Fresno fair puts spotlight on academic success. One student wins a car | Opinion

Mía Salcedo, the youngest of four children of a single working mom, almost tempted fate on the opening day of the Big Fresno Fair.

She figured two hours of waiting in an overflowing fair grandstands with hundreds of fellow students and their parents without hearing her name announced as a scholarship winner was enough, especially when her young niece was fidgeting about visiting the carnival games.

“I didn’t think I had the possibility of winning,” said the 17-year-old senior at Sunnyside High School about not hearing her name announced as a winner of more than $111,000 in scholarships that were awarded during the 13th edition of the 4.0 & Above Program for Fresno County high school and eighth-grade students with a 4.0 or above GPA as of June.

“Every year that we come, we just come in hopes. Since there’s a lot of students coming from different high schools, there’s very little chance of winning,” said Salcedo. “We thought, ‘OK, let’s start leaving now so we could at least beat the people to get out of here.’”

Just as Salcedo — along with her mother, Ángela Montejano, and her niece, Kaylanni Salcedo — reached the ground level and started to leave, her name was announced as the winner of a 2025 Toyota Corolla. Minutes later, she was holding the keys to the shiny, black car and posing for photos with Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and other dignitaries on what she described as a dream.

Event put spotlight on students

I’ve covered scores of education stories in my 48 years as a journalist, from graduations to academic decathlons to educators who made a difference to the determination of underserved students to overcome obstacles. And, Wednesday’s event ranks among the best memories of how a community should treat its students.

DJ music pumped up a crowd of 7,500, including 5,000 students, that packed the grandstands before the first winner’s name was drawn from two raffle drums — one for high school hopefuls and one for eight-grade contestants.

Winners walked on a red carpet to get their prizes — $3,000 scholarships, laptops, gift cards. Their walk was videotaped and shown on a big screen behind where the dignitaries drew the winners. Some students smiled or pumped their arms up and down, others were more solemn in their celebration.

At one point, the audience was asked to put on their cellphone flashlights on to create a wave of lights

In all, 61 students walked away with scholarships, gift cards, air pods or laptops. This was cooler than munching on a corn dog, scarfing down a cinnamon roll, or riding the Ferris wheel.

More than $985,000 in scholarships and 13 Toyota Corollas have been given out since The 4.0 & Above Program was launched 13 years ago by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools. All prizes are donated by local businesses and individuals, including Friends of the Big Fresno Fair.

Family was in need of a car

The odds of winning the car are in your favor if you attend Sunnyside High, which is a little more than 2 miles east of the fairgrounds. Three Wildcats have won the vehicle, including Salcedo’s friend and classmate Libiya Torres last year.

“I never thought it would happen to me,” said Salcedo, who lives in the Roosevelt High area but attends Sunnyside because of its Doctors Academy. She wants to become a physician to make up for the lack of doctors in the region.

Salcedo attended two previous years of the fair scholarship program and walked away with nothing. The car will come in handy, said her mother, who supports her family as a housekeeper. The family car, which Salcedo borrows at times to get to school, is a 2013 Honda.

“It’s a blessing knowing that I was able to get something that we cannot afford right now, especially due to our financial situation,” said Salcedo. “Having this car really puts me in a place where I could have my own transportation for school.”

Montejano, her mother, welcomed her daughter’s fortune. “It’s very difficult right now because of the economy,” said Montejano. “We barely get by.”

This is a great example of how we should support education.

This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 12:25 PM.