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Better Business Bureau offers scholarships to students

COAST CITIES — The San Diego Better Business Bureau is inviting high school juniors and seniors to participate in its fourth annual Student Ambassador program.
The program is a volunteer speakers bureau where high school students deliver speeches to their peers on how to be smarter consumers. Students who deliver the most speeches will be eligible to receive cash scholarships from Union Bank of California, sponsor of the BBB’s Student Ambassador program.
The BBB Student Ambassador program is open to any junior or senior who attends an accredited high school in San Diego or Imperial counties. Applications are available at www.bbb.org. The deadline is Jan. 30. Students will be trained on Feb. 14 with a BBB-scripted speech, which includes information on such topics as spending with a credit card, budgeting, using a cell phone wisely and identity theft.
“Our program trains students to deliver valuable consumer protection information to their peer groups on campus, plus it’s a great resume builder for all participants,” Sheryl Bilbrey, San Diego BBB president said. “With disposable incomes, many young consumers are easy targets for scam artists, so it’s important to educate them on how to be pro-active in their marketplace research and how to identify and protect themselves from scams and fraud.”
Bilbrey said last year’s group of BBB student ambassadors delivered speeches to roughly 1,424 high school students, as well as teachers, over a 13-week span during the 2008 spring semester.
For more information about the BBB’s Student Ambassador program, contact Mona Vyas, BBB director of operations, at (858) 637-6199, ext. 327, or send an e-mail to [email protected].