Menlo Park Rotary Club awards $50,000 to high school seniors

Twelve high school seniors received scholarships totaling $50,000 at the recent 12th annual scholastic achievement awards banquet, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Menlo Park Foundation.

Almost 100 more students from Menlo School, Menlo-Atherton, Sacred Heart Prep and Woodside Priory were recognized for exemplary performance in specific fields, ranging from math to community service.

The scholarships and scholastic achievement awards were presented at the Rotary Club's banquet March 28 at Sacred Heart Prep.

The winner of the largest scholarship -- $10,000 -- in honor of the late John D. Russell is Jaime Garcia, a senior at Menlo-Atherton. Jaime supports himself by working two jobs -- at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) and Clarke's Charcoal Broiler in Menlo Park. He takes seven classes and a work-experience course at M-A, plus another class at night.

With plans to go to San Jose State University in the fall, he says his goal is to start a high-tech company and found a nonprofit foundation that helps students in need.

Jaime recently was profiled on KRON-TV by Wendy Tokuda on her "Beating the Odds" series, featuring students who are excelling in high school while overcoming obstacles of all kinds.

Winners of $5,000 scholarships are: Dino Bartolome, the Ormond and Doris Rector Scholarship; Natina Gurley; Seth Elliot and Giang Thanh Hong, all from Menlo-Atherton; Brian Emery of Menlo School; and Craig Haubrich of Sacred Heart, the Business and Professional Community Scholarship.

Honor scholarships of $2,000 each were presented to Mackenzie Brown-Harris and Allison Burmeister of Menlo-Atherton, Ken Sve-young Kang and Laura Kawakami of Menlo School, and Christine O'Neal of Sacred Heart Prep.

Commendations

Students at each of the four schools received commendations and recognition awards for exemplary performance in various subjects. They were nominated by their teachers at the following schools:

Menlo School: Math -- John Fogelsong, algebra; Ann Dolganov, geometry; Philip Zeyliger, pre-calculus; Timothy Kane, calculus. Social studies -- Matthew Schiavenza, U.S. history; Rahmen McCreadle, world history; Martin Keck, economics; Fine arts -- Matthew Joy, music (jazz); Ann Dolganov, chamber music; Jessica Berman, chorus; Korri Rolla, dance; Natalie Jeffers, drama; Brian Emery, art. Physical education -- Matthew Sheehan and Daphne Spieker; Science -- Anne Hazlehurst, biology; Sarah Umetsu, chemistry; Nathan Hunkapiller, physics. Foreign language -- Anna Bui, Japanese; Anne Pickford, French; Brian Emery, Latin; Avi Tuschman, Spanish. English/language arts, Erica Pun. Service -- Mark Dannenberg and Daniel Fanton, student government; Laura Kawakami, community service. Menlo-Atherton: Math -- Jennifer Bernhard, algebra I; Noah Veltman, geometry; Stephanie Biederman, algebra II; Michael Woods, pre-calculus; Nicole Choy, calculus. Social studies -- Andrew Holt, economics; Elizabeth Porzig, history; Sara Mesirow, psychology. Fine arts -- Kristine Gregorian, art; Alex Wood, drama; Jeff Gibboney, music. Practical art -- Cheyne Murray. Foreign language -- Julie Merrill, French; Roark Marsh, Latin; Sarah Fick, Spanish. Physical education -- Maritza Benitez. English/language arts -- Karen Sarah Ramirez. Science -- Brian Nicholas, AP biology; Christian Bolton, biology; Tarka (Soledad) Ayres, chemistry; Evan Parker, physics. Service -- Natina Gurley, community; Giang Hong, school. Sacred Heart: Math -- Tim Inouye, algebra; Peter Sachs, geometry; Joe Malone, pre-calculus; Matt Corpos, calculus; Calen Lopata, statistics; Religious studies -- Christine O'Neal; Social studies -- Patty Buckley, economics; Melissa Horwath, psycholoty; Julia Riechert, U.S. history; Elizabeth Jackson, world civilizations. Fine arts -- Janice Shelsta, art; Alexis Ross, ceramics-sculpture; David Palange, choir; Nell Triplett, dance; Chantel Benson, drama; Joe Malone, instrumental music; Kendra Crawford, photography. Computer science -- Neer Roggel. Physical education -- Alexandra Lamprell and Drew Patterson. Science -- Nick Taylor, biology; Nick Smith, chemistry; Dan Sedehi, physics. Foreign language -- Sverker Hogberg, French; Mia Iwama, Latin; Mia Frank, Spanish. English/language arts -- Charlotte Merckel, English; Teresa Concepcion, journalism. Service -- Rachel Lau, community; Lizeth Aguirre, international; Corrine McHugh, school; Craig Haubrich, campus ministry. Woodside Priory: Math -- Mira O'Brien, geometry; Charles Kou, algebra II; Jeffrey Lin, pre-calculus; Bernadette Austin, calculus. Social studies -- Michael Bower, economics and government; Teresa Falaschi, U.S. history; Brian Kelly and Helene Nguyen, world history. Leadership -- Bernadette Austin, student government. English/language arts -- Olivia Basegio, English. Foreign language -- Melanie Hancock, French; Alexander Van Dalen, Japanese; Darren Zulberti. Teachers, nominated by their students for commendations, were Barbara Callaghan of Menlo School and Scott Allison at Menlo-Atherton. Among the Rotary Club members taking leadership roles for this year's awards banquet were: Steve Machtinger, president; Mary Ann Somerville, banquet committee chairman; and Wilcox Patterson, scholarship committee chairman.