Nancy Casillas, senior at Antelope Valley High School, was selected as this year’s recipient of the Marcus Foster Scholarship Endowment at Antelope Valley College.  Nancy plans on becoming an elementary school teacher and wants to “teach in developing countries where access to education is scarce.” She maintains a 3.8 GPA and is a regular volunteer at her community library and church.     In Nancy’s application essay she writes, “As I am about to end my last year of high school, many of my friends and relatives ask me what I would want to major in college, I genuinely reply with, ‘Elementary School Teaching.’ From my own experience, I know how much power a person holds to make a change in one’s life. Children are the future leaders of tomorrow and I believe my personal experiences have shaped me to understand how the lives of young students can be difficult.”   This scholarship is given in honor of Dr. Marcus Foster, an educator who served as the first black Superintendent of Oakland Unified School District. In 1973, while serving as Superintendent of Schools, members of the SLA assassinated Foster. ACSA established the Marcus Foster Memorial Award to honor Foster and those educators who take risks to improve education opportunities, practice an inclusive management style and are willing to try new ideas to reach out to students.    In 2018, Stacy Bryant, member of ACSA’s Antelope Valley Chapter, Region 15, received the Marcus Foster Memorial Award along with a $5,000 check, which seeded this scholarship. The AV Chapter along with those in attendance at the 2018 ACSA Awards banquet donated another $5,000 to complete funding of the endowment.