Bloomfield High's scholarship amount doubles

• Bloomfield High seniors this year were awarded $3.1 million in scholarships, up from $1.4 million.
• Navajo Prep seniors awarded about $1 million this year, an increase from about $430,000.
• Kirtland Central students received about $3.9 million in scholarships, up from $2.62 million.
• Scholarships awarded to Farmington, Piedra Vista and Shiproc dropped by more than $1 million.

FARMINGTON — The amount of scholarships awarded to graduates increased at several San Juan County schools this year.

Scholarship dollars awarded to the Bloomfield High School graduating class more than doubled from last year, according to Amy Florez, the school’s financial aid and college entrance adviser.

Seniors graduating from Bloomfield this year were awarded about $3.1 million in scholarships, up from $1.4 million last school year.

"We attribute this success to the hard work of this outstanding class as well as a strong commitment by our staff at Bloomfield High School to provide a broad spectrum of opportunities to ease the transition into post-secondary education," Florez said in an email.

Florez said several efforts at the schools — work sessions for first-generation college students and workshops on how to fill out federal student aid forms  — helped students secure more scholarships this year.

Navajo Preparatory School seniors were awarded about $1 million in scholarships this year, an increase from last year’s total of about $430,000, said Daniel Jones, an academic counselor at the school.

Navajo Prep's total got a boost from two graduating seniors — Deshna Joe and Jennifer Etcitty — who received scholarships from the Gates Millennium Scholars program, Jones said.

The graduating class of 170 seniors from Kirtland Central High School received about $3.9 million in scholarships, an increase from last year’s amount of about $2.62 million, said Darah Tabrum, the school's college and career readiness coordinator.

The scholarship dollars awarded to Farmington, Piedra Vista and Shiprock high schools all dropped by more than $1 million over the last year.

Farmington High’s scholarship dollars  dropped from about $7.8 million last year to about $6 million this year, according to Nancy Miskal, the school's Financial Aide and College Entrance, or FACE, counselor.

She said the decrease occurred because more students this year opted to attend in-state colleges.

Two Farmington high seniors — Taylor Nakai and Divine Kickingbird — were also awarded scholarships from the Gates Millennium Scholars program.

Piedra Vista’s total dropped from about $7.65 million last year to about $5.6 million this year, said FACE counselor Jillian Slindee.

Slindee, who is new to the position, said she was not sure what accounted for the nearly $2 million drop.

She highlighted the work of Valedictorian Kristina Schwab, who earned more than $400,000 in merit-based scholarships.

Seniors at Shiprock High School were awarded about $2.5 million in scholarships this year, a decline from last year’s amount of $3.2 million, said College Readiness Coordinator Eric Cheever.

Aztec High School saw a small decrease from $1.78 million last year to $1.72 million this year, according to counselor Kim Thornton.

The Newcomb High School graduating class was awarded about $82,000 in scholarship dollars, counselor Karl Kiedrowski said.

Joshua Kellogg covers education for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627.