City High grad receives scholarship from manufactured home developer

A City High School graduate was one of 19 students who received an academic scholarships of up to $10,000 from a developer of manufactured home communities in Iowa and across the country.

Omar Rodriguez Jr., who is the first in his family to attend college, will receive one of the Havenpark Communities scholarship that will pay annual expenses for a college, trade or vocational school, according to Havenpark officials. Rodriguez is attending the University of Iowa and will possibly study civil engineering.

Rodriguez, who graduated from City High School in Iowa City, was involved in Advancement Via Individual Determination and took several advanced-level courses. He said his mother along with his experience in the advancement course helped him decide on which college to attend.

“I’m interested in how civil engineering applies designing into the real world,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “I became interested in this in middle school. We had a fun class called Applied Technology, where we explored different types of engineering such as electrical, biomedical and nuclear.”

Robbie Pratt, CEO of Havenpark Communities, in a statement said Rodriguez is eager to take a new step in his education journey and he “can’t wait to see” what career path Rodriguez takes after graduation.

“The Education Success Program and its impact on residents brings pure joy to the staff at Havenpark," Pratt added.

The scholarship awards are part of Havenpark’s expansion of its education program, which offers financial assistance, support, mentorship, and other education initiatives to increase educational opportunities for residents, according to the news release. Through the mentoring program, which provides students — many of whom are first-generation college students — with encouragement and support, students are set up to succeed in their journey to earn a certificate or degree attainment.

The 2022 competitive scholarship application period ran from Dec. 15, 2021, to Jan. 31, with about half the applicants rewarded with scholarships. To be eligible for consideration, applicants needed to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.5 or above, be either a current resident of a Havenpark community or have a parent or guardian who is a resident, and must plan to enroll or continue enrollment in full-time or part-time undergraduate study at an accredited two-year or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school in the United States for the entire 2022-2023 academic year. Awards may transfer from a two-year institution to a four-year intuition and vice versa.

This spring Havenpark announced it would expand the program, pledging at least $500,000 annually to support scholarships and its other education initiatives.

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