Courtesy of San Benito High School:
Nearly $275,000 worth of scholarships were presented to 103 students at San Benito High School’s Senior Awards Night on Wednesday when the school also announced its top 10 graduating students, scholar-athletes, salutatorian and co-valedictorians.
The auditorium was packed with students, families and scholarship presenters Wednesday in an event kicked off by a welcome from scholarship advisor Mary Andrade and a message to parents from Principal Adrian Ramirez, who said: “Tonight validates all you have done in the last 18 years or so to support your sons and daughters.”
SBHS will have co-valedictorians this year, with MIT-bound Jaron Cota and future UCLA student Frederick Keith sharing the honor. Ian Sills, who will attend Stanford, is the class salutatorian. The remainder of the top 10 students from the Class of ‘19 (and their college destinations and planned majors) are: Sara Meza (U.C. Irvine, biomedical engineering with a pre-med emphasis); Erin Taylor (U.C. Davis, statistics); Jennifer Rosas (U.C. Berkeley, mathematics with a minor in linguistics); Grace Richards (BYU, education); Sean Slavich (U.C. Berkeley, industrial engineering and operations research); Madison Ricker (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, animal science); and Simone Yamaoka (University of Washington, civil engineering).
The scholar-athletes of the year are Senior Class President Alyssa Ito and Joseph Loredo. Ito, who will play softball for U.C. Davis next year, maintained a 4.22 GPA while earning 11 varsity letters in volleyball, basketball and softball. Loredo, who will attend the University of San Francisco, earned a 4.13 GPA while earning six varsity letters in cross country and track.
Superintendent Dr. Shawn Tennenbaum thanked the “extreme generosity of our community” including individuals and organizations that fund scholarships for students. He also praised the students being recognized for their academic and athletic achievements, saying they “have seized the opportunities presented to you with a level of maturity far beyond your years.”
“It is because of you,” he added, that SBHS “continues to thrive as a place of growth, creativity and prosperity.”
