Cuyamaca College is naming a schoolroom in the Ornamental Horticulture Complex after a longtime benefactor which late dower the college territory ’s Promise Plus programme $ 100,000 for student scholarships .

The Governing Board approve the classroom dedication Friday in recognition of the tenner - long support of the Rice Family Foundation , which has donate more than $ 1 million to Cuyamaca and Grossmont colleges over the years , particularly the gardening program .

A memorial tablet will be posted outside a classroom in the complex presently under restoration as part of the college territory ’s Proposition V construction shackle program . The $ 16.7 million undertaking , schedule to be completed in dusk 2020 , will let in update facilities , well - equipped greenhouses , an outdoor instructional area and lucubrate retail quad for the college glasshouse .

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In 2018 , the Rice Family Foundation was lauded by the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges and presented with the Bill and Judy Garrett Civic Leadership Award for its age of support for Cuyamaca and Grossmont College students .

Accepting the Bill and Judy Garrett Civic Leadership Award from the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges in 2018 were Lisa Wilson and her girl , Jessica , on behalf of the Rice Family Foundation .

This fourth dimension , the foundation create by the later Morgan Rice , a San Diego real landed estate investor , is being recognized by the college district for its support of Promise Plus , a scholarship programme to serve student at the East County community college reach their education goals .

Promise Plus Scholarships were created by the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges to allow critically needed scholarships to student at both college . The scholarships are targeting newfangled full - clock time college bookman , adults returning to college to amend their workforce skills and scholar transferring from Adult School . Priority will be given to students with financial need .

The Rice Family Foundation ’s assurance of $ 100,000 over five years follows a tradition date back to the mid-‘90s when the Morgan Rice Internship Program was established to provide Cuyamaca College students virtual work experience in nursery yield and gross revenue . The Rice Family Foundation continue to fund the program , along with scholarships to scholarly person in the Ornamental Horticulture program .

“ The Foundation ’s support of our Ornamental Horticulture program has served the community of interests and countless students for many class , ” said Cuyamaca College President Julianna Barnes . “ This former talent will provide additional documentation for our students ; we are grateful for their continued accompaniment and are pleased to be capable to name a schoolroom in their honor . ”

Lisa Wilson , Morgan Rice ’s niece , say the mission of Promise Plus is in keeping with the philosophy of the charitable fundament created by her uncle . She said her uncle , who died in 2004 , was once a high school teacher in El Centro and believe in the transformative power of pedagogy . The emphasis of backing and grants from his founding is on education , particularly programs do good San Diego County ’s poverty-stricken populations . Beneficiaries include Balboa Park museums , the San Diego Zoo , K-12 and higher education programs , and others focusing on literacy , music and the humanistic discipline .

“ We have always feel a stiff connector to both Cuyamaca and Grossmont college and our origination gameboard believes that gamy Department of Education is a really important causa to support , ” Wilson said . “ There are so many immature students who ca n’t afford to go to college and the Promise Plus political platform is a slap-up style to help oneself . ”

Since the former 2000s , the Grossmont College Theatre Arts Department has benefitted from the Rice Family Foundation ’s financial support of the college ’s touring program that bring the performing liberal arts to more than 8,000 child every year at 16 East County elementary school day . The Heritage of the Americas Museum and the Water Conservation Garden , both located at Cuyamaca College , also receive foundation dollar mark .

She added her uncle was an outdoorsman with a keen interest in gardening and geology . His link to Cuyamaca stems from his long friendship with Governing Board legal guardian and former Ornamental Horticulture programme chairwoman Brad Monroe . The twain became acquainted after Rice , who at one time have most of the land packet on San Miguel Mountain near the college , contacted Monroe about donating a cargo shipping container he no longer require . From that link , a friendship and an enduring relationship with the college district was born .

Source : Cuyamaca College