OCEANSIDE, CA– The Oceanside Chamber is excited to host its third Rising Star student recognition
program breakfast from 7:45-9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18 at the El Camino Country Club, 3202 Vista Way, Oceanside.
The Rising Star program is hosted by the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce to recognize high school seniors at our
city’s high schools who have overcome significant challenges in their life, but who have managed to keep, or get
back on track with their education.
Each school principal collaborates with his or her staff to nominate one high school senior per month. The students
must be college or vocational school-bound and they should emulate the program’s mission statement:
“Convening the business and education community to honor Oceanside seniors for rising above adversity by
demonstrating character, integrity, school and community engagement that make our city shine like a star.”
Honorees are then eligible to apply for higher education scholarships that will be awarded at the end of the school
year. While scholarships may be awarded for a wide variety of fields of study, the Chamber and its Workforce
Development Task Force will be asked to keep in mind the emerging industries in the region including technology,
biotech/life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and hospitality.
During the event, the school principals and the student’s parents and mentoring teachers will share what sets this
student apart from other students and provide examples of their character, integrity, passion, focus and
perseverance that has made them such a Rising Star on their campus and in our community.
January’s honorees are:
Zitlali Valverde Gomez from Surfside Educational Academy
Daniel Cruz from Oceanside High School
Marlen Benites Venegas from El Camino High School
Johnny Dolores from Pacific View Charter School
Scott Ashton, the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce’s CEO, said they are hosting the Rising Star program as
part of its larger workforce development initiative.
“The primary objectives are student recognition, scholarships for higher education and building of relationships
between the business community and K-12 educational system. We are focused on engaging with our
educational partners to ensure a strong workforce pipeline for Oceanside businesses,” Ashton said. “In addition,
we would like to thank Genentech for their generous $20,000 scholarship sponsorship which will help more of our
Rising Stars to reach the stars!”
Rising Star events are open to all community members who want to show their support for our students. Tickets
are $25 for Chamber members and $40 for prospective members. Register for the event here. Donate to the
scholarship fund HERE.
The Chamber wishes to thank SDG&E for being an event sponsor and Tri-City Medical Center and Genentech for
being presenting sponsors.
About the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce… Founded in 1896, the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to stimulate economic prosperity and foster a vibrant community. It is celebrating 125 years of serving the Oceanside business community, as well as its active-duty service members serving aboard the adjacent Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The Chamber recently launched a workforce development program to collaborate with regional training and education programs to ensure job seekers are receiving employer-driven job training that produces enriching employment experiences. For more information about the Chamber, please visit our website.
