Del Rio High School Class of 1984 awards 12 scholarships to seniors

Twelve Del Rio seniors received scholarships from the Del Rio High School Class of 1984 this year, turning an alumni tradition into direct help for students headed into college, trade school or certification programs. The awards marked the seventh year of the Class of 1984 Memorial Scholarship program, a steady effort built to honor deceased classmates while keeping local graduates moving forward.

Rosalinda Huffman, a member of the scholarship committee, said the class has organized its work around the motto “84 Gives More.” In practical terms, that has meant more than remembrance. It has meant help with tuition, books, fees and the other costs that can decide whether a senior is able to enroll or has to put off plans after graduation.

The scholarships are listed by San Felipe-Del Rio CISD for class of 2026 graduates of Del Rio High School, Early College High School and Blended Academy, with a May 1 deadline. That reach matters in a district where the need is easy to see: Del Rio High School enrolled 2,447 students in the 2024-25 school year, according to NCES, while Texas Tribune’s Schools Explorer listed 2,392 students on campus, with a student body that was 94.1% Hispanic and 68% economically disadvantaged. San Felipe-Del Rio CISD reported 9,744 students across 14 schools that year.

For Val Verde County families, scholarships like these are not ceremonial. They are one of the few forms of local support that can make higher education more immediate and more realistic, especially in a city of 34,668 people within a county of 47,586. The Class of 1984’s program fits a broader Del Rio pattern in which civic groups step in where household budgets are tight. The Del Rio Rotary Club, for example, has awarded $20,000 in scholarships in a single year.

The Class of 1984 has now turned a reunion-era bond into a working pipeline of support for younger graduates. By keeping the memorial scholarship program active for seven straight years, the class has shown how alumni groups can stay connected to Del Rio in a way that produces a concrete outcome: more local seniors leaving high school with a little more help and a better shot at what comes next.