On the field, Sunday June 7 the San Diego Padres (26-30) lost a heartbreaking game to the Arizona Diamondbacks (25-32) 9-6 in 18 innings. However, with the Padres Scholars program, the Padres were already winners before the game ever began.

Prior to Sunday’s game the Padres celebrated the induction of their fifteenth class of Padres Scholars. In 1995, Padres players including Brad Ausmus, Steve Finley and Tony Gwynn along with several club executives created the Padres Scholars program, the first of its kind in professional sports. “It’s awesome,” said Tony Gwynn Sr. “It really is. It’s an awesome thing to be a part of.”

The concept is that players contribute their own money towards youth scholarships and the owners match the players’ donations. At-risk eighth graders throughout San Diego County then compete for scholarship trusts.

Yesterday the Padres inducted fifteen students into the 2009 class of Padres Scholars. Each student will receive $7,000 towards college. This brings the total number of scholarship winners to 389 and more than $2.1 million dollars awarded since the inception of the program.

Raul Panchito is a member of this year’s class and a student at Twin Peeks Middle School. Panchito said, “I’m pretty glad I did this because I helped my mom and dad.” Eventually Panchito would like to apply his scholarship towards admission at UCSD to study engineering.

For the scholarship awardees to ultimately receive the money, they must first fulfill a contract that includes participation in AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) in high school and enrolment in a four-year university. Between the time a scholarship is awarded and ultimately received the money gains interest in a holding account.

Manuel Gallegos who is also a member of this years’ class said, “Because I have money waiting for me, I need to keep my grades up and get to college.”

A large part of what will help Panchito and Gallegos achieve their goal of going to college will be their required participation in AVID throughout high school. According to AVID Regional Director Joyce Suber, “AVID helps students by supporting them to take the most rigorous courses. It teaches them organization skills, how to prioritize and how to take notes.”

Created in San Diego at Clairemont High School, AVID has now spread into 45 U.S. states and internationally through Department of Defense schools.

Jossice Jerrett is a member of the 2007 class of Padres Scholars and is using AVID to keep her grades up at El Camino High School. She one day hopes to enter the medical field. For Jerrett, a peripheral benefit to competing and winning a Padres Scholarship is that it boosts her self-confidence and her belief that she can win other scholarships. Jerrett said, “It helps so much on the path to new scholarship programs, because I know how many kids applied for this scholarship and I know it is going to be the same for other scholarships. But since I won this scholarship, I know there is a chance that I can get that other scholarship, so I should try anyways.”

Brenee King and Eric Zamora are living proof of that. Both are Padres Scholars alumni who are currently in college and have since won addition scholarship money to help pay tuition.

Zamora is a finance major at USD and is close to completing his road to a college degree Zamora passionately stated, “I have a goal to accomplish in life and this kept me on track.” To those scholars that have not yet come as far as him, Zamora said, “You have to accomplish this because you were given something that showed people believe in you.”

As a graduate of UCSB, King has already accomplished the goal of an undergraduate degree. King is now enrolled at UNM where she is working on a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences. “Definitely [the Padres Scholars program] opened doors that I don’t think that I would have had.”

Padre Chris Young With A Padres Scholar

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Steve Finley came back for yesterday’s ceremony and is excited about the opportunity that King and Padres Scholars are getting. Finley the son of two teachers joyfully proclaimed, “I think it is fantastic! When we started in ‘95 they were young and we were hopeful. To see the results now is really gratifying. Even if you just had one kid that went through it and did something great with their life that makes it all worthwhile. Now, we are getting a lot of kids.”

Of all the students that have won scholarships over 90% have meet the requirements and cashed in to use it to pay for college. Gwnn said, “It’s Awesome! Especially doing what I do now, being a baseball coach at San Diego State. You really understand the importance of an education. For these youngsters to know that they are going to have the ability to go to college is an unbelievable thing because it lets them do what they want to do.”

Finley agrees, “It really is a great program, it’s really taken off and it probably will be part of the Padres organization through its history.”