Rotary gives 31 students a leg up

By Theresa Goffredo

Herald Writer

EVERETT — Their stories are of overcoming hardship but still being able to rise in their academic ranks and do good for others.

These are the stories of the 31 students who were awarded scholarships Wednesday at the Everett Yacht Club by the Everett Rotary Club, totaling more than $143,500.

Scholarships range from $2,000 to $16,000.

The winners are:

  • Adekemi Christine Adeyemi, 18, Cascade High School, has a 3.4 grade point average and plans to study nursing at Seattle Pacific University. As a child of a single-parent family, Adeymi rose to be an honor roll student and awarded the Betty Fukyama award from the Washington State Poetry Association. Every Christmas, Adeyemi assembles boxes of toys that are sent to Third World countries.

  • Dean Harvey Pham, 18, Cascade High School, has a 3.98 GPA and plans to attend the UW and major in biology. Pham has won numerous awards, including the Outstanding Student Award three times. He is editor of the school newspaper.

  • Corinne Ann Harris-Jones, 18, Holy Cross High School, has a 3.98 GPA and plans to go to Everett Community College and take engineering. As a child of a single-parent family, Harris-Jones has overcome many difficulties, such as attention deficit disorder and a language disability to be honored with a Mayor’s Youth Achievement Award, a U.S. National Mathematics Award and honor society status.

  • Toai Cong Nguyen, 17, Everett High School, has a 3.92 GPA and plans to attend the UW and major in engineering. Nguyen is a Who’s Who of America 2000 award-winner and built a device that detects the change in certain chemical reactions for his culminating exhibition project.

  • Shannon Marie Ulrich, 17, Everett High School, has a 4.0 GPA and plans to attend Bryn Mawr College as a pre-med student. Ulrich is a 2002 Academic Recognition Award winner and has achieved numerous sports awards, including 2002 Athlete of the Meet.

  • Adam R. Bryson, 18, Everett High School, has a 3.99 GPA and plans to attend the University of Montana to major in chemistry. Bryson received the Social Studies Department Scholar Award and in 2000 received the WESCO Academic Achievement Award.

  • Catherine (Chiyo) Punamele King, 18, Everett High School, has a 3.9 GPA and plans to attend either Boston University or the UW and major in mathematics. King was recognized with several scholar of the month awards including math, science, social studies and world language.

  • Melissa Dawn Ellerbeck, 18, Cascade High School, has a 3.98 GPA and plans to attend the UW to become a teacher. Ellerbeck earned an Excellent Student Award in 1998 and this year received the Young Womanhood Recognition award.

  • Craig Patrick Bosman, 18, Cascade High School, has a 4.0 GPA and plans to attend the UW and may pursue engineering. A member of the Cascade Homecoming Court, Bosman has earned a Scholastic Gold Key for art and writing, was honored as a Washington scholar and was named Who’s Who Among American High School Students in 2001-02.

  • Hong V. Nguyen, 18, Cascade High School, has a 4.0 GPA and plans to attend the UW and major in education. Nguyen lost her father when he was hit by a drunken driver when the family was living in Vietnam. Nguyen has managed to excel in biology, English and pre-calculus. She has won several Gold Key awards for art and writing. She was also junior class president.

  • Jamie Lynn Andreis, 18, Everett Alternative High School, plans to attend Shoreline Community College and earn a four-year degree in accounting. Raised in a single-family home, Andreis has had to work through high school but was in the Academically Gifted Student Program from 1993 to 1999 and received the Presidential Academic Achievement Award in 1995 and 1998.

  • Theresa Lau, 18, Kamiak High School, has a 3.05 GPA and plans to attend Edmonds Community College in business management. Lau received a Certificate of Achievement for the Western Regional Conference for DECA. Lau’s father is a widow who lives out of country working and getting medical treatment. Lau lives with her 21-year-old sister and grandmother.

  • Paul Patrick Mulvaney, 17, Archbishop Thomas Murphy High School, has a 3.8 GPA and plans to attend the UW in engineering. A soccer player, Mulvaney won the Coach’s Award when he was a sophomore and won Best Actor in his senior year.

  • Lara K. Street, 17, Archbishop Thomas Murphy High School, has a 3.99 GPA and plans to attend the University of Portland to major in Spanish. Street won Everett Rotary Student of the Month for January and Most Outstanding Student in Spanish and Math. Street has performed in the Wizard of Oz and danced for the Performing Company of Pacific Chamber Ballet.

  • Terra Marie Martinez, 17, Everett High School, has a 3.42 GPA and plans to pursue elementary education starting at Everett Community College. Martinez received the Consumer Sciences Award and has been an active volunteer and a member of the National Thespian Society.

  • Sean M. Hoglund, 21, Everett Community College, has a 3.83 and plans to attend the UW in engineering. Hoglund has been on the honor roll for 12 years and has earned several awards, including Industrial Arts Award in 1996.

  • Micahlyn M. Powers, 19, Marysville-Pilchuck High School, has a 3.91 GPA and plans to attend the UW in biology to pursue a career in emergency medicine. Powers has volunteered at the emergency room at Evergreen Hospital since 2001. She has also received the Dr. William and Doris M. Hummel Pre-Med Scholarship.

  • Ewa Garbiec, 33, Everett Community College, wants to become a registered nurse. Garbiec arrived from Poland eight years ago to join her husband in the United States and would eventually like to become a hospital surgical nurse.

  • Stephanie M. Schaffer, 17, Henry M. Jackson High School, has a 3.79 GPA and plans to attend Western Washington University in marketing. Raised by a single parent, Schaffer is a National Honor Society member and is a founding member of Leaders of the Pack, a freshmen mentoring program.

  • Sarah M. Stepanek, 18, Henry M. Jackson, has a 3.69 GPA and plans to study business at Western or Central Washington University. Stepanek is a WASL Scholar and Prudential Spirit of Community Award Honoree.

  • Brandon J. Renfrow, 18, Henry M. Jackson, has a 3.86 GPA and plans to attend the UW after community college to study computer science. Renfrow has been on the honor roll since 9th grade, lettered in cross country and won the Scholastic Art &Writing Award of 2001.

  • Anna M. Westburg, 17, Henry M. Jackson, has a 3.7 GPA and plans to attend Regis University in Colorado in physical therapy. Westburg is captain of the dive team and was nominated as one of the top 20 scholars in her graduating class.

  • Kelly Ronan, 17, Kamiak High School, has a 3.92 GPA and plans to attend the UW in business administration. Ronan received the Camp Fire USA: Snohomish County Council Outstanding Youth of the Year Award in January and was regional qualifier for the American Math Invitational.

  • Tabreez Govani, 18, Kamiak High School, has a 3.93 GPA and plans to attend Georgia Institute of Technology in computer science. Govani earned his Eagle Scout award in 2001 and also won departmental awards in physics and algebra.

  • Gaila Shaw, 18, Kamiak High School, has a 3.9 GPA and plans to attend Seattle University in nursing. In 2001, Shaw won the Martin Luther King Jr. Poetry Contest and WESCO Award.

  • Joshua T. Yasuda, 17, Jesse Bethel High School, has a 3.99 GPA and plans to attend the University of Arizona in mathematical engineering. Yasuda won the AP Government Department Award.

  • Nathan Michael Lowery, 18, Kamiak, has a 4.0 GPA and plans to attend Princeton University in physics. Lowery is a National Merit Finalist, a Washington Scholar and an AP Scholar.

  • Ashley M. Burns, 18, Mariner High School, has a 3.9 GPA and plans to attend Seattle or American University in business. A homecoming queen, Burns won the WESCO Lamp of Knowledge Award, Washington State Principals Scholar Award and the National Award for Outstanding Achievement in Calculus.

  • Matthew Lee Ogurkow, 18, Mariner High School, has a 3.9 GPA and plans to attend Washington State University in broadcast journalism. Ogurkow was captain of the varsity soccer team and a National Honors Society Officer. He won the WESCO Interhigh Academic Achievement Award in 2001 and 2002.

  • Emily Y. Chu, 18, Mariner, has a 4.0 GPA and plans to attend Washington University in St. Louis in biological sciences. A valedictorian since 9th grade, Chu has been a WESCO award winner for five semesters and a past U.S. National Mathematics Award winner.

  • Rajinder Singh, 18, Mariner, has a 3.9 GPA and plans to attend Seattle University in computer engineering. Only in the United States for four years, Singh has won numerous awards, including the All-American Scholar, the Lamp of Knowledge and the WESCO Academic Achievement Award.

    You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097

    or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.

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