HOME
nwasianweekly.com
Mar 25, 2006

The Diversity Makes a Difference scholarship program celebrates young people who are committed to reaching out across cultural lines. This newspaper believes that diversity is an asset to our community, and so we encourage young people to take action to instill this belief in others. 

On this page, you will find some of the students nominated for the 2006 Diversity Makes a Difference scholarship award. All of them — more than 60 students from all over Western Washington — will be featured here between Feb. 11 and March 31. The Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation will award five winners with $1,000 scholarships, with finalists receiving $200 each.

Winners will be announced at the Diversity Makes a Difference awards banquet on March 31 at 6 p.m. at Jumbo Chinese Restaurant in South Seattle. The keynote speaker will be Johnetta Rowsey, Nordstrom’s director of diversity affairs in Washington and Alaska.

For tickets to the event or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, call 206-223-0623.

Diversity makes a Difference 2006

Catherine DuBenion
Senior, Ingraham High School
Nominated by Martha Tonkin

By the time she entered seventh grade, Catherine had already performed in two plays, exhibited her art publicly and begun the novel she is currently writing. In high school, she founded both the Anime Club and Film Club, is secretary of the Black Student Union, plays on the women’s basketball team and has participated in a college-based cyber-tech program. Naturally drawn to arts, Catherine is forthright about her plans to write and publish books in five different genres and become an appreciated filmmaker.

Ashley Trotter
Senior, Wilson High School
Nominated by Kay Kyle

Ashley has served as a mentor through her school’s People Helping People Club and tutored elementary school students in reading. She is also a member of the Family Career Community Leaders of America, the Martin Luther King Club and the performance group Steppers With Attitude. Her academic awards include the Elizabeth Wesley Scholarship, which she has received every year since 2003.

Catalina Tobon
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Debbie Granger

Catalina moved to the U.S. from Colombia by herself several years ago to pursue a good education and achieve her dream of becoming a nurse. Eventually she hopes to save enough money to bring the rest of her family to the U.S. During her short time here, she has not been shy about participating in school activities. She recently spoke in front of the entire school, in both English and Spanish, about the importance of making the school a welcoming place for students of all backgrounds.

Matthew Libby
Senior, Arlington High School
Nominated by Connie C. Reiss

In 2004, the town of Arlington fell victim to a hate crime. It was through the leadership of Matthew and other young people that the high school began a full force effort to respect diversity and celebrate the change that diversity brings to the community. Matthew took part in the Martin Luther King march in Everett as well as the True Colors training, which helps participants see the positive attributes of each human being.

Trang Vu
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Lindsay MacDonald

Trang enrolled at Sehome four years ago, soon after arriving from Vietnam. She found herself amidst the swirl and activity of an American high school, unable to understand even a few words of English. For three years, Trang spent nearly every day in the after-school tutoring lab. Today she is bilingual and bicultural in English and Vietnamese. She has also taken on responsibilities in the Flava Multicultural Club, through which she helped organize Mix It Up Days, where students sit at different tables during lunch and get to know new people.

Parveen Parhar
Senior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Jeffrey Jones

Parveen is an active member of the Diversity Club, a representative within the student-body government and manager of the gymnastics and basketball teams. She attends temple every Sunday, helping to cook, serve food and clean. She is also an avid Punjabi dancer. Though she was born into the Western culture, Parveen studies and promotes her family’s heritage and culture. Her academic awards include the Boeing Achievement Award, Best Math Student and Best Health Student.

Hee-Sun Kang
Junior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Fina Marino

Hee-Sun is a community-minded person who not only ponders problems, but also takes steps to act as a change agent. She applied to serve on the Seattle Mayor’s Youth Council and was selected from a talented applicant pool to collaborate with other teens as they solve problems affecting young people in the city. As a member of the Diversity Club, Hee-Sun promotes cultural understanding and respect at her diverse school. She and her peers recently won top honors in an educational Web site design competition. Their work focused on the bombing of Japan during World War II.

Manpreet Kaur
Senior, Chief Sealth High School
Nominated by Jol Raymond

Last year, a school survey asked students to name the people they respect and admire. Manpreet’s name was listed over and over by her peers. As a result, she was among those who took part in an intensive weekend retreat entitled Project FAMILY, during which student leaders discussed how they could make the school a better place. Manpreet emerged as a leader that weekend and eventually returned to organize and implement the next Project FAMILY. Last spring, Manpreet received the Winners for Life award from the downtown Seattle Rotary and was chosen as the student speaker for the 700-person luncheon.

Mohamed Mohamed
Senior, Cleveland High School
Nominated by Donna Bolima

Mohamed worked hard to resurrect the East African student club at his school. When he learned the club was on the wane, he set about to reorganize the East African students. His main goal was to bridge the gap between East African students and all the other students at the school. He was successful, and the club now thrives. When Mohamed chose to do his senior research project on Somali poetry, he had one purpose in mind: to “(share) cultural knowledge with others,” he said.

Ryan Azucena
Senior, Arlington High School
Nominated by Juliet Cheatle

Ryan has been learning and performing Filipino folk dancing since age 6. A talented and spirited dancer, his performances always encourage other Filipino American youths to learn traditional Filipino dances. Ryan is currently a senior member of the Filipinas Performing Arts of Washington, where he continues to study Filipino music and dance, as well as teach younger members his skills. Ryan also helps raise money for the Fil-Am of North Puget Sound scholarship program.

Mira Caintic
Senior, Wilson High School
Nominated by Joe Raniero

Mira has been an active member of Key Club for the past four years. This year, as president, she has led and coordinated many service activities, including feeding the homeless, collecting canned goods and money for food banks, holding blood drives and distributing toys for the needy at Christmas. Mira’s other activities are VARJA, a young women’s service organization, the Environmental Club and the National Honor Society. On Sundays she can often be found at Holy Cross Catholic Church performing as an altar server.

Giordanna Queiroz
Junior, Lake Washington High School
Nominated by Dawn Q. Wyatt

When Giordanna arrived in the U.S. from Brazil and started learning English, she discovered an affinity for language. She has since added French and Spanish to her course load. She frequently applies her knowledge of these languages to translate for others in the classroom. In the community, she tutors young students, leads a group called Smart Girls that promotes self-esteem among young girls and helped organize a teen summit for high school students. Her recreational interests include Capoeira dance, yoga and tae kwon do.

Thu Nguyen
Senior, Garfield High School
Nominated by Karin Engstrom

Thu is active in student groups that organize to create positive changes. She was involved with a group through the Seattle Young People’s Project that organized the Youth Undoing Racism conference in the summer of 2004. Last school year, she joined a global leadership program called One World Now. She also spent last summer in Morocco, learning about the culture and the Arabic language as she lived with another family. Earlier this year, Thu participated in a retreat with Cultural Relations, a group started in 1993 — following the Rodney King incident — in which students openly discuss racism and other issues.

Elisa Apostle
Senior, Wilson High School
Nominated by Kari-Ellen Elsdon

Elisa is an outstanding student, both academically and in extracurricular areas. Despite an extremely rigorous course load, she has maintained a 4.0 GPA. She also serves as senior class president, treasurer of the National Honor Society and historian of the Environmental Club, and has been part of three school plays. Elisa has also taken an active role in a club called Rams Advocating Diversity, which supports students from all ethnic, racial and socio-economic backgrounds.

David Goldenkranz
Senior, Garfield High School
Nominated by Samuel Labi

At the last minute last September, David offered to host an exchange student from Yemen. After a very intense and honest discussion about Yemen’s anti-American and anti-Israel views, David, who is Jewish, and the student, named Esam, embraced each other. They have been good friends ever since. David made sure Esam found a mosque and imam, and he supported his 30-day fast for Ramadan. David also got Esam a spot on his soccer team, as it was Esam’s dream, having played only pick-up games in sandlots in Yemen. Together, they also went to see the film “Munich,” which deals with Arab and Israeli history in a provocative way.

Cindy Kim
Senior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Jeffrey Jones & Fina Marino

Cindy has excelled as a student, athlete and leader. With a full load of honors and Advanced Placement classes, she has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA. She is currently captain of the tennis team and previously served as captain of the golf team. She is also an officer in the Diversity Club, secretary of the student body, a youth ministry officer at her church and a volunteer at Children’s Hospital. Last summer, she helped collect data for the Tanzania Genetic Research Project and helped design a Web site to increase teenagers’ interest in biomedical careers.

Selamawit Misgano
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Jennifer Smith, Zerazion Araya & Marilyn Sizer

Selamawit noticed that while minority students were a large part of Roosevelt, they were not always represented equally throughout the school and, more specifically, in the newspaper. So she approached the newspaper adviser and proposed a feature on the school’s ESL students. Selamawit was given an entire spread in the newspaper to share her interviews and the voices of students she felt were underrepresented at the school. Selamawit is also an active member of the Black Student Alliance, a frequent performer of Ethiopian dance at diversity assemblies and president of the International Club.

Devin Majkut
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Julie Kratzig

Devin works with students in a Life Skills classroom, which is geared towards severely disabled children. There, she teaches art, cooking and social communication, working with students who, in some cases, cannot speak or walk. She calls all of them “gifted.” Devin also helps students in the English Language Learners program, assisting them with their homework and English skills. Devin is interested in one day becoming a secondary education teacher with a special-education endorsement.

Manpreet “Minnie” Singh
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Sharon McConnel

A determination to succeed exudes from Minnie. When she arrived at Squalicum as a sophomore, she purposely chose a curriculum that would both strengthen her skills and challenge her. Her Advanced Placement calculus teacher praises her for her “self-motivation, maturity, self-discipline and, of course, her intelligence.” This year Minnie was accepted into a competitive countywide health-care services program for promising students. She hopes to one day work in the medical field.

Alyssa Vivas
Senior, Wilson High School
Nominated by Joe Raniero

Alyssa’s leadership can be felt in many parts of the school. She has been named Most Inspirational Player by her tennis teammates for the past three years. She plays a key role in the success of the National Honor Society by tutoring and encouraging academic excellence in other students. She has also been an important member of the Knowledge Bowl team, consistently receiving high scores in every competition. As an officer in the Key Club, Alyssa has organized students to volunteer for the Tacoma Rescue Mission and the Hunger Walk. Through all this, she has maintained a 4.0 GPA.

Amanda Smiley
Senior, Highline High School
Nominated by Jacqueline Chalmers

Amanda is in the midst of resurrecting a club called Sekatu, which means “all good people” in Swahili. As president of this club, she is working to spotlight the contributions of African American students to the high school. She hopes to organize a dinner in honor of Black History Month and other events that promote African awareness. Amanda’s goal is to make sure everyone feels welcome at the school.

Mark Salanga
Senior, Bainbridge Island High School
Nominated by Maria T. Rivera

Mark decided that before he graduated, he would renew interest in the diversity club, called United Brothers and Sisters. It has thrived since he became president. Mark led an event called Mix It Up, in which students met new people during lunch. It was so successful that students have asked him to hold it on a regular basis. UBS also took charge of the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly. In past years, a video was shown because no group took it on as an activity. Mark not only wanted an assembly, he made sure the entire student body took part in it, including ESL and exchange students.

Nicole Levy
Senior, Bellevue High School
Nominated by Ellen Reichman

Nicole has been co-president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at her school for the past two years. In this capacity, she has demonstrated tremendous knowledge about legal issues, including gay marriage, and has worked with students from other schools to organize movie nights and other safe and fun events that all students can attend. Nicole has also served as a mediator for students dealing with gay/lesbian issues.

Leah Mindemann
Senior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Cathy Hagood

As a leader in the Diversity Club, Leah has taken part in a number of events that embrace and promote diversity. At the Hale Equity Summit, she co-presented a slide show about Italians in an effort to dispel stereotypes. Leah attended the Anti-Hate Conference at the University of Washington last fall and will use what she learned to plan this spring’s Equity Summit. Leah also took part in the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly by reading a poem by Maya Angelou and carrying the South African flag during the flag parade.

Nikole Ozuna
Senior, Arlington High School
Nominated by Brooke Dalgaard

Nikole is one of only a handful of minority students at her school, but she doesn’t let racism interfere with her outlook on life. She is accepting of all people and cares about how everyone is treated. She has been introduced to a variety of cultures through personal relationships, school events and her church. As a participant in the RESPECT program, she helps promote diversity at her school and aids programs that try to rid schools and communities of racism. Nikole is also active in her church’s youth group.

Bobby Gass
Senior, Bellingham High School
Nominated by Melanie Bade

Bobby has taken on the challenges of leadership roles in student government, the Environmental Club, Key Club and the Gay-Straight Alliance. He has been co-president of the junior class and co-captain of the swim team. Bobby has also received numerous academic awards, including Student of the Quarter in English and the Masonic Scholar-Citizen Award. In his free time, he volunteers for the Greenways Park Restoration project, Trick or Treat for UNICEF, the Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood Teen Board and the Youth Advisory Council.

Michelle Munoz
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Lupita Pulford

For the past two years, Michelle has done Spanish translations of “Peter and the Wolf” for the Roosevelt orchestra’s performances in local elementary schools. She also participates in a program called One World Now, whose activities promote cross-cultural understanding and diversity. One World Now participants have attended conventions in Olympia to meet people from other parts of the state and learn how to bridge differences. Michelle, who knows American Sign Language, has also served her community as an interpreter.

Trang Hoang
Senior, Chief Sealth High School
Nominated by Jol Raymond

Trang serves as co-chair of the Vietnamese New Year celebration and is a member of the Robotics Club and the Vietnamese Club. Two years ago, she co-founded the Debate Club, which competes against other Seattle high schools in the Urban Debate League. Last spring she ran for and was elected senior class senator. Outside of school, she volunteers in her parish and tutors elementary and middle school students. She has logged well over 2,000 hours of community service.

Hourieh Ahmadnia
Senior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Jeffrey Jones

Culture is a central part of Hourieh’s identity. Last year at Hale’s Equity Summit, she put together a PowerPoint presentation and workshop called “Iran and Islam,” in which she shared her cultural heritage with staff and peers. She has visited family members in Iran every year that she has been in high school. Her community service includes volunteering at the Shoreline Public Library and in the school cafeteria.

Tanvirjot Bhinder
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Lindsay MacDonald

Tanvirjot has quietly reached out to students who struggle academically. She tutored in the after-school tutoring lab, working with students in math. She has also been active in the Flava Multicultural Club. This year, she took on a project in which she silk-screened shirts for a Punjabi dance ensemble and donated all the proceeds to the Flava Club. Tanvirjot plans to pursue pre-med studies at Western Washington University and fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor.

Lilia Hueso-Perez
Senior, Highline High School
Nominated by Jacqueline Chalmers

As vice president of the Latino Club, Lilia helped start a project called Latino Stand Up, which encourages Latino students to advocate for themselves and ask questions about college and scholarship opportunities. At the Martin Luther King assembly, she and other members of the club performed Latin American dances for the student body. This spring, she hopes to educate her peers about the Cinco de Mayo celebration. Lilia put her language skills to use last summer when she worked for the Highline School District, helping to enroll Spanish-speaking students.

Amy Arms
Senior, Arlington High School
Nominated by Heidi Chappel

Amy uses her knowledge of Spanish to tutor a second-grade boy who has been in America for only one year. Amy connects with him in his native language and assists with his math and spelling. This cross-cultural interaction also helps Amy, as it has become part of her daily consciousness to make her high school a more comfortable and respectful place. She is often seen talking to students of different cultures, ages, academic abilities and socio-economic backgrounds. Amy also belongs to the Respect Team, which teaches elementary school students about diversity, and Link Crew, a group of seniors that mentors freshmen. 

Darcel Carter
Senior, Wilson High School
Nominated by Kari-Ellen Elsdon

Darcel is actively involved in school and extracurricular activities and is well known for being available to help inside and outside of the school setting. A positive and vibrant young woman, she sets realistic goals for herself and understands the value of hard work. Despite many hardships, she has still managed to achieve a 3.72 GPA. Darcel is a role model for all young African American women.

Samia Ahmed
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Connie Coffman-Hobson

When Samia arrived in the U.S. seven years ago, she was illiterate. Today she is taking Advanced Placement classes, studying Hindi and Arabic as well as English and serves as president of the Black Student Alliance and vice president of the Southeast Asian Club. In diversity assemblies, she not only performs dances from her own culture, but also those of other cultures. To help hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast, Samia stood outside Safeco Field and collected donations. She ended up taking in $1,000. She also held a clothing drive at Roosevelt and donated the clothing to evacuees who relocated to Seattle.

Kelsey Ingram
Senior, Mercer Island High School
Nominated by C. Creighton Laughary

Kelsey stands out as a scholar, athlete and citizen. Teachers considered her project for National History Day outstanding. Kelsey chose to focus her research on the Japanese internment, combining scholarship with first-person accounts from her great-grandparents and grandparents, to teach her peers invaluable lessons from American history. A highly decorated gymnast, Kelsey now serves as team captain. She also coaches a 7-year-old autistic girl in gymnastics, tutors young children at the Atlantic Street Center and gives her time to many nonprofits, including the Hammond House Women’s Shelter, the Humane Society and the Eastside Domestic Violence Program. 

Brian Rountree
Senior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Cathy Hagood

Brian, who serves as student-body vice president, is one of the leaders of the Diversity Club at school. He has been part of this group for three years and has taken part in many of its activities. During the Bite of Hale, he has cooked and served Chinese food, Czech food and noodles for a noodle bar. For the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly, he wrote two poems and participated in the parade of flags. At the Hale Equity Summit, he helped put on a presentation on deaf culture. Brian has also tutored special-education students in reading, math and computer skills.

Debbie Nguyen
Senior, Kentlake High School
Nominated by Janet Groves

Debbie does not have much free time, but she devotes what she can to the Diversity Club, which promotes acceptance of differences and helps create a safe environment for all students at school. Debbie lost her mother last year, and now she and her two brothers live together in an apartment and struggle to make ends meet. Despite have double the amount of responsibilities as she had before, Debbie still manages to maintain a 3.75 GPA. She hopes to become a pharmacist and has had to take several demanding classes to pursue that dream.

Upasana-anami
“Annie” Mehta
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Mark Galvin

Annie is fluent in six languages, having spent much of her childhood in India and Tanzania. Her linguistic abilities have helped students from around the world feel more comfortable in the U.S. as well as at school. As a member of the Multicultural Club, she encourages tolerance and friendships across cultural and ethnic lines. Annie has also made a difference in Tanzania, where she helped orphans and street children improve their reading skills and self-respect. She also helped raise money for the Slum Doctors Program, which supports treatment for HIV/AIDS patients in Nairobi, Kenya.

Oliver Wu
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Lindsay MacDonald

Oliver arrived from Taiwan just four years ago. In his short time in the U.S., he has worked his way from the English-as-a-second-language program to honors and Advanced Placement classes. At Sehome, he is an active member of the multicultural club and the golf team and plays clarinet, saxophone, bass, guitar and piano in various music ensembles. In his spare time, Oliver volunteers at an aquatic center, helping developmentally disabled children enjoy the pool safely. He also volunteers at a Chinese school, where he helps adopted Chinese children and young Americans learn about Chinese language and culture.

Archita Taylor
Senior, Mariner High School
Nominated by Elizabeth Stokes

Archita is president of the Conflict Mediation Program this year. Having been selected to be a mediator her freshman year, she is now among the most skilled and experienced mediators in the group. At the start of the school year, she organized classroom presentations on the topic of respect. She wrote a script that engaged the audience of 1,500 freshmen and sophomores. She also facilitated large-group discussions and explained that conflict mediation is an effective way to resolve disputes involving rumors, racial or sexual harassment, property disputes, threats or potential violence. With Archita as the leader, the program’s credibility has been enhanced and there have been fewer suspensions.

Renata Oliveira
Senior, Lake Washington High School
Nominated by Janet K. Moore

Renata’s native language is Portuguese. Born in Brazil, she now lives in the U.S. with her family. At school, she is a quiet leader among the other Brazilian students, acting as an excellent role model for students like her, who essentially are starting their lives over in a new language and culture. In the community, Renata volunteers as a youth leader at her church and translates for other Brazilian immigrants. She has played the cello for years and occasionally performs at church. Renata hopes to study engineering at the University of Washington.

Joie Hsu
Senior, Bellingham High School
Nominated by Melanie Bade

Joie learned the value of diversity early on when she moved to Taiwan at age 5 and began attending school, even though she didn’t know how to speak Chinese. Looking and feeling like an outsider, she realized the importance of embracing diversity and valuing the ideas of people who are different. These days, Joie promotes diversity by connecting with as many students as she can by participating in the Honor Society, the tennis team, Key Club, the Math Olympiad, yearbook and other activities.

Haley Keel
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Pam Mueller

Haley is an active member of the multicultural club, offering both her time and talent to the group’s activities. She was a featured dancer in the club’s talent show and has participated in awareness activities. While others might not choose to go the extra mile with a person who speaks very little English, Haley welcomes the chance to get to know someone of a different culture better. Haley’s passion for learning about other cultures materialized during a recent trip to India. There, she rediscovered the value of seeing another part of the world and its people. She returned with a renewed appreciation for the people of India.

Sharece Corner
Senior, Arlington High School
Nominated by Marilee Schneider

Since sophomore year, Sharece has logged more than 400 hours of community service, working with such organizations as Kidz Kloset, which provides clothing to needy families. Through Future Business Leaders of America, she participated in a fund-raiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Sharece is also an active member of the Diversity Club, through which she has organized and participated in the annual Diversity Summit in LaConner, Wash.

Manuel Lemus-Ardon
Senior, Ballard High School
Nominated by Nohra Giraldo

Manuel’s eyes and ears are open to friends in trouble. When a friend is sad, confused or in need of advice, he can be relied upon to help that person feel better. Manuel is a true peer counselor and is often sought out for guidance and advice. In his more than three years at Ballard, Manuel has gained the trust of his friends and teachers for his integrity and profound commitment to the well-being of all.

Helen Nguyen
Senior, Franklin High School
Nominated by Jol Raymond

Helen is one of the most well-respected students at her school. She was chosen by her peers to take part in Project FAMILY, which gathers together young leaders for an intensive weekend retreat focused on making Franklin a better place. She showed leadership skills even as a freshman member of a Vietnamese dance group. Helen also participates in the AIDS Alliance group and the National Honor Society. She recently made presentations to Chief Sealth High School’s ninth-grade health classes on a variety of topics, including dating, sexual assault and healthy relationships.

Kaylie Fitzpatrick
Senior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Jeffrey Jones

Kaylie serves as the Diversity Club’s secretary and treasurer and was one of two students chosen to represent the group in student-body government. Outside of school, she is a volunteer coordinator for the Lake City Christmas Project, organizing a food and gift drive for families in need during the holidays. Kaylie also took part in a 22-day backpacking trip in the Cascade Mountains, as part of an Outward Bound program that develops leadership skills in teens. On the third day of the trip, she successfully led a group hike up a mountain, which she had never attempted before.

Jordan Bensky
Senior, Ballard High School
Nominated by Keven Wynkoop

Jordan has been integral to the growth and continued success of her school’s Diversity Day. Every year, she performs a traditional Hawaiian hula dance at the assembly in front of 1,600 of her peers. One year, she also taught workshops on hula dancing. This year, she has teamed up with three other students to be the student coordinators of Diversity Day. The event is still months away, but she has already solicited donations from businesses to make sure that this year’s Diversity Day is the best yet.

Katy Scherrer
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Michelle Nilsen

Last summer, as a member of the Earth Service Corps, Katy traveled to Costa Rica to learn about environmental issues across cultural boundaries. She brought back a wealth of information as well as an interest in working across similar cultural boundaries within her school. She has held leadership positions within Earth Service Corps and, as a member of the tennis team, has served as captain the last two years and was named Most Valuable Player last spring.

Jessica Balazic
Junior, Woodinville High School
Nominated by Denise Snow

As president of her school’s diversity club, Falcons Against Discrimination Everywhere, Jessica has spearheaded the Martin Luther King Day assembly, Pay It Forward Week and the participation of Special Education students in a Halloween party. She has also led a school-wide program called Journey to Acceptance, which promotes tolerance and acceptance and encourages students to think about the role of diversity in their lives. When she was a member of the Girl Scouts in junior high, Jessica was a strong leader, especially when the group learned about other cultures and studied such issues as the Holocaust.

Isa Lim
Senior, Franklin High School
Nominated by Ellen Recupido

Isa entered kindergarten not speaking any English. She has worked with determination to succeed and has taken challenging courses throughout high school, achieving a 3.98 GPA. Isa has learned to become self-reliant, as she did not have parents at home who could help her with schoolwork. Her goal is to work in the medical field someday. Isa is a volunteer at the University of Washington Medical Center and Jefferson Community Center’s summer day camp and tutors elementary school students.

Paul Tomko
Senior, Thomas Jefferson High School
Nominated by Thomas Norris

Paul is a key member of the math team at school. He has spent the last two summers going beyond the standard high school curriculum in mathematics to prepare for competitions. Paul helped his school place among the top 10 schools in the nation the last two years. The math team is a diverse group that encompasses many cultures and ethnicities. During practice sessions, Paul consistently helps younger students, no matter their background or native language. He even translates directions into Mandarin so students who speak that language can understand the tasks at hand.

Natalie Chan
Senior, Bellarmine Preparatory School
Nominated by Jim Knudson

Natalie and her family survived the tsunami disaster in Thailand in December 2004. When she returned from what was supposed to be a vacation in paradise, she felt compelled to do something to relieve the suffering she witnessed. It began with bake sales, grew to a T-shirt sale that swept through the community and culminated in a benefit concert that altogether brought in more than $12,000. Last fall, she helped guide a similar response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster that raised more than $15,000. Natalie’s future plans now include a medical career with Doctors Without Borders.

Pawandeep Gill
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Jennifer Robichaux

Pawandeep has put a tremendous amount of work and dedication into learning the English language. Her commitment has obviously paid off in her 3.9 GPA. She has another admirable trait: her ability to work well with others. She has a special way of making people feel honored and welcome. She also possesses exceptional morals and leadership skills, and is open, honest and capable of communicating with people from all parts of society. One of her teachers has often relied on her to record messages in Punjabi for other students and families to hear on the district phone system.

Archita Taylor
Senior, Mariner High School
Nominated by Elizabeth Stokes

Archita is president of the Conflict Mediation Program this year. Having been selected to be a mediator her freshman year, she is now among the most skilled and experienced mediators in the group. At the start of the school year, she organized classroom presentations on the topic of respect. She wrote a script that engaged the audience of 1,500 freshmen and sophomores. She also facilitated large-group discussions and explained that conflict mediation is an effective way to resolve disputes involving rumors, racial or sexual harassment, property disputes, threats or potential violence. With Archita as the leader, the program’s credibility has been enhanced and there have been fewer suspensions.

Rochelle Stowe
Senior, Wilson High School
Nominated by Joseph Raniero

Rochelle has achieved a 3.93 GPA while taking numerous honors and Advanced Placement courses and competing as an athlete in basketball, swimming and water polo. Rochelle is also passionate about helping the less fortunate and concerned about the future of the environment. She is very active in Key Club, a community service organization, and the Wilson Environmental Club. Last summer, she was part of an environmental crew that gathered all the recyclables from the food booths at the Taste of Tacoma.

Nathan Yagi-Stanton
Junior, Sammamish High School
Nominated by Laura S. Klein

Last year, Nathan learned that one of the school’s Vietnamese custodians had not seen his family since he fled Vietnam at the end of the war. Nathan decided to lead a fund-raising effort — selling T-shirts — to collect money to send the man to Vietnam. Such acts of kindness and generosity are not unusual for Nathan. On his counselor’s first day on the job, he stopped by her office — in the summer — to offer help. When she said she needed people to show the new students around the school, Nathan immediately arranged for about 20 students to be there the week before school started.

Kyle Shimada
Senior, Kentwood High School
Nominated by Lynette Hansen

Kyle was born premature at 26 weeks, which resulted in his visual impairment. Despite this disability, he has achieved a 3.44 GPA and volunteers weekly at his church. He has also excelled in the Special Olympics, winning gold, silver and bronze medals since 2002. As a peer tutor in the Developmental Delayed classrooms, Kyle is kind and respectful to students with different abilities and cultural backgrounds. You can’t help but notice his ever-present and contagious smile. Recognizing the value of education, Kyle doesn’t give up until he has achieved his highest potential. 

Hilary Dernier
Senior, Chief Sealth High School
Nominated by Marta Sanchez

Hilary is able to successfully juggle her academics, sports and community involvement. She excels in her Advanced Placement classes while at the same time participating on the cross-country and softball teams. Her dedication, humor and sportsmanship are some of the reasons she was chosen cross-country captain. Hilary is currently setting up a book drive on behalf of the Seattle Public Schools. She is responsible for organizing students, book suppliers, community members and school librarians. Her academic interests include the issue of the achievement gap among Caucasians and students of color within the public school system.

Ajla Aljic
Senior, Highline High School
Nominated by Jacqueline Chalmers

Ajla was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and had an idyllic life until war broke out. She was confined to a cellar, her only safe haven. In 2000, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) brought Ajla to the U.S. Last summer, Ajla met an IRC representative and asked how she could help refugees. She began working with two Turkish families who had lived in Russia. Ajla helped prepare the children for the American school system and American culture in general. The children could not read or write English, so she read to them and had them try to retell the stories. Today she is president of the Burien Teen Leadership Council, which is organizing a cultural fest for the city.

Carmen Starr
Senior, Truman High School
Nominated by Kay Vallejo

Carmen has always kept a wide circle of diverse friends. She looks at people as people, rather than through the lens of race, because she is of mixed race herself. She knows what it is like to feel discriminated against, so she is sensitive to the issues faced by people of color and immigrants. In addition to finishing her high school degree, she is currently working and training for a job in the insurance industry.  

Valerie Bratt-Leal
Senior, Redmond High School
Nominated by Sheila Friedman

Valerie, who is fluent in Spanish, recently assisted a Mexican student who spoke very little English and was failing history. At first, Valerie tutored the girl in history, but it turned out she needed more help, so Valerie tutored her in all her subjects. She would spend eight hours at the library each Saturday and Sunday helping the student with her English. Eventually, all of it was too much for Valerie and she had to admit she could not continue putting in this much time into tutoring. To this day, she still feels guilty about what she calls her “failure.” But, as her nominator pointed out, she went above and beyond what the average teenager would do in this situation. 

Manuela Ortega
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Maria Pehling

Manuela was co-president of a group called Pro-Amnesty, through which she attended conferences and spoke about issues ranging from immigration law to the experiences of new immigrants in the U.S. Manuela helped Spanish-speaking immigrants voice their thoughts at these gatherings. Now president of La Raza, she has organized the Hispanic students to perform in two school assemblies. She also took part in El Dia de Los Nuertos, a public celebration of the Hispanic culture at the Seattle Center. Manuela was recently chosen to travel to Chicago to attend an engineering conference for Hispanics.

Send correspondence to:
Northwest Asian Weekly • P.O. Box 3468 • Seattle • WA  98114
Tel: 206.223.5559 •  Fax: 206.223.0626 • Email: scpnwan@nwlink.com
Please bookmark this site: www.nwasianweekly.com.