The Laguna Beach High School Scholarship Foundation recently held their third annual emeritus event to honor those persons who have made significant service contributions to the mission of the foundation.
This year’s honorees were:
Lee Kucera– served as foundation president from 2001-2003 and worked as a board member until 2014. Kucera is a retired teacher and currently serves as a national grader for Advance Placement math examinations and teaches at UCI.
Jan Fritsen– hired in 1968 as a counselor at Laguna Beach High School, Fritsen took it upon herself to expand the scholarship awards from the handful that existed in the 1960s to help create the long list and variety of awards that we see today in our scholarship foundation.
Alex Alpert(in memoriam) – a local resident with no children in the school system who joined the foundation in 1988 and was an active member for 10 years. Alpert worked hard to expand the college scholarships available to students. His family sponsors the popular “Diane Alpert I Love Laguna Award” and for the past 25 years has had more students apply for this scholarship than any other. The grant required the applicants to write an essay on the topic “Why I Love Laguna”.
Victoria Strombom– a local realtor with Surterre Properties and a director since 2011, Strombom was honored for her work with a number of scholarships and increasing the donation size. Strombom received a grant back in her college days that helped her complete her degree and wanted the same opportunity available to local children to achieve their dreams.
The Laguna Beach High School Scholarship Foundation is a 501(c)3 corporation. In 2018, the foundation awarded $429,763 across 340 scholarships to 140 deserving graduating seniors from funds provided by 139 sponsors. To help create an award, add to the existing grants or help the foundation, contact Lynn Gregory, scholarship and financial aid specialist, at 949-497-7750 x 1212.
