ORLANDO, Fla. — As part of the Florida Puerto Rican Parade and Festival, Channel 9 gives students a helping hand in their academic futures.
This year, five students got $2,000 scholarships to advance their studies.
They got these awards Thursday night at a parade gala hosted by Channel 9 anchor Kirstin Delgado.
Here are this year’s recipients:
Deiyaliz Adorno is a freshman at Valencia College is studying creative writing and helps to use her words to inspire others. After graduating from Valencia College, she hopes to go to the University of Central Florida.
Samuel Peña is graduating this year from St. Lucie West Centennial High School and will be going to barber school before heading to Indian River State College, then the University of Florida. He says he will use his scholarship money to invest in his future by studying business management and barber school.
Cristina Villanueva is studying to be a nurse and will use her scholarship to accelerate her courses. She wants to get my certification and get experience as a phlebotomist while doing her nursing courses. She hopes to attend the University of Central Florida after graduating from Valencia College.
Giovanna Chenalier is a 29-year-old Navy veteran attending Valencia College. She is waiting to hear back from several schools to see where she goes after graduating from Valencia. In the meantime, she says the scholarship money will help give her some stability while finding out her next move.
Adriana Guzman goes to a science, technology, engineering and math school in Osceola County who hopes to get a degree in medicine. After learning about the scholarship with the Florida Puerto Rican Parade and Festival, she was really taken by the application process. She said the environmental impact in Puerto Rico were of particular interest since she’s currently taking environmental science knows a lot about the topic.
WFTV is the official broadcast partner for the Florida Puerto Rican Parade and Festival. It will be streamed live on air and online at wftv.com starting at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
