(May 23, 2002) — With another year of students taking the Golden State Exams (GSE), more chances are offered for students to gain scholarship money. According to Assistant Principal Joan Shoff, the Governor’s Scholars Program has been offered for the second year. There are three levels of GSE awards that a student can achieve: Recognition, Honors and High Honors. If students receives six awards of Recognition or higher, they qualify for a merit diploma. In order to earn a special merit diploma, students must receive at least a Recognition for US history, one subject in math, one in science, one in English and two others in any subject. There are two different scholarships offered as a part of the Governor’s Scholars Program: the Governor Scholarship Award and the Governor’s Distinguished Mathematics and Science Award. The Governor’s Scholarship Award offers $1,000 and the Governor’s Distinguished Mathematics and Science Award offers $2,500. Both awards require that students’ SAT 9 or STAR scores in their freshman, sophomore or junior year must be in the top 10% of their class or in the top 5% of their grade level in the state. The Governor’s Distinguished Mathematics and Science Award, however, also requires that the student must excel in an AP math or science course. Students can qualify for both scholarships and earn $5,500. The scholarship can be used for any accredited post-secondary education within or outside California. “I have found that what the students say is that they seem to have a higher interest [in paying more attention to the exams] when money is attached to it,” commented Shoff. Each qualifying student is given a letter with an eight-digit PIN number. Students must go online and claim their money using the PIN number, and according to Shoff, it is more likely for students to lose their PIN number the longer they wait. Students can claim their money up until five years after they receive their awards and can use the money up until they are 30 years old. For more information, log onto www. scholarshare.com or call (877) 728-4338.