ACE Students Named Gates Milennium Scholars Five graduating seniors from Amarillo Independent School District have received scholarships that will pay for every year of their undergraduate and graduate education, including a doctorate. Four of the five honorees are ACE students. Four of this year's Gates Millennium Scholarship winners are from Palo Duro High School. They include: Brenda Carrillo, ACE student - Brenda will attend the University of Texas Tiffani Khoutxaysana, ACE student - Tiffani will attend the University of Texas Julian Rueda, ACE student - Julian will attend Baylor University Kayla Storrs - Kayla will attend the University of Oklahoma A total of eleven students from Palo Duro High School have been named Gates Milennium Scholars since 2005. The fifth Gates Milennium Scholar honoree from Amarillo, ACE student Malia Martinez, is from Caprock High School. Malia is the first student from Caprock High School to be named a Gates Milennium Scholar. Malia will attend the University of Texas. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation founded the Gates Millennium Scholarship program to reduce financial barriers to a college education for top- achieving minority students. The five honorees from Amarillo were among 20,500 to apply nationwide to be a Gates Milennium Scholar. Only 1,000 students received an award this year. The Amarillo Area Foundation initiated the ACE (Achievement Through Commitment to Education) scholarship program in 1994 in partnership with the Amarillo Independent School District, Amarillo College and West Texas A&M University. ACE began at Palo Duro High School in 1994 and expanded to include students attending Caprock High School in 2002. A fundraising campaign is currently underway to expand the ACE program to students attending four elementary schools in Amarillo which feed into Tascosa High School. ACE provides access to higher education for students by providing numerous preparatory activities throughout high school and college.
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