Special to the Dispatch

Gilroy - Last month, one of GHS's busiest seniors took a day to travel to a San Francisco 49ers game to hear his name announced before the crowd. Jairo Rodriguez was one of 32 high school students who won a $1,000 scholarship from the StanPac Scholarship Program.

"That was fun," Rodriguez recalled. "I got to meet some of the other winners that day."

The names were announced in a special segment just prior to the game, and winners got to see the game in style, from luxury box seats. But this wasn't all the publicity Rodriguez received for his scholarship - he had also had his name announced on KNBR, the radio station which broadcasts the 49ers games.

Rodriguez is one of the seemingly superhuman students whose slate of activities is so lengthy it might make you tired just reading it. He holds a 4.2 GPA, and is involved in the GHS Latinos Program, MESA Club, California Scholarship Federation and French Club. He was also a Scholar Finalist in the National Hispanic Recognition Program, which targets Hispanic students who score well on the PSAT. Rodriguez has played soccer since his sophomore year of high school and is now starting goalie on the varsity team, and on top of all this he holds down a part-time job at the local movie theater.

His plans for college aren't concrete, since the application deadlines haven't yet passed, but he has his sights set on Stanford.

"One of the majors at Stanford is computer systems," said Rodriguez. "That's really what interests me."

Rodriguez says he enjoys the programming aspect of computer science, and that his ultimate goal is to work with robots.

"I don't know where I'd find a job like that, but that's really what I want to do," he said.

Through the National Hispanic Recognition Program, he has already received offers - some of full tuition - at colleges such as Arizona State University, and the University of Arizona. Though he had been researching places like Cal-Poly and MIT, Rodriguez says he certainly will not ignore those offers. "They're good schools," he said.

Teachers have watched Rodriguez become a mature and confident young man through his four years at GHS.

"He's not only an exceptional student but he has a wonderful personality," said Dianne Padilla, Rodriguez's counselor at GHS. "He's personable, witty, resourceful and driven. I remember on a campus tour we went on last spring, he had made arrangements with a former student from GHS to meet with him and show him around the campus of USC. He attended a class with this former student and sat among other college students. So, does Jairo take the initiative in his education? You bet!"

Jose Hernandez, a biology teacher at GHS, taught Rodriguez in a freshman class and kept in contact with him when Rodriguez joined the Latinos Program, which Hernandez leads.

"I have little doubt that Jairo has the basic academic skills, the motivation, the desire, the sense of pride, and the ability to reach all of his goals," wrote Hernandez in his college recommendation for Rodriguez. "In the past four years he has shown a great ability to adjust and to push himself to a higher level. He will not settle for anything below his goal and it is that kind of drive that will allow him to pursue all of his dreams."

Rodriguez, who has four siblings, will be the second to go to college, after his brother Elliott, who is two years older. He says has already spent plenty of time trying to finance his college education. He found out about the StanPac Scholarship while visiting the College and Career Center at GHS.

"I saw a sign announcing the StanPac winner from last year," he said. "So I went in and asked when I could apply."

But before he could apply for the scholarship, Rodriguez had to be interviewed by the staff, who chose one student to apply. After he had been chosen, Rodriguez had to write an essay for the StanPac Program.

Stanford Pacific Homes, which builds homes in half a dozen locations around the country, began the Scholarship Program last year, and has given away $56,000 to Californian students. The only requirement is that the application be college-bound high school student.

"It was great to win the scholarship," said Rodriguez. "I'm going to put it towards college, because I'm trying to get through debt-free. Every little bit helps."

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