Melannien (Melanie) Ortigoza Rios received the first-ever Wind Beneath My Wings scholarship.

The new annual scholarship is funded by former Redmond Mayor Rosemarie Ives and was created to support a Redmond student who will be attending full-time an accredited college, university, vocational or technical program.

Ortigoza Rios will be attending Washington State University and hopes to become a veterinarian. At Redmond High School (RHS), she was involved in Latinos Unidos and the Animal Club and is a translator for English Language Learners. She has also been involved in the community in various ways and enjoys martial arts. Ortigoza Rios is the daughter of Norma Rios and Osvaldo Ortigoza.

In addition to the scholarship, Ortigoza Rios also received an Academic Achievement Award at RHS.

“There were several nominees and out of those nominees, teachers sat down and picked four to be announced on the day of graduation and out of those four nominees teachers voted for one winner, which was me,” Ortigoza Rios said about receiving the award, adding that the award was given out by Sharon Curry.