Carnival Foundation, in partnership with the Miami HEAT and Florida Prepaid College Foundation, presented 16 South Florida students with four-year college scholarships during halftime at a recent HEAT game.

The students currently participate in the Carnival Scholarship & Mentoring Program, an innovative workplace program sponsored by Carnival and the Miami HEAT, in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami that pairs a student with an employee mentor from Carnival. Prior to entering high school and participating in the Carnival Scholarship & Mentoring Program, the students attended the HEAT Academy, an after-school enrichment program for at-risk youth.

The 2015 scholarship recipients include:

Yareli Chang – G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School

Samuel Dervil – Miami Northwestern Senior High School

Chelsie Johnson – Booker T. Washington Senior High School

Tristan Joseph - Miami Senior High School

Marcel Martinez – Mater Academy East Charter High School

Jeimy Mineros – Miami Senior High School

Diana Montalvan - Miami Senior High School

Karen Ortega – Miami Coral Park Senior High School

Steven Ortiz - Miami Senior High School

Sherline Pierre – Miami Central Senior High School

Alondra Roldan – G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School

Cedrica Smith - Miami Northwestern Senior High School

Cindy Tellez - Miami Senior High School

Angie Torrentes – Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Senior High School

Alexander Ubau - Miami Senior High School

Leshann Whittaker – Booker T. Washington Senior High School

In addition to receiving the scholarship, students were presented with a new Dell laptop computer to support their studies, compliments of Carnival Foundation, Dell and Microsoft.

The scholarships, purchased by Carnival Foundation, were handed out at center court by Linda Coll, director of the Carnival Foundation, with a congratulatory handshake given to each student by Micky Arison, chairman of Carnival Corporation and managing general partner of the Miami HEAT.  Miami-Dade Superintendent of Schools Alberto Carvalho; founder of the Florida Prepaid College Foundation Stanley Tate; and representatives from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami and the HEAT, including former HEAT star center and current Vice President of Player Programs Alonzo Mourning and President of Business Operations Eric Woolworth, were on hand to acknowledge the students, as well.

For the past 13 years, Carnival has purchased Project STARS scholarships from Florida Prepaid College Foundation, representing a collective value of more than $2 million. The Florida Prepaid College Foundation scholarship covers the cost of tuition for two years at a Florida college followed by two years at a Florida public university. This is the seventh year Carnival scholarship recipients have matriculated into college.

For more information visit www.carnivalfoundation.com.