Fourteen high school seniors from Woodland and Pioneer high schools in Woodland will begin their freshman year at UC Davis with a scholarship from the UC Davis Foundation's Russell F. and Jean H. Fiddyment Endowed Fund.

The Fiddyments' contribution provides each student with a one-time award of $2,000.

The students will be honored in an hour-long formal ceremony hosted by the UC Davis Department of Academic Preparation Programs at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26. The event will be held in the boardroom of the Woodland Joint Unified School District, at 435 Sixth St.

At the ceremony, the students will each receive a Russell F. and Jean H. Fiddyment certificate. Guest speakers will include city of Woodland Mayor Marlon H. "Skip" Davies, along with Edward Aguilar, director of UC Davis' Academic Preparation Programs, and Harold Stewart-Carballo, academic enrichment coordinator for the same program.

The Fiddyments established the award to provide scholarship support to Woodland students admitted to UC Davis as freshmen. Some recipients are also a part of the university's Reservation for College Program, which gives students from educationally and economically disadvantaged areas the opportunity to attend UC Davis at a defrayed cost.

The Reservation for College program, which begins in fourth grade, and, later, the Early Academic Outreach Program, help students learn about the relationship of a college education to career and what they need to do to get admitted to a university. Activities, including field trips to campus, demystify higher education and help the students plan and develop skills for college.

The program is being used in several school districts in the Sacramento Valley, including Sacramento Unified, Elk Grove Unified and Twin Rivers Unified school districts. A total of 23 program participants who graduated from Sacramento and Grant high schools are currently studying at UC Davis.