Through a rigorous application process, Kambira Henry of Yucca Valley High School was selected as the Copper Mountain College Foundation’s 2026 Greenleaf Scholar from a strong and deserving group of finalists: Amarah Banerjee, Killian Hargrove, Adonai Patu, Ava Poteat and Larissa Rodney, all from Twentynine Palms High School. Each finalist demonstrated exceptional character and promise through both written and oral interviews. While Henry will get her education paid for by the Greenleaf endowment, the five finalists are awarded up to a $10,000 scholarship each to attend Copper Mountain College for two years. An awards dinner on April 16, 2026 will honor all Greenleaf Scholarship awardees.
Henry, the senior class president at Yucca Valley High School, suffered a soccer injury her freshman year that gave her a deeply personal connection to the medical field. This experience inspired her goal of becoming a registered nurse and ultimately a nurse practitioner. She says she envisions herself growing into someone who is, “compassionate, dependable, and confident in helping others.” This full ride scholarship will put her on that path.
Sandy Smith, Executive Director of the CMC Foundation, shared, “There was an overarching theme of community in this group of finalists. Each of them spoke of the love they felt in the Morongo Basin and the unity of our community. These students were in middle school during Covid. Life changed and people came together to help one another, and that seems to have made a lasting impact on them. We could all use that lesson today.”
For more information on how Copper Mountain College Foundation uses legacy gifts to support students, please visit www.cmccd.edu/Foundation.
About the CMC Foundation’s Greenleaf Scholarship
Since 2002, the Foundation has chosen a new Greenleaf Scholar each year to receive a four year “full ride” scholarship – A scholarship that gets them through their associate degree at CMC and then a bachelor’s degree at a Cal State or UC school – A scholarship that encourages them to finish their education and then come back to the Morongo Basin and use that education here in our community for the betterment of our neighbors. The Foundation Board takes the stewardship of this endowment very seriously. Mr. Greenleaf entrusted the Friends of Copper Mountain College, now the CMC Foundation, with $2.5M to help local deserving students achieve their educational goals. That legacy is entwined in the 20+ students who have been Greenleaf Scholars over the years.
