.
It selects the most talented and promising 10th and 11th grade students and allows them to visit the top universities on the East Coast.
