Six Tustin Unified School District students will receive at least $2,500 in scholarship funds in The Irvine Company’s 2007 Investing in Education Student Leadership Awards Program. The Irvine Company is honoring 32 high school seniors, who will now compete for additional scholarship funds and will result in four finalists each receiving a total of $10,000.
The company’s annual Student Leadership Awards program provides a total of $120,000 in scholarship funds to high school students on The Irvine Ranch who best demonstrate the qualities necessary to become future community leaders.
The six students selected from the Tustin Unified School District are: Jonathan Bjorndahl and Carol Tsai, Beckman High School; Patrick Baker and Rachel Cane, mmings, Foothill High School; and Anjum Bokhari and Aseem Mulji, Tustin High School.
These 32 students were nominated by their participating high school for this year’s Student Leadership program. To be eligible for the awards, the students were required to have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 and be a college-bound senior from one of the 16 participating high schools in the Irvine, Laguna Beach, Newport-Mesa, Tustin and Orange school districts. By being selected to participate in the awards program, each of the 32 Student Leaders will receive $2,500 in scholarship funds from The Irvine Company. These funds can be used for tuition, books, fees or other expenses associated with college.
Through a competitive program composed of a leadership exercise and an oral interview, eight semifinalists will be selected from among the 32 students by a panel of community leaders. Those eight students will each receive an additional $2,500 in scholarship funds, bringing their total award to $5,000. Four students will then be selected as finalists, and will each receive an additional $5,000 in scholarship funds, bringing their total award to $10,000. All 32 Student Leadership Award winners will be honored at the annual awards dinner on May 2.
“The Student Leadership Awards program is an effort to identify and encourage future leaders who will make a real difference in their communities,” said Robin Leftwich, vice president of Community Affairs for The Irvine Company. “These students are truly an inspiration and their accomplishments demonstrate why they are considered as the most gifted and talented students in the state. We are very proud of this year’s participants and are pleased to support these students and their ambitious endeavors.”
“Supporting local education is on of our top priorities at The Irvine Company. We recognize that our schools and their important educational programs are a vital component of life on The Irvine Ranch,” continued Leftwich.
The Irvine Company has sponsored the Student Leadership Awards program for 21 years; since its inception, the program has provided scholarship funds to more than 650 students. The Irvine Company grants these scholarship awards based on a number of leadership criteria, including: community service, extracurricular activities, academic achievement and other accomplishments or qualities that demonstrate a student’s potential to be an outstanding future leader.
Investing in Education 2007 represents a series of grants and awards for education and enrichment programs for local public schools. The Irvine Company and The Bren Foundation have made a multi-million dollar commitment to support the outstanding public schools on The Irvine Ranch—schools that consistently rank among the finest in the state.
Students Nominated for 2007 Student Leadership Awards
Caitlin AdamsCorona del Mar High SchoolNMUSD
Juan ArellanoCosta Mesa High SchoolNMUSD
Patrick BakerFoothill High SchoolTUSD
Bryan BeardIrvine High SchoolIUSD
Emma BindlossNorthwood High SchoolIUSD
Jonathan BjorndahlBeckman High SchoolTUSD
Anjun BokhariTustin High SchoolTUSD
Rachel CaneFoothill High SchoolTUSD
Michael ChenNorthwood High SchoolIUSD
Cameron ClerLaguna Beach High SchoolLBUSD
Megan CunninghamCanyon High SchoolOUSD
Daniel HerradorVilla Park High SchoolOUSD
Linh HoangCosta Mesa High SchoolNMUSD
Rosa HongUniversity High SchoolIUSD
Thomas HutchinsonCorona del Mar High SchoolNMUSD
Raymond LapenaEl Modena High SchoolOUSD
Andrew LeCanyon High SchoolOUSD
Arielle LittleNewport Harbor High SchoolNMUSD
Taylor McClanahanEstancia High SchoolNMUSD
Aseem MuljiTustin High SchoolTUSD
Shannon ParsonsEstancia High SchoolNMUSD
Paul PhamOrange High SchoolOUSD
Annette RiceVilla Park High SchoolOUSD
Crystal SaucedoEl Modena High SchoolOUSD
Joshua SmithNewport Harbor High SchoolNMUSD
Mai Khanh TranOrange High SchoolOUSD
Sam TrusleyLaguna Beach High SchoolLBUSD
Carol TsaiBeckman High SchoolTUSD
Ketki WarudkarIrvine High SchoolIUSD
Josh WasbinWoodbridge High SchoolIUSD
Wesley YuUniversity High SchoolIUSD
Anna ZhouWoodbridge High SchoolIUSD
