4 Indian Seniors to Receive Scholarships

A traditional American Indian sage ash and drum blessing will open a ceremony tonight awarding $500 scholarships to four graduating high school seniors.

Nathan Apperson, John Seth Ehret, Sonja Marie Flores and Ross Robinson were selected by the Ventura County Indian Education Consortium on the basis of grades, recommendations and a 500-word essay outlining their goals in college and beyond.

A college degree will “help me bring honor to my tribe and to the nation,” wrote Robinson of Newbury Park High School. “It will put me in a better position to assist other Native Americans.”

Robinson, who is of Cherokee descent, is a National Merit Scholar and was named the most outstanding science student at Newbury Park for four consecutive years. He plans to study science at Brigham Young University.

Apperson, a Cherokee, plans to enroll at Moorpark College. At Simi Valley High School, he was in the Spanish honors society, the ecology club and the diving team. At Rio Mesa High School, Ehret has been a member of the soccer and track teams and performed Chumash dances. He will attend UC Santa Cruz to study medicine, teaching or environmental work.

Flores, who is of Yaqui Indian descent, will be graduating from Fillmore High School. She has volunteered at food pantries and homeless shelters and hopes to continue her work as a missionary while attending Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio.

The ceremony will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sequoia Intermediate School, 2855 Borchard Road, Newbury Park.