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Two Nevada college-bound students each receive $2,500 towards continuing education
LAS VEGAS July 15, 2008 — Children’s Heart Foundation has just announced the winners of this year’s Smart Heart Scholarships, Jasper Biggs of Pahrump, Nevada and Jaclyn Acebo of Las Vegas. Both young women will be attending college in the fall and have overcome insurmountable odds to beat heart disease and achieve success academically as well.
To be eligible to receive one of the Smart Heart Scholarships, applicants must have attended a Nevada public or private high school, maintained a minimum 3.0 GPA, be attending a four year college or university following graduation, and be a congenital heart disease patient currently seen by a pediatric cardiologist. Information about the Smart Heart Scholarships for 2009 will be available in March.
Scholarship recipient Jasper Biggs, who will be attending Biola University in Southern California this fall, was born with a congenital heart disease known as Critical Aortic Stenosis. At just eight days old Biggs underwent aortic valve repair, later open heart surgery at six years old and again at seventeen. She graduated this past spring with a 3.97 GPA and has already earned 31.5 college credits through her work at the College of Southern Nevada. She is very active in her church community having volunteered and taught Sunday school. Biggs also participated on the Pahrump Valley High School. Golf team for the past four years, on varsity the last three and serving as team captain this past season.
Award recipient Jaclyn Acebo underwent a heart transplant at age ten and has overcome her heart disease to graduate this year with honors from Las Vegas Academy with a GPA of 4.39. Acebo has previously been a volunteer with Children’s Heart Foundation donating her time at events and serving as a camp counselor at Camp Mend-a-Heart for the past three years. She has been an active volunteer within her church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and its outreach program, and has volunteered at the St. John Neumann Vacation Bible School.
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