Academic elite of RivCo honored; Southwest students among them

Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth M. Young (back row, right) stands with members of the 2010 All-County Academic Team honored March 10. They include: Back row, from left, Pablo Wudka-Robles, Poly High School; James Roose, North High School; Sebastian Chiu, North High School; Andrew Deeds, Palm Springs High School. Front row, from left, Ketaki Panse, Hemet High School; Jacqueline Braslow, Palm Desert High School; Chanel Chang, Chaparral High School; Nicole Xu, North High School; Green Choi, Vista Murrieta High School. (Photo courtesy of Riverside County Office of Education)

Ten high school seniors from throughout Riverside County, including three from the Southwest Riverside County cities of Temecula, Murrieta and Hemet, were named to the 2009-2010 All-County Academic Team Wednesday night during the fifth annual Riverside County Student Academic Awards dinner.

Kenneth M. Young, superintendent of the Riverside County Office of Education, selected the honorees from a list of 131 students.

“We think it is important to recognize the highest of the highest academic performers,” Young said in a phone conversation after the banquet. “These are the seniors, the valedictorians of the valedictorians — that have performed well throughout their high school careers.”

According to RCOE spokesperson Rick Peoples, high schools from 17 school districts in Riverside County nominated the students based on their academic performance, GPA, SAT scores and extracurricular activities.

Chanel Chang of Chaparral High School in Temecula, Green Choi from Vista Murrieta High School and Ketaki Panse of Hemet High School were among those to be named to the All-County Academic Team.

Peoples said the annual ceremony was started several years ago and taken over by the county office five years ago.

“There are always the all-star sports teams; the original organizers wanted to provide recognition for those who excel academically,” Peoples said.

All 131 nominated students, their families and their principals and superintendents were invited to attend the awards banquet, held at the Riverside Convention Center, where each of them was recognized.

Young said the students selected for the All-County team had more than just high GPAs.

“Each of them is involved in a number of extracurricular activities and have excelled as leaders,” Young said. “These students are well-rounded and service-oriented.”

Chanel Chang, a senior at Chaparral High School, scored 2310 out of 2400 possible on her SAT, has a GPA of 4.42, and is ranked third in her class. Chanel’s activities and honors include: Science Olympiad, Bulletin Editor of Key Club, California Scholarship Federation and the National Honor Society. Chanel is an Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction and she received a letter of commendation for her score on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. She is a teacher at Young Nak Presbyterian Church Sunday Korean School.

Green Choi, a senior at Vista Murrieta High School, scored 2390 on his SAT, has a GPA of 4.5 and is ranked first in his class. Green’s activities and honors include:  Boy Scouts of America, Tae Kwon Do, Tennis team, California Scholarship Federation, National Honor Society, Interact Club, Benefit Association of Teens, Helping Out North Koreans, National Merit Scholarship finalist, Eagle Scout award recipient, National AP Scholar, Renaissance Scholar award, Korean American Award of Outstanding Student and Scholarship, Second Degree Black Belt and All Scholastic Team Award. Green is a Korea Daily dream essay contest winner.

Ketaki Panse, a senior at Hemet High School, scored 2370 on her SAT, has a GPA of 4.6, and is ranked first in her class. Ketaki’s activities and honors include: Mock Trial, Symphonic Band, Interact Club member and treasurer, Link Crew member, Future College Graduates Club member, Mandir Youth Club president, Varsity tennis team captain, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards recipient, AP National Scholar, Sunbelt Tennis league MVP, National Honor Society and Science Fair. Ketaki is a school top scorer in the California Math League.

Other members of the All-County Academic Team include: Jacqueline Braslow, Palm Desert High School; Sebastian Chiu, John W. North High School; Andrew Deeds, Palm Springs High School; Nicole Hwang, Santiago High School; James Roose, John W. North High School; Pablo Wudka-Robles, Riverisde Polytechnic High School; and Nicole Xu, John W. North High School.

Nominated students from the Lake Elsinore Unified School District included Mackenzie Gordon, Lawton Nichols and Natasha Toor from Elsinore High School; Andrew Blascovich, Edward Lopez and Chanel Nguyen from Lakeside High School; and Erik Larson and Francesca Zuccola from Temescal Canyon High School.

Nominees from the Hemet High School District included: Michael Drell and Edwin Young from Hemet High School; Allyson Vertti and Merisa Vertti from Tahquitz High School; and Jonathan Gomez and Andrew Ruiz from West Valley High School.

High academic achievers nominated in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District included: Stephen Andrews, Ryan Bilton and Maria-Kassandra Coronel from Murrieta Valley High School; and James Bui and Virginia Pham from Vista Murrieta High School.

Outstanding students from the Temecula Valley Unified School District included: Joshua Lam and Christopher Pike, Chaparral High School; Kyle Green, Brittany Robinson and Michelle Tang, Great Oak High School; and Heather Patel, Candace Wherry and Allison Wolfe from Temecula Valley High School.

From the Perris Union High School District, academic nominees included: Mireya Amparo Chavez Martinez, Nicholas Sbardellati and Christopher John Zazueta, Heritage High School; Sharon Bong, Esteban Vasquez and Grisel Villa, Paloma Valley High School; and Jazmine Johnson and Marlyn Pulido, Perris High School.

From the San Jacinto Unified School District were San Jacinto High School’s own Lisa Lamb, Carolyn Morris and Matthew Snyder.

Young said he spoke to many of the students at the dinner, and that most of them were applying to colleges like Harvard, Stanford, University of Southern California, and University of California Berkeley.

Many said there were interested in going into the legal field, bio-medical engineering and a variety of critical and emerging fields.

“These are your future leaders,” Young said.

Maggie Avants is the education editor for SWRNN. Reach her at maggie.avants@swrnn.com. Follow SWRNNedu on Twitter!

Tags: 2009-2010 All-County Academic Team, Allison Wolfe, Allyson Vertti, Andrew Blascovich, Andrew Deeds, Andrew Ruiz, Brittany Robinson, Candace Wherry, Carolyn Morris, Chanel Chang, Chanel Nguyen, chaparral high school, Christopher John Zazueta, Christopher Pike, Edward Lopez, Edwin Young, Erik Larson, Esteban Vasquez, Francesca Zuccola, Green Choi, Grisel Villa, Heather Patel, hemet high school, Hemet Unified School District, Jacqueline Braslow, James Bui, James Roose, Jazmine Johnson, Jonathan Gomez, Joshua Lam, Ketaki Panse, Kyle Green, lake elsinore unified school district, Lawton Nichols, Lisa Lamb, Mackenzie Gordon, Maria-Kassandra Coronel, Marlyn Pulido, Matthew Snyder, Merisa Vertti, Michael Drell, Michelle Tang, Mireya Amparo Chavez Martinez, murrieta valley unified school district, Natasha Toor, Nicholas Sbardellati, Nicole Hwang, Nicole Xu, Pablo Wudka-Robles, perris union high school district, Riverside County Office of Education, Riverside County Office of Education spokesperson Rick Peoples, Riverside County Office of Education Superintendent Kenneth M. Young, Ryan Bilton, San Jacinto Unified School District, Sebastian Chiu, Sharon Bong, Stephen Andrews, SWRNN, temecula valley unified school district, Virginia Pham, vista murrieta high school

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