Benjamin Cluff of Chandler High School was selected as a recipient of the 2025 Panfilo H. Contreras Honorary Scholarship by the Arizona School Boards Association Hispanic-Native American Caucus.
The scholarship, presented for the first time in 2013 by the ASBA, is designed to support Hispanic and Native American Indian seniors in high school as they pursue enrollment at accredited post-secondary institutions, according to a news release.
Cluff and his family were recognized by the Chandler Unified School District Governing Board at its June 25 meeting.
Cluff has been awarded $1,250. Last year’s scholarships were $1,000 each, the release states.
Criteria include being a Hispanic or Native American Indian senior attending an accredited public high school in Arizona in a district whose governing board is an active member of the ASBA, will enroll at an accredited institution in Arizona, maintained a high school record that reflects high academic achievement and regular attendance, has shown respectable leadership and citizenship among peers and sustained participation in school/community activities.
Cluff introduced his parents at the June 25 meeting. His mother is from Spain; the audience laughed when Cluff said his father is from “Utah, I think.”
Cluff told the board and audience he plans to study at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus and major in engineering, hopefully following in his mother’s footsteps in working for Salt River Project.
CUSD Superintendent Frank Narducci said he knew Contreras, for whom the scholarship is named. The late Contreras worked for the Arizona Department of Administration for nearly two decades and the ASBA for 13 more, and was its executive director, before retiring in 2011.
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Jason W. Brooks
Associate Editor
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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