CTE students in Harlingen benefit from new scholarships

HARLINGEN — When Ricardo Gonzalez starts trade school later this year, he’ll already have the advantage of his training at Harlingen High School South.

And Ricardo, 18, has so impressed the Career and Technical Education Department at the Harlingen school district that he was awarded a $500 scholarship May 7 by Los Cuatro Amigos.

“I feel very excited, blessed, to say the least,” said Ricardo, who plans to further his training in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning at Texas State Technical College.

Ricardo was one of eight students who received the new CTE Scholarship 2025 at the Harlingen school district’s annual HCISD Scholarship Night at the Performing Arts Center. Los Cuatro Amigos is an organization that supports CTE students.

“It was the first time we participated in Scholarship Night,” said Belinda Zapata, vice president of Los Cuatro Amigos.

Zapata is also the president-elect of the Rotary Club of Harlingen and is lector at St. Anthony Catholic Church.

The rest of the group is made up of Eddie Rodriguez, president; Roel Rodriguez, treasurer; and Dr. Christian Corrales, secretary.

The group began talking a year ago about a scholarship for CTE students.

“Then one of the guys says, ‘Hey, why don’t we all pitch in our own money and see about giving out scholarships to the CTE programs,’” Zapata said. “So we each decided to pitch in some of our own money and we handed out eight $500 scholarships to kids who are graduating.”

Zapata said about 40 students applied for the scholarships. The decision on who would receive the scholarships was not based not on GPA or community service projects, Zapata said.

“The questions we asked were, ‘Why did you choose this career path? What do you plan to do with your first paycheck? How do you think this is going to impact your life?’ They wrote their answers on that,” Zapata said.

Ricardo, like the other applicants, put his heart and soul into his answer and had the desired effect on the judges.

Why does he think he got it?

“Part of it I think is my dedication to my school and my schoolwork,” he said. “I’ve always tried my best to put my head forward and try to succeed. So my applying — I think that’s about what I do for the school.”

The support by Los Cuatro Amigos for the CTE students doesn’t end with the scholarship.

“We’re going to follow through with them until they get out and hopefully get placed in the workforce,” Zapata said. “We choose to continue this.”

Said Ricardo: “It’s a blessing to get any sort of help.”

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