The Marana Cares Mobile, created from a retired school bus, offers free meals in a retrofitted bus during school breaks.

The Marana Unified School District kicks off its Marana Cares Mobile this week and will roll out the rest of its Summer Food Program next month to try to ensure no children in the community go hungry this summer.

Select school locations and the Marana Cares Mobile will provide free, healthy breakfast and lunch meals to all children 18 years and younger. Kids do not need to be enrolled in an MUSD school to pick up their meals.

To see a full list of the dates, times and locations in which the district will provide free meals, visit https://bit.ly/3sINv08.

Dollars for Scholars

The Sunnyside Unified School District Alumni Association Dollars for Scholars raised funds for scholarships through its affiliation with Scholarship America.

The alumni association recently hosted its annual scholarship reception in which it awarded more than $45,000 in scholarships to 45 graduating seniors at Sunnyside and Desert View high schools.

Sunnyside students who received other scholarships included Maria Jose Verdugo, Yaritza Durazo and Jaime Rivera, Jr.

The following Desert View students also received other scholarships: Alexhia Apodaca, Christopher Flores, Alyssia Maria Salas, Atziri Enriquez and Ariana Tabanico.

Russell public scholar

Sierra Blaser, a graduating senior at Sahuaro High School, received a $1,000 scholarship from Tucson-based Russell Public Communications.

Blaser is set to continue her education at the University of Arizona, where she plans to study journalism.

The Russell Public Scholars program was launched in 2012 and has since awarded $11,000 to college-bound Sahuaro High School graduates.

Pima JTED scholarships

The Pima JTED Foundation selected its scholarship recipients for this year’s application cycle.

The criteria for scoring application essays consisted of the strength of the students’ messages about their careers and technical education or the Pima JTED program, as well as the students’ discussion of their growth due to their participation in the program.

The Pima JTED Foundation 2022 awardees were:

Maria Verdugo, Sunnyside High School

Kashi Altamirano, Mountain View High School

Gabriel Trinidad, Tucson High School

Kagan Barber, home schooled

Isaac Sanchez, Mountain View High School

Alexa Davila, Rio Rico High School

Cami Juskiewicz, Ironwood Ridge High School

Christina Arneson, Marana High School

Abigail Maurer, Ironwood Ridge High School


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Contact reporter Genesis Lara at glara@tucson.com