Meet the Students of 2002
Nathalie
Nathalie is a quiet, hardworking, dedicated young lady. She has succeeded in her academic career because of these attributes throughout her high school tenure. She was enrolled in honor and Advanced Placement classes in English even though she is a second language student who started school knowing no English. Nathalie graduated from South Tahoe High School with a GPA of 2.8. She will be the first in her family to attend college and wants to be a teacher. Nathalie will attend Lake Tahoe Community College in the fall. |
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Cecilia
Cecilia is a bright, passionate young lady. Neither of her parents graduated from high school and they have worked menial jobs to support Cecilia and her sisters. Cecilia has been enrolled in honor and Advanced Placement classes throughout high school. Cecilia has an inquisitive nature and high expectations for herself both academically and athletically. She ran cross country for four years and graduated with a 3.54 GPA. Cecilia will be attending Southern Oregon State University in the fall.
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Jennifer
Jennifer is being raised by her single father who is a custodian for Lake Tahoe Unified School District and a continuation high school graduate. Jennifer's determination and desire to become a college graduate has been her dream since elementary school. Jennifer, through hard work and the support of her AVID classmates, ended up with a GPA of 4.0 and acceptance to all the colleges she applied to. She will be the first in her family to go to college and wants to pursue a degree in music. Jennifer will be attending Humboldt State University in the fall. |
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Aimee
Aimee is an exceptional young lady. She did not speak English when she first arrived in the United States from the Philippines. During her senior year she worked a full-time job while maintaining a 3.89 GPA. Aimee is a self starter who can always be depended on to complete a job or to help someone. Aimee will be attending Lake Tahoe Community College in the fall. |
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Hillary
Hillary is the kind of student who demands knowledge from her teachers. Hillary is the oldest of four girls in a family struggling with drug addiction and poverty. Hillary has been the only stable force in the family raising the younger girls. She has worked throughout high school while taking Advanced Placement and honor classes. Hillary's resilience has made her a role model for her peers and an inspiration to her teachers. She will be attending UC Santa Cruz in the fall.
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Luke
Luke was diagnosed with childhood leukemia when he was in elementary school. He missed two years of school as he underwent treatment. Luke had much catching up to do academically by the time he arrived to high school. Luke worked hard and was in Advanced Placement calculus as a senior. He graduated with a GPA of 3.5 and will be attending Sonoma State University in the fall. |
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Steven
Steven wants to be an inventor and solve problems as an engineer. Based on his un-weighted GPA of 4.0 (4.38 weighted) after four years of the most rigorous classes offered at our school, he has the creativity and skills to fulfill that dream. Steven's commitment to deep-rooted scholarship is made evident by the choices he has made as a student. These choices include selecting seven Advanced Placement courses and passing each examination. Advanced Placement Chemistry is not offered at South Tahoe High School yet Steven studied independently and was successful on the test. Steven demonstrates an ability to persevere and achieve even in his choice of sports. He excels in long distance sports like cross country running and cross county skiing. He willingly subjects himself to hours of endurance training daily, so that he can push his personal best records. He is a young champion. Steven will contribute positively to any university her attends. Steven's father died nearly a year ago and his mother is currently putting an older brother through college. Steven will have to work and contribute to his college tuition which is something he is willing to do. |
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Luz
Luz is an immigrant from El Salvador. She started her high school days on the wrong foot. She was soon sent to a court appointed school for fighting and being incorrigible. However, Luz grew up and during her senior year she was a model student and a model young woman who had decided she wanted a career. Luz will be attending Lake Tahoe Community College and would like to study Child Psychology. |
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Mayra
Mayra graduated on the top of her class making the honor list with a GPA of 4.2. Mayra and her family suffered the traumatic experience of losing their home with all they owned to a fire. This young girl, who was only fourteen years old at the time, continued coming to school worried about her lost homework and books. All her life experiences have made Mayra become an achiever. She is a quiet fighter that internalizes her objective and goes after it. Mayra obtained a score of five in her Advanced Placement Spanish Language Exam. Mayra will be attending Lake Tahoe Community College. |
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Adriana
Adriana is the second of three girls who came to this country and had to struggle learning English while also working part-time to help the family get ahead financially. Originally, Adriana wanted to go to beauty school but has now decided to attend Lake Tahoe Community College. She scored a five in her Advanced Placement Spanish Language Exam and would like to be a teacher. At the present time she has enrolled in Lake Tahoe Community College and has applied for an Instructional Bilingual Aide position in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District. |
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Lewis
Lewis is a quiet, shy, artistic scholar. Lewis came to the United States from the Philippines with his mother when he was in the 6th grade. He struggled in a new country and new culture, and Lewis and his mother were hoping to reunite with his father but when they arrived they learned quickly about the "American divorce" - his father was in another relationship. Lewis and his brother were raised by his mother. Lewis excelled in school graduating number eight in his class and will be attending U.C. Davis in the fall. |
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Gombu
Gombu is an incredible young man. Gombu moved to the United States from Nepal when he was in the 4th grade. Gombu had a younger sister die of an infection when she was five years old because of the lack of medical services in his village. Gombu has never lost sight of his goal to become a doctor and return to his village in Nepal. He brings a spirit of compassion and global understanding to all he interacts with. Gombu will be attending UC Santa Cruz. |
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Brenda
Brenda graduated with a 4.0 GPA while working full time during her four years at South Tahoe High School. At the present time, she is in Mexico visiting her family that she has not seen since her arrival in the United States. She is planning on enrolling at Lake Tahoe Community College for the winter quarter. Brenda is interested in Business Administration. She will succeed in whatever she decides to undertake. |
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William (Billy)
Billy was born in Santa Clara and lived in San Jose until he was 6 years old. His environment in San Jose was surrounded by gangs. His parents did not want their only child to grow up in that environment. His dad could still maintain his job as a truck driver from Lake Tahoe so relocation was not dependent on employment. The family moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1992 to find better neighborhoods and schools for Billy. Billy adjusted to his new school, Sierra House, and adapted to living here quite well until the fall of 2000, the beginning of his junior year. While home alone with his dad, Mr. Weiss suffered a massive heart attack and died as Billy tried CPR to save him. It was a horrendous blow to Billy as he and his dad were very close. Billy immediately became the man of the house. He has computer experience to help him to take care of the business after the death of his father. He maintained college prep course work until his senior year where he incorporated ROP classes into his schedule. Billy desires to attend our community college as he does not feel ready to leave home or friends as yet. His goa1 is to transfer to UC Santa Cruz and major in Mass Communication studies. |
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