nwasianweekly.com
March 27, 2004

Diversity Makes a Difference, 2004

Natalie Nolan
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Shannon Carey

Last January, as a volunteer for the Whatcom County Human Rights Task Force, Natalie helped coordinate, prepare and host the Martin Luther King Day Conference. Her eyes were opened to many of the issues explored at the event. But she is no stranger to diversity. The daughter of a military family, Natalie has lived two years in Guam, five in Japan and three in Puerto Rico. She is experienced in the Japanese and Spanish languages.

In the school community, she swims, plays softball, is a peer mentor, is president of the National Honor Society, and belongs to the bridge-building and math teams.

John Shih
Senior, Ballard High School
Nominated by Georgia Turkovich

Last year, the first-ever Diversity Day was held at Ballard High School by a student who used it as her senior project. John, then a junior, helped organize the event. When this year came around, John took it upon himself to coordinate another Diversity Day. Beginning seven months in advance, he himself has planned numerous activities that celebrate the world’s many cultures. More than 65 people will be guest presenters that day, which will culminate in a school-wide assembly. John’s leadership is sure to make the second annual Diversity Day worthwhile.

John does not plan to use this event as his senior project, even though it would fulfill the graduation requirement. He is doing this simply because he thinks it’s important to the school community.

Nacirfa Rose
Senior, Rainier Beach High School
Nominated by Aurora Escame

Last year Nacirfa was one of 15 students chosen from Washington state to attend a conference of the National Society of Black Engineers in California. His design of a new car model was one of three winners selected in one of the contests he entered. Ranked first in his class, he is a member of the National Honor Society and has received a number of academic awards.

Nacirfa is the senior class president and was a member of the swim team for three years. He also volunteered more than 100 hours at the local community centers, helping teach computer classes.

Phong Lieu
Senior, Cleveland High School
Nominated by Leny Valerio-Buford

Last summer, Phong and two of his friends put together an educational Web site about the Khmer Rouge that takes viewers through the unusually cruel and gruesome war. They entered it into a national Web design competition and took home second place. Judges said they were impressed by the site’s impact, historical value, effective layout and simplicity.

In the community, Phong has collected canned goods for Northwest Harvest, assembled Thanksgiving baskets for needy families and cleaned up the school grounds. The most meaningful community service to him is the ongoing lawn maintenance work he has been providing for his elderly neighbor.

Luis Santos
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Bethany Johnson

Luis arrived in the United States five years ago with no English skills and little understanding of American culture. But he has since blossomed into a leader at his school. Luis has not been shy about instituting positive changes in the English Language Learner program at Squalicum. He started a tutoring program for new students who don’t speak English. He now works with these students on a daily basis on their math skills, research projects and other class work. Luis wants to help these new students because he understands what it’s like to come to the U.S. and not speak the language.

Catalina Salvador
Senior, Franklin High School
Nominated by Jol Raymond

Catalina is very open to learning about other cultures. She has joined the school’s Polynesian dance group and several other ethnic clubs, as well as the humanities program. She also enjoys sharing her cultural background with her peers. One counselor praised her as being “open-minded,” “caring,” “compassionate” and “other-oriented.”

The Nguyen
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Lindsay MacDonald

The is an active volunteer in her church, where she teaches middle school students how to make good choices. She has also given her time to a Christian summer camp for teens. In addition, she accompanies a developmentally disabled adult to the pool every week and helps with her swimming therapy.

The has been a member of the cross country and track teams, and a leader in the multicultural club, FLAVA. This spring, she is mounting a poster project to celebrate heroes in the African American community and increase awareness of the contributions of African Americans to our society.

Joe Grijalva
Senior, Chief Sealth High School
Nominated by Marta Sanchez

Parents contacted Joe when the summer soccer camp coach canceled a program for their kids. They knew Joe had previously coached soccer for the West Seattle Soccer League for 11-year-olds. With less than two weeks’ notice, Joe organized a soccer camp for 10 students, including Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Caucasians. It was a success, and parents now want him in charge of the 2004 soccer camp.

Joe plays soccer on his school’s team and is a manager on the girls’ soccer team. His teammates have chosen him as captain for the second year in a row.

Sanh La
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Bethany Johnson

Sanh has become an indispensable leader in the English Language Learner department at his school. He always takes the initiative to plan and organize cultural events, support school activities and be an example for his peers. This year, he single-handedly planned, organized and emceed a cultural talent show that showcased the diversity of students in the ELL program. Sanh has also been a leader at Multicultural Day every year. He heads up the Vietnamese group as it plans activities, food and crafts that teach other students about the culture.

Rukaya Mehter
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Maria Pehling

Rukaya is a role model for the Muslim students at her school. She is comfortable expressing her culture through her clothing as well as her words. Through her kindness and sincerity, she is helping change some stereotypes about Muslims. This avid volunteer is always happy to give back to her Muslim community.

Rukaya has always pushed herself in math and science. The engineering projects she has completed for the MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science and Achievement) program have been kept by her teacher as examples for future students. MESA has given her the opportunity to attend a respected summer engineering program at the University of Washington.

Lisa Montalvo
Junior, Bellingham High School
Nominated by Melanie Bade

Lisa recently returned from a cultural exchange to Brazil. She experienced stereotyping as an American abroad and, at first, had a hard time understanding why it was happening. But she thought back on her own life and realized how easy it has been for her to stereotype others back home. “My experience abroad opened my eyes to my experience at home,” she said.

Now she makes an effort to reach out to people of all cultures, including students from Thailand, Japan and Brazil. When she speaks with international students, she has been able to connect her own foreign experiences with theirs.

Jing-wei Sun
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Lindsay MacDonald

Jing-wei came to the United States in 2001 without a good command of English. But he learned the language quickly and regularly came to class prepared and full of questions. Soon he joined the math team, where he achieved excellent results in competitions. He also joined a multicultural club called FLAVA, where he helped organized outings and publicized events. Last summer, Jing-wei participated in an ESL summer program in which he volunteered in the community, visiting senior centers and planting trees.

This year, Jing-wei is taking a full schedule of mainstream classes, including Advanced Placement physics, plus college-level classes through the Running Start program.

Farshin Damanpour
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Ian Malcolm

As part of the Running Start program, Farshin takes classes at the University of Washington’s Near Eastern Studies Department. He has worked hard at maintaining and learning more about his Persian and Iranian culture. His classes in Persian language, literature and history at the UW show his personal commitment to it.

Farshin twice invited a UW professor to Roosevelt to discuss relations between the United States and Iran and Arab nations. He even moderated the discussions. The lessons fostered by these seminars helped more than 100 students better understand the events and emotions brought on by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Daniel Bash
Senior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Leny Valerio-Buford

Last summer, with two friends from the Upward Bound program, Daniel used his computer skills to create an educational Web site on “PowWow,” a Native American celebration of life events and culture. His impressively designed site was enhanced by his college-level research, and it eventually won second place in a national competition.

Daniel has served as captain of the Knowledge Bowl team. He is also a member of the football and basketball teams, but he decided to try a new sport last year. With practice and perseverance, he quickly became part of the varsity lacrosse team. But the most valuable part of this experience, Daniel said, is that he now is friends with people he wouldn’t normally have said “hi” to in the hallways.

Ting-Yu Chang
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Lori French

Ting-Yu often assists the English Language Learners program by helping younger students and new immigrants feel more comfortable at school. She has been a leader in the annual Multicultural Fair, dedicating many hours to setting up exhibits that educate others about her Taiwanese culture.

A talented musician, she plays the Chinese flute and saxophone. Last year, at a cultural talent show, Ting-Yu played the national anthem on the saxophone, performed a solo on the Chinese flute and sang a solo in Mandarin.

Katie Lang
Freshman, Sehome High School
Nominated by Emily Diaz

Katie has volunteered at Sterling Meadows, a nonprofit project for migrant farm workers. She enjoys helping people and using her Spanish skills. Currently a student in the Advanced Placement Spanish class, she is always an eager participant in class discussions.

Katie has traveled to Mexico, Spain, Greece, Ecuador and a number of other countries. With each experience, her interest in other people and their plights has grown. She is a kind and caring young woman who expresses genuine concern about the future of the planet and the future of society.

Maria Torres
Senior, Sehome High School
Nominated by Lindsay MacDonald & Laurie Holland

Maria has spent countless hours assisting the Career Center with the volunteer program for Sehome students. This has entailed organizing a system for recording student hours, posting hours to the Whatcom Volunteer Center and promoting volunteer opportunities for students.

For her poise and leadership abilities, she was chosen to lead orientations for Running Start. She speaks on panels about how to prepare for college-level classes, meet new people and the differences between college and high school.

Maria has spent a summer teaching computer skills in a migrant workers’ camp, volunteered at a clinic for uninsured low-income people, assisted a teacher in her classroom and tutored] peers in Spanish.

Helai Jamalzada
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Lori French

As a refugee from Afghanistan, Helai has experienced war, persecution and tragedy. She is often called upon to be a guest speaker in English, humanities and social studies classes. Her perspective on current events in Afghanistan has given students another viewpoint to consider when learning about the war.

Despite arriving at Squalicum with no academic records and little understanding of English, she has been able to earn enough credits to graduate in three years instead of four. This year, she is tutoring two immigrants from Mexico, working with them on their English and class work.

Romell Witherspoon
Senior, Rainier Beach High School
Nominated by Donna Marshall

Romell, the student body president, is a well-liked and respected leader of the school community. He recently welcomed future ESL students to the school and helped show them around. He has also spent time assisting disabled students during lunchtime.

He participates in the school’s African drumming group and has been master of ceremonies of the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly all four years in high school. Romell now serves as captain of the basketball team. When he was football captain, he was named to First Team All-Metro and received an honorable mention in the Players of the Year category.

Minh Do
Senior, Bellingham High School
Nominated by Melanie Bade

Minh has traveled extensively throughout Vietnam, Thailand, the United States, Canada and, most recently, Panama. His experience in Panama has made the most dramatic impact on his outlook on cultural diversity. There, he volunteered at a local elementary school, helped build fences, cleared trees to create a soccer field, built tables and chairs, and brought school supplies to the local children. The extreme heat and language barriers were challenging, but he still formed lasting bonds with youths in Panama. “The people that I met enriched my life, and the experience of living with another family helped me to become more independent and appreciative of my own family,” Minh said.

Thanh-Thao Do
Junior, Evergreen High School
Nominated by Rosie Rimando & Carrie O’Brien

Thao has always been proud of her Vietnamese heritage, but in recent years she has embraced the importance of diversity. She takes time to understand her peers’ cultures and encourages them to share their traditions with the community.

Thao serves as treasurer of the Culture Club, which promotes understanding among all the different cultures at her school. She was recently involved in the planning of a Lunar New Year celebration that showcased many traditions from a variety of cultures, not just Asian.

Matt Fields
Senior, Rainier Beach High School
Nominated by Donna Marshall

Community service is an important part of Matt’s life. He has helped seniors maintain their yards and home exteriors and, for the last 10 years, has helped organize food drives for the poor and homeless. Matt supported his mom when she found out she had cancer by volunteering his time at a breast cancer walk-a-thon. He also helped his mom spread awareness of the importance of mammograms.

A member of the baseball, basketball and football teams, he would love to be a professional athlete someday. But he plans to study elementary education because he enjoys working with young children and wants to be a role model for them.

Meghla Julin
Sophomore, Bellingham High School
Nominated by Melanie Bade

Meghla, who has cerebral palsy, was adopted from India as a newborn. She didn’t take her first steps until she was 8 and was finally able to give up her wheelchair in eighth grade. Megha feels strongly that healthy children ought to know what it is like to live with a disability. She does not hesitate to share her story with others. She also takes time to form friendships with other children with disabilities.

Meghla volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club as a reading helper for elementary school students. She is also helping her mom share information with businesses in the community about accessibility for the disabled.

Diem Ngo
Senior, Rainier Beach High School
Nominated by Aurora Escame

Diem has served as president of the sophomore class and secretary of the junior class. She has also been a member of the Asian Student Coalition and Earth Corps.

In her free time, she enjoys helping others in the community. She has volunteered more than 160 hours at the Refugee Federation Service Center, more than 80 hours at Swedish Medical Center and more than 720 hours at an attorney’s office. Diem also belongs to a teen church group that meets every Saturday.

She plans to go to medical school and become a pediatrician.

Sabrina Nelson-Brown
Senior, Mt. Rainier High School
Nominated by Andrea Crisler

A natural leader with the ability to build rapport with a diversity of students, Sabrina demonstrates emotional and social maturity. She served as the master of ceremonies at a recent Martin Luther King Jr. assembly. She showed true leadership in managing the assembly, even during an electrical problem. One counselor said she brought dignity and professionalism to the program.

Rocky Thanphilom
Senior, Franklin High School
Nominated by Jol Raymond

Rocky is interested in acting and drama. In 10th grade, he auditioned for a part in a community play called “Tribes.” He got it and did a great job. He played the role of a person who looked beyond racial and ethnic stereotypes to form real relationships with peers from a wide range of values. “I see Rocky as perfectly cast because of how he acts around (Franklin),” said his counselor. “He seems to consume new learning experiences, especially when it comes to connecting with kids from all walks of life.”

Melissa Asingwire
Senior, Sammamish High School
Nominated by Hailey Outzs

Melissa, a recent immigrant from Uganda, is an active participant in her school’s Multicultural Club. She is always the first to volunteer for projects and is diligent in following through with her commitments. When the Black Student Union needed help in preparing for the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly, Melissa did not hesitate to lend a hand.

She was one of two Sammamish students who took part in the Exploring Diversity Media Arts Workshop, sponsored by several cities on the Eastside. The writing she produced in that workshop, along with the works of other students, is now touring the city halls of Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond.

Alexandra “Alex” Duncan
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Francene Watson

Alex traveled to South Africa as part of a project called Hands for a Bridge. When she returned, it was apparent that she had “shed a layer,” according to her nominator. “She came back to Seattle and saw it with a new set of eyes; from there, she has been unstoppable,” her counselor said.

Alex was instrumental in putting together a town meeting at the University of Washington to broaden the dialogue of cross-cultural relations. She also created other ways for her peers and community to gather and discuss. She has also played an important role in her school’s exchange program with Isilimela Comprehensive School in the South African township of Langa.

Noe Castellon
Senior, Bellingham High School
Nominated by Melanie Bade

Noe volunteers as a tutor for middle school students through the “Buddies” program and as a junior camp counselor with YMCA. Knowing that young children are easily influenced, he offers himself as someone who can steer them in the right direction.

He has also traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, with his mission group to build homes and helped raise money for needy Mexican families through church fund-raisers. He said it was an honor for him to return to his roots and help those who are less fortunate.

Noe has served in student government, was a member of Link Crew and competed on the cross country and track teams.


Yu-En “Missy” Chang
Senior, Squalicum High School
Nominated by Lori French

Missy moved from Taiwan to Bellingham in 2001 and has been involved in school activities ever since. She has been a leader of the annual Multicultural Fair, sharing her Taiwanese culture with the staff and students. She has also been active in the Leadership Team, helping organize a program to help the homeless and needy people of Whatcom County.

Last year she performed a vocal duet and a vocal solo in Mandarin at a cultural talent show. Missy was also an anchor on her school’s televised news program.


Alisha Lakey
Senior, Sammamish High School
Nominated by Matt Stevens

Alisha has had a difficult adolescence, but she has persevered, even through the loss of her mother, who died of cancer just a few years ago. Alisha is determined to be the first person in her family to graduate from high school. She maintains a 3.83 grade point average in a college preparatory program and is a member of the National Honor Society. She is also the proud founder of her school’s Black Student Union.

Alisha gives back to her community by participating in the Multiple Sclerosis Walk, tutoring elementary students, carving pumpkins for toddlers and guiding parents through Sammamish’s open house.


Moktar Batibure
Senior, Foster High School
Nominated by Sue Pike

Moktar is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where his mother was imprisoned for more than two years before they escaped the country. Despite tremendous obstacles, he is committed to graduating from college and using his career to help people in developing nations.

An advocate for diversity, Moktar has done much to teach others how to see the world through different eyes. He has been a presenter at The Youth Summit on Refugees in Seattle, moderated a video conference between Foster High School and a school in Dakar, Senegal, and created the winning design for a mural celebrating diversity for a Metro bus shelter.


Ivy Ho
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Wendy Krakauer

Ivy plays both the violin and piano, but the first instrument she learned to play was the Chinese dulcimer. She has performed it in many concerts, and even got to play the dulcimer in a short segment on KIRO/7. Ivy has taken traditional Chinese dance lessons and has performed in several cultural festivals. A talented artist, she has also displayed her Chinese paintings in art shows in Chinatown/International District.

In addition to speaking Cantonese and Mandarin, she has taken four years of Japanese classes and two years of Latin. She is also treasurer of the Junior Classical League and co-president of the National Honor Society.


Roya Zahed
Senior, Interlake High School
Nominated by Scott Marcum

Roya has been an integral part of student government for the past four years. She now serves as senior class president. She has been a member of the basketball and tennis teams for four years and was voted captain of her basketball team this year. Roya has volunteered to help the homeless in Seattle and San Francisco, was a camp counselor for the Iranian Christian Church of Seattle and tutored countless students at her school. She has also assisted severely handicapped students through a mentor program.


Ashley Felsman
Senior, American Indian Heritage — Middle College High School
Nominated by Leny Valerio-Buford

Ashley is proud of her identity as a Native American. She has participated in the annual Arlee Celebration/Salish-Pend Oreille PowWow from the time she was 4 years old. She has talked steadfastly about getting as much schooling as she can so she can help her community at the reservation. Ashley considers her mission to be helping improve living conditions on the reservation, especially for children.

Last summer, with two peers from the Upward Bound program, she helped create an educational Web site called “PowWow” that explored the meaning and history of this Native American tradition. She learned how to use the latest software and delved into books for the project. Her team eventually took home second place in a national competition.


Megan Papa
Senior, Rainier Beach High School
Nominated by Aurora Escame

Megan has worked with students and staff from all backgrounds to promote the value of diversity at her school. A participant in numerous school and community activities, she has helped plan the Multicultural Dinner every year since she was a freshman. A talented singer, Megan also leads her school in the national anthem at assemblies.


Edward Behringer
Senior, Ballard High School
Nominated by Karuna Davis

What distinguishes Edward from other students is his cultural sensitivity, maturity and commitment to helping other Hispanic youths. For four years, he has volunteered at the Sea-Mar Hispanic Community Health Clinic. He has also provided guidance to at-risk Hispanic teens and helped distribute aid and supplies to the Hispanic community. As a Hispanic male born in Colombia, Edward himself has had to deal with discrimination in the U.S. That fuels his passion for helping an Hispanic youths deal with the challenges of being first-generation Americans.

Marilyn Thao
Freshman, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Meg Davis

Marilyn is a happy, bright and outgoing member of the Hmong community. She follows her father’s lead in community activities and is taking more and more interest in her cultural roots. At school, Marilyn is an active participant in the Diversity Club and recently led the flag parade at the Martin Luther King, Jr. assembly.
A constant ambassador for people in wheelchairs and with special needs, she enjoys helping others. She works to break down barriers between her able-bodied peers and those with special needs.


Lizzeth Belskus-Amador
Senior, Interlake High School
Nominated by Kristen Patterson & Maggie Greenway

As Parent Open House approached, Lizzeth raised the concern that many parents would need translators in order to benefit from the evening. She recruited and organized student translators who spoke at least 10 different languages. Because of her, families that are normally marginalized were able to be included in the event.

She has proven herself to be a strong advocate for Latino students. At a football game this year, Lizzeth and her friends found that they were being discriminated against. Instead of letting her emotions develop into bitterness or violence, she went to a teacher, then made an appointment with the principal. Positive changes were made to school policies because of her efforts.


Alexandra Barrett
Evergreen High School
Nominated by Rosannette Rimando & Carrie O’Brien

Alexandra, an immigrant from Russia, is a member of the school’s Culture Club, which organizes assemblies and activities that teach students about the diversity of cultures. The programs range from ethnic food showcases to dance programs.

She also takes part in a University of Washington program called Empower, in which high school and college students discuss the challenges and advantages of diversity. The group helps them solidify and articulate their ideas about the importance of diversity in their lives as well as in the world.


Cedric Johnson
Junior, Bellingham High School
Nominated by Melanie Bade

Cedric excels in foreign languages. He is taking Spanish and French and plans on studying Mandarin in preparation for a trip to China next year. He has discovered that the study of languages has opened many doors. Cedric recently volunteered in Mexico, helping English teachers. He has also traveled to Wales. One of his favorite activities is taking friends to visit Chinatown in Vancouver, B.C. He hopes to one day teach English in Japan and help build houses in Costa Rica.

As a young child Cedric attended farm workers’ marches and political rallies, some of which his family hosted. He and his family also host an annual Kwanzaa party to celebrate African American cultural heritage and family.


Margaret DiJulio
Senior, Roosevelt High School
Nominated by Danny Rock

Margaret’s sense of the world grew when she traveled to South Africa as part of a project called Hands for a Bridge. When she returned, she enrolled in a class in which she continued to process and extend her reconciliation efforts across socio-economic and racial lines in both South Africa and in Seattle. She has since become an active member of RoughEagles, made up of students from different walks of life. The group has been on a retreat together and participated in cross-school exchanges, workshops with theater artists, and panel discussions with community leaders.

When Africans visited Roosevelt last December, Margaret demonstrated expert facilitation skills in helping other students have meaningful conversations with the Africans. “She has no contemporaries in this regard,” said one counselor.


Whitney Warren
Senior, Chief Sealth High School
Nominated by Marta Sanchez

Whitney serves as president of a racially and ethnically diverse student body. She has embraced leadership opportunities during her four years in high school, from being president of the freshman class to the role she has now. Outside of school, she works with the Southwest Community Center to develop youth programs, including dances for neighborhood youths.


Tianyin Zhu
Ingraham High School
Nominated by Barbara Cummins

A leader in the Chinese Club, Tianyin works to introduce his culture to other students at school assemblies and other events. He also serves as a teacher’s assistant at his Chinese school, where he works with elementary-level students.

English is not his native language, but Tianyin immerses himself in mainstream classes and has become a leader in extracurricular activities. He is technology editor of the school yearbook and a member of Future Business Leaders of America.


Wayne Nguyen
Senior, Cascade High School
Nominated by Raj Kleckley

In his sophomore year, Wayne decided to organize a club that would draw interest from a diversity of students. It was the school’s first Break Dance Club. With more than 60 members, including Caucasians, African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics, the club is one of the largest and most diverse on campus. The members have performed at middle schools, assemblies and sporting events. Wayne even encourages students from other high schools to participate in the club.

He currently serves as vice president of the student body and is a member of the National Honor Society, the Chess Club, Winter Guard, Teen Court and a number of other organizations.


Whitney Nakamura
Senior, Nathan Hale High School
Nominated by Brian Coon

Whitney is the head student adviser for her school’s 140-member Diversity Club, which was recently presented with the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Award for its efforts in encouraging teens to improve themselves and those around them. The club sponsors programs that foster cultural understanding, including The Bite of Hale, the Martin Luther King Jr. assembly and the Race Summit, where students discuss culture, sexual orientation and ethnicity, among other topics. Whitney has played a leadership role in all of these events.

She also organized a seminar for female students that focused on the media’s influence on girls and women.

Kellie Henwood

Senior, Lake Washington High School
Nominated by Peggy Lotz

Kellie recently took part in a photography project through the Exploring Youth Diversity Group. Her photo of a large extended family made it onto the front page of the King County Journal and was included in an exhibit that’s touring through cities on the Eastside. She will represent the Diversity Group at a Bellevue Youth Council meeting in February to share her experience and help solidify city funds to continue this program.

As co-editor of her school’s newspaper, The Limited Edition, one of Kellie’s goals this year is to expand the content to reach a more diverse group of students. To that end, she has created a feature in which the biographies of the school’s foreign exchange students are spotlighted.

Miko Calivo

Senior, Mountlake Terrace High School
Nominated by Julianne Petterson

Miko has co-chaired the Diversity Committee at his school for the past two years. As a sophomore, he planned and served as moderator for a school-wide forum called “Hurtful Words,” which was designed to address students’ use of certain words and to raise students’ awareness of their impact. It was an intense discussion, and Miko demonstrated remarkable leadership. The following year, he moderated a similar format, this time on the topic of “Hate Crimes.” Once again, the forum made a significant impact on the school.

Miko is also a writer for the school newspaper, a member of the Link Crew, a student government representative, a theater technician for the drama department and a monthly radio personality on KSER FM 90.7.

Andrea Donaldson

Senior, Lynden High School
Nominated by Sheryl Walker

Last year, Andrea participated in a Martin Luther King assembly by representing the silent — those who do not have a voice yet still speak. Representing the deaf community, she used her fingers to communicate with the audience. She has since taken her knowledge of sign language into the community. Andrea teaches sign language to young people through the Freedom Fire Ministries, of which she is a member.

She has also initiated and developed a contemporary form of dramatic expression that includes dance, drama and music. This art form shows others that a person’s faith can free him or her from many forms of hardship, whether it be drugs, depression or loneliness.

Andrea comes from a family in which six of the eight children were adopted from various cultures and countries. The children hail from Chinese, Native American and African American cultures.

Jane Gershovich

Senior, Sammamish High School
Nominated by Matt Stevens

The road to success has never been easy for Jane and her family. In 1981, with only $100, the family left Russia for the United States, where they could practice their Jewish faith without any resistance. The hardships she has endured in life have helped her develop a strong work ethic and the will to do her best. She has maintained a 3.6 GPA while completing five honors and five Advanced Placement courses. Jane also speaks Russian, Spanish and Hebrew.

Wesley Burns

Senior, Mariner High School
Nominated by Elizabeth Stokes

Wesley has done more than any other student over the past four years to create a caring environment of acceptance and appreciation for diversity in his school. As a conflict mediator, he advocates communication and mediation as an alternative to fighting. He does not hesitate to step between students in the hall to speak up against harassment, inappropriate language or disrespect.

Wesley is a leader among these peer mediators. The 44 members speak 12 different languages and are a cross-section of the student population. He is able to reach out to all of them and is considered a bridge across all cultural groups.

Chelsea Sadler

Senior, North Thurston High School
Nominated by Mary Nagel

Chelsea participates in the Teaching Academy at her school. One of its goals is to recruit minorities into educational careers. Chelsea belongs in this program because she displays her commitment to social diversity in the way she lives her life. She advocates for tolerance in her community. She believes that racism comes from ignorance — that through understanding each other better, we learn tolerance. She has tried to teach this value through her participation in a cross-cultural outreach program and the Student Summit Conference.

Chelsea is also a member of KOLO, a discussion group for minorities and women. As a facilitator and a participant, she helps her peers to cope with prejudice and racism.

Yang Qiu

Senior, Sammamish High School
Nominated by Hailey Outzs

Yang has been a member of her school’s Multicultural Club for four years. The group’s primary goal is to educate students about diversity within the school. This year, as president, she rebuilt the club after a year of temporary advisers and burnout by student members. Membership has tripled mainly because of her enthusiastic recruitment efforts. Yang has also made an effort to encourage students from all cultures to join.

Yang has already organized the school’s celebration of the Chinese New Year and is now planning the annual Taste of Sammamish, the Multicultural Assembly and many smaller activities, including the school’s semi-weekly proverb announcements from different countries.

Vanessa Simmonds

Senior, Interlake High School
Nominated by Scott Marcum

One of Vanessa’s biggest challenges came when she was elected co-captain of a very diverse cheer squad. Many called the team hopeless, as hostility began to emerge across racial, ethnic and economic lines. The negativity affected their performance, as “flyers” began falling to the ground because the other girls did not make a serious effort to catch them.

Vanessa drew from her own experiences to lead the squad to success. One of her parents is Christian; the other is Jewish. Her cultural experiences are a source of strength and confidence.

Through her leadership, attitudes changed and barriers broke down. Vanessa helped each girl realize that her differences were not only accepted and appreciated but also brought a special “flavor” to the squad. She is proud that this year’s cheer squad has a personality like none other before it.

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