2014 Arthur S. Marmaduke Award Winner Announced

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 13, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The California Student Aid Commission is proud to announce the winner of the 2014 Arthur S. Marmaduke Award is Ms. Andrea Goodwin of Los Angeles High School for the Arts at Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools located at 701 S. Catalina Street, Los Angeles, CA  90005. This is the 28^th annual award, which goes to one outstanding California high school counselor who has demonstrated exemplary skills in helping students fulfill their dreams of going to college.

Ms. Goodwin was nominated by her principal, Susan Conjura, who said, "Andrea's most amazing quality is her ability to connect with the students and help them realize their own potential."

"This prestigious award was established by the Commission in 1985 to annually recognize one high school counselor who has demonstrated superior skills, dedication, and results helping students seek and receive college financial aid," said Diana Fuentes-Michel, Executive Director of the California Student Aid Commission. "This award acknowledges commitment to assisting students in gaining access to postsecondary education."

Through diligence, commitment, attention to detail, and her willingness to travel the extra miles for students, Ms. Goodwin's achievements include:

• Helping students write "Graduation Plans" to ensure as many students as possible complete A-G college entrance requirements, then monitoring the implementation and progress of the graduation and post-secondary plan for all seniors;
• Attaining a 95% rate of Free Application for Federal Student Aid/California Dream Act Application completion among graduating seniors, thereby maximizing students' access to federal, state, and institutional financial student aid for college;
• Developing and offering after-school and evening bilingual workshops for parents and students about General College Knowledge, the Basics of A-G, How to Choose a College Major, Take an Interest Inventory, Conduct a College Search, Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) Registration, University of California and California State University Application workshops, and Understanding your Award Letter;
• Personally proofreading college applications for all seniors, monitoring those applications and the required follow-through with required documents, transcripts, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) applications, and letters of recommendation;
• Training with California Student Aid Commission webinars and WebGrants online tools;
• Matching student Grade Point Averages (GPAs) to ensure Cal Grant eligibility and sending a congratulatory "You're Matched" memo with How to Create a WebGrants for Students Account" instructions;
• Working with students to ensure all California Aid Reports (CAR) and Student Aid Reports (SAR) information is correct and any issues are resolved to avoid or reduce disbursement delays;
• Promoting the importance of financial aid, publicizing scholarships, utilizing bulletin boards, advisory announcements, Facebook, and by working with the 12^th grade English teacher to make scholarship application submission a class project;
• Personally taking groups of student scholarship applications to the post office throughout the school year;
• Taking students on a Cash for College field trip to the Los Angeles Convention Center for College and Career Day;
• Organizing college campus field trips for matriculation, orientation, testing, and registration;
• Working collaboratively with counselors at five different campuses to organize an eight-week College Representative Speaker Series;
• Organizing a campus-based College Open House with 60 college representatives attending;
• Creating a week-long advisory curriculum, including senior experience "success story" panels to inspire underclassmen;
• Creating a Peer College Counseling Program to broaden the scope of services and advisement, and to empower students to help each other;
• Partnering with the Urban Word spoken word organization to turn a spoken word project into a College Personal Statement for Juniors;
• For  9^th and 11^th grades, she supported Linked Learning college planning by using ECCO curriculum, College Board curriculum, and original curriculum delivered through advisory and (to be) uploaded into student digital portfolios;
• Holding monthly grade level assemblies/presentations on college and financial aid topics;
• Holding a "Declaration Day" celebration where seniors announce the colleges to which they are matriculating in order to honor students' hard work and inspire the underclassmen;
• Creating a partnership with the College Board and Educational Testing Service for pilot testing of the new SAT questions to help keep students informed about the newest developments in these tests;
• Staying in constant contact with students and their families to offer support, encouragement, advisement, and empowerment; and,
• Creating a "Wall of Stars" featuring students who had been accepted into college.

According to Cathy Kwan, a colleague of Andrea's, "she works tirelessly to improve and promote a college-going culture on our campus. She is an active member of the California Association of School Counselors, and I can find no one more deserving of the Marmaduke Outstanding High School Counselor Award than Andrea Goodwin."

Marmaduke Award nominations were evaluated through an established review and selection process by members of the California Student Aid Commission.  Arthur S. Marmaduke was executive director of the California Student Aid Commission for 25 years from 1960 to 1985. He had a passion for helping students reach college. The award was established in 1985 in his honor as the longest-serving executive director in the history of the Commission, which was founded in 1955. Mr. Marmaduke also served as the first President of the National Association of State Grant and Aid Programs. He died in 2005 of Parkinson's disease.

For more information, contact Patti Colston at (916) 206-1285. Photographs are available.

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Diana Fuentes-Michel
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SOURCE California Student Aid Commission