Helios Education Foundation and Phoenix Suns Charities award scholarship to Dysart High School student

When Esmeralda Miah Fonseca joined her peers at Dysart High School in El Mirage to take their senior photo on April 27, she had no idea she was about to receive life-changing news.

Miah was called to the front just as students were taking their seats inside the school gym.

“You have been awarded a four-year, full-tuition scholarship,” Sarah Krahenbuhl, executive director of Phoenix Suns Charities, broke the news to Miah and handed her a large check for more than $40,000.

The teen, who will be the first in her family to attend college, was speechless.

“Honestly, I was really shocked,” she said as she cried tears of joy. “It really means a lot.”

The scholarship by Helios Education Foundation and Phoenix Suns Charities makes it possible for Miah to attend Northern Arizona State University, something she felt was out of reach before.

Miah shared in her scholarship application that her mother could not afford to send her to college.

“It would truly mean the world to me if I were to receive this scholarship,” she wrote. “I have worked my whole high school career to achieve good grades in order to be eligible for scholarships so that my mother wouldn't have to worry.”

After Miah got the news about the scholarship, she didn’t have to go very far to inform her family.

Her mother, grandparents, and siblings were there to share the moment, along with representatives from the Phoenix Suns – including The Gorilla – and NAU’s Louie the Lumberjack.

Grace Smith Kaus, director of postsecondary success initiatives for Helios Education Foundation, was part of the committee that chose Miah as the scholarship recipient.

Grace said Miah’s passion and dedication to her academics helped her stand out. 

“She is an amazing student and an amazing role model to her siblings,” she said. “She is a very poised young person who at a young age has a sense of her career path for the future.  She is also very grateful to her teachers, especially her AVID teacher and counselors, for their guidance during her time in high school.”

The scholarship by Helios Education Foundation and Phoenix Suns Charities is for Arizona high school seniors who demonstrate financial need and maintain a 2.8 or higher cumulative academic GPA.

They must also be well-rounded students and be enrolled full-time in an accredited Arizona university after high school.

Students are awarded up to $12,000 per year, and the scholarship is renewable for up to three additional years if the student is in good standing and maintains a required GPA. The funds may be used for tuition, fees, books, and other educational expenses.