Inside a packed auditorium at Benito Juarez Community Academy, Senior Maria Vazquez sat in shock. She had just found out that she, her classmates, — and their parents — would get their college education paid. In full.
Tears streamed down her face as she searched for her parents in the auditorium.
Before the life-changing news, the price of college had limited her educational prospects, said the 18-year-old daughter of Mexican immigrants.
“Now, the possibilities are more open,” Vazquez said. “This is an opportunity I never thought I would get.”