Joyce was a STEM student (Science Technology & Engineering and Math) at Cleveland High School where she excelled in a series of courses in computer science. Interested in becoming a nurse and working in the healthcare field, Joyce’s plans after high school include attending UW-Seattle to start in the Pre-Nursing field of studies.

While at CHS, she was Vice President of the Filipino Club, belonged to the National Honor Society, and played on the CHS volleyball team. She earned the JV softball Coach’s Award.

Joyce joined the Skills Center Health Sciences & Medical Assisting program while holding internships at Seattle Goodwill and the Boys & Girls Club. She volunteered with United Filipino to RISE, contributed to food bank activities for the Filipino Community, participated in the Seattle Community Farming and Phone Bank for Asian Counseling Referral Services; and provided technical help for Agape Christian Ministry.

Her high school counselor shared that “Joyce is a resilient student who immigrated to the US from the Philippines when she was 14. Despite many obstacles faced in her life and the difficult transition to a new country, she still excelled and put forth all her effort into succeeding in her academics and extracurricular activities. what I also admire about Joyce is her deep commitment and support for her family.” She received a $2,000 scholarship from CHSAA.

Terresa has been accepted at UW – Seattle. She had a GPA of 3.99 while taking multiple AP courses. She will major in Prehealth Sciences with a future goal of becoming a family physician. She was fortunate to serve an Internship at Swedish Hospital and that experience solidified her desire to enter the health care field as a physician. Terresa worked 24 hours a week during summers. She will receive $2,000 toward college expenses from CHSAA. One letter of high recommendation pointed out how Terresa was quite shy as a freshman, then took a leap of faith and was elected to leadership roles and became a respected leader in several areas including the Business Club and the Health Organization Student Association, which is geared to future health professionals. She is a team player and has artistic creativity. Community service includes working at a Foodbank and supporting marathons. Her activities include visiting family members, frisbee, and teaching herself a new musical instrument.

Chapel’s range of activities demonstrates a good balance of class work, school governance, community (YMCA),
sports (soccer), and social justice work.

She served in CHS student government for four years and is politically engaged in the community, was a leader on the first-ever CHS literary magazine, and was active in mentoring 9th graders as a leader on the Link Crew.

One teacher commented that, while Chapel recognizes the inequities in the world
and feels strongly about them, she is capable of listening well to the stories and concerns of others.

Chapel has successfully applied for a scholarship from The New School in New York. CHSAA has awarded Chapel $2,000 to help reduce college debt. In college at The New School, Chapel plans to focus on education with a minor in film and has already made a film for the South End Stories’ film festival. It is her goal to support through film the racism work of educators and students of color. This career tracks with her community actions for social justice.

We wish Chapel good luck and success on her journey toward bettering the world for all.

Andrew Hong was awarded a $2,000 CHSAA scholarship to Stanford University and plans to major in Political Science and Data Science. Due to the
coronavirus, he decided to take a year off so his funding
will be postponed.

In high school, he was involved in the Politics Club, the debate team, and he was on the swim team. In his community, he was involved with a youth gun violence prevention organization and supporting candidates for public office. His hobbies and activities include competitive swimming on a club team, helping juniors and seniors write college application essays, and mapping and analyzing local and national precinct-level election data.

In his letters of recommendation, he is noted as being mature beyond his age and always wanting to help others shine. Andrew sets a high standard for himself. His assistance in helping political candidates was innovative. Andrew’s career path hopes to lead him to address issues that will improve life for south-end citizens.

Installing sculptures, advertising, scheduling and settings, and leading classes and tours, Valeria volunteered for seven years at a Monarch Sculpture Park – a public outdoor center for sculpture and art set in nature. As a teenager, art was her path to understanding community, equality and individuality of its members, and the power of art as an outlet for strong mental health.

Valeria’s career goal is to work as a therapist where she can help individuals who are suffering through a clinical or non-clinical crisis. She hopes to provide accessible mental health care at a systemic level. It is one reason why she has taken leadership roles and became actively involved in student government and organizations. She enjoys and is dedicated to connecting with people to build a community. She is passionate about the impact of collective community effort and rallies her communities together with her leadership and authenticity. Her teachers commended her compassion, moral compass, and academic capability and achievements.

This fall, Ms. Grasso will attend the University of Washington-Seattle to study psychology. She plans to continue volunteering at Monarch Sculpture Park to give back and to keep it going for the next generation.

Valeria was awarded $3,000 from the CHS Alumni Association.

Who would decide his life’s career while doing lightsaber duels on the playground? Inspired by Star Wars, he knew as a young child that it will be astrophysics! This passion has motivated him to study advanced science and math through high school, and to be accepted by USC for training as a science researcher in a space research facility.

While Astronomy and Astrophysics is Justin’s focus, he has also embraced school activities like sports (tennis, swim team), student government (class president, Kay Club president, and FUN (robotics, art show, playing guitar, drawing).

While Justin’s success to date is the result of his high motivation and clear planning, he is quick to appreciate CHS’s group-based learning model and the support and wisdom of several teachers.

Members of the CHS Alumni Scholarship team are pleased to include Justin in the scholarship awards to help with tuition and textbooks. He was awarded $2,000 from CHSAA.

We wish Justin smooth sailing in his space career