RIVERSIDE – Grade-point averages of 4.8, near-perfect SAT scores, and thousands of hours of community service were the hallmarks of the best and brightest students from the class of 2018 in Riverside County that were honored on Wednesday, April 25, at the 13th Annual Riverside County Student Academic Awards Dinner.
Held at the Riverside Convention Center, the event also featured the announcement of the 2018 Riverside County Top Academic Scholars—the top graduating students from each school district.
More than 600 parents, principals, trustees, and superintendents celebrated 144 Riverside County high school students for their outstanding academic achievement. Based on their enrollments, each high school was asked to select between one and three top students taking into consideration their grade-point average, class rank, SAT/ACT scores, extracurricular activities, and community service.
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Judy D. White, Ed.D., also announced the names of the top 20 students—one from each district in the county with high schools—as the 2018 Riverside County Top Academic Scholars. With an average SAT score of 1334, this elite group of students will graduate with a collective grade-point average of 4.55. In the fall, they will be attending colleges such as: UC Berkeley, Yale, Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell, and more. With transcripts packed with Advanced Placement (AP) courses and a wide variety of extra-curricular and community service activities, only six of the top all-academic team members ever received a grade of “B” during their high school career.
The 2018 Riverside County Top Academic Scholars
- Hamilton Nguyen, Hillcrest High School, Alvord USD
- Colleen Lagazo, Banning High School, Banning USD
- Amy Calderwood, Beaumont High School, Beaumont USD
- Cristina Valdez, Desert Mirage High School, Coachella Valley USD
- Peichung (Ryan) Chou, Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD
- Ethan Duong, Palm Desert High School, Desert Sands USD
- Sabrina Gobran, Western Center Academy, Hemet USD
- Ana Padilla, Jurupa Valley High School, Jurupa USD
- Nathan Strong, Temescal Canyon High School, Lake Elsinore USD
- Maria Fe Bazan Urmereta, Canyon Springs High School, Moreno Valley USD
- Brian Nguyen, Vista Murrieta High School, Murrieta Valley USD
- Tan’yeasia Brewster, Nuview Bridge Early College High School, Nuview Union School District
- Olivia Manes, Rancho Mirage High School, Palm Springs USD
- Don Xavier Pelicano, Palo Verde Valley High School, Palo Verde USD
- Dayra Leal Sanchez, Heritage High School, Perris Union HSD
- Alma Martinez, Riverside County Education Academy, Riverside County Office of Education
- Yushan “Susan” Su, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
- Carolina Villegas, San Jacinto High School, San Jacinto USD
- Stephanie Lai, Great Oak High School, Temecula Valley USD
- Thai Gillespie, Rancho Verde High School, Val Verde USD
Full List of Student Academic Award Honorees from the Class of 2018 at Each Comprehensive, Public High School in Riverside County follows:
ALVORD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Evelyn Manrique, Hillcrest High School
Hamilton Nguyen, Hillcrest High School
Mikhaela Lewis, La Sierra High School
Chayra Montoya, La Sierra High School
Delbert Garay, Norte Vista High School
Yessica Mox, Norte Vista High School
Hien Tran, Norte Vista High School
BANNING UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Colleen Lagazo, Banning High School
Melody McNair, Banning High School
BEAUMONT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Amy Calderwood, Beaumont High School
Gabriela Medina Ortiz, Beaumont High School
Emma Whamond, Beaumont High School
COACHELLA VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Vanessa Aguilar, Coachella Valley High School
Jeanette Alaves, Coachella Valley High School
Simon Moore, Coachella Valley High School
Jessica Hernandez-Beltran, Desert Mirage High School
Cristina Valdez, Desert Mirage High School
Michelle Regalado-Ayala, West Shores High School
CORONA-NORCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Andrew Casilang, Centennial High School
Peichung “Ryan” Chou, Centennial High School
Keerthana Sivathasan, Centennial High School
Mariela Centeno, Corona High School
Germar Gonzalez, Corona High School
Nicholas Taylor, Corona High School
Benny Cai, Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Nancy Chea, Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Samir Nomani, Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Cooper Drain, Norco High School
Nicolas La Polla, Norco High School
Megan Roy, Norco High School
Richard Chung, Santiago High School
Emmi Deckard, Santiago High School
Maha Malik, Santiago High School
DESERT SANDS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Esmeralda Gomez, Indio High School
Isabella Sung, Indio High School
Mlen Azurin, La Quinta High School
Adria Burton, La Quinta High School
Sienna Sutton, La Quinta High School
Ethan Duong, Palm Desert High School
Emon Shaaf, Palm Desert High School
Isaiah Campbell, Shadow Hills High School
Elissa Parra, Shadow Hills High School
HEMET UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Alissa Kaabe, Hamilton High School
Carisma Patrick, Helen Hunt Jackson College Prep High School
Ashlyn Dunn, Hemet High School
Michael McDonald, Hemet High School
Shalini Patel, Hemet High School
Elica Joy Labaco, Tahquitz High School
Kiyomi Sugita, Tahquitz High School
Bobbie Rivers, West Valley High School
Aaron Wu, West Valley High School
Sabrina Gobran, Western Center Academy
JURUPA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
David Cabrales, Jurupa Valley High School
Ana Padilla, Jurupa Valley High School
Christopher Arellano, Patriot High School
Briana Fragoso, Patriot High School
Natalie Kelly, Patriot High School
Joseph Martinez Neal, Rubidoux High School
Yazmin Mercado, Rubidoux High School
LAKE ELSINORE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Rhiannon Bosch, Elsinore High School
Sheryl Ghoubrial, Elsinore High School
Ahmad Said, Elsinore High School
Joshua Hendley, Lakeside High School
Taylor Ogden, Lakeside High School
Dayana Esquivel, Temescal Canyon High School
Justin Ho, Temescal Canyon High School
Nathan Strong, Temescal Canyon High School
MORENO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Maria Fe Bazan Urmereta, Canyon Springs High School
Jacqueline Cervantes, Canyon Springs High School
Daysi Frias, Canyon Springs High School
Juan Alba-Pedroza, Moreno Valley High School
Eduardo Martinez, Moreno Valley High School
Rosa Muñoz, Moreno Valley High School
Nina Cendejas, Moreno Valley Online Academy
Sareen Manuel, Valley View High School
Desi Ramirez, Valley View High School
Stephanie Sanchez, Valley View High School
Samantha Giron, Vista Del Lago High School
Katera Lee, Vista Del Lago High School
Salvador Ramos, Vista Del Lago High School
MURRIETA VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Mariam Khalil, Murrieta Mesa High School
Emily Larson, Murrieta Mesa High School
Katie Lin, Murrieta Mesa High School
Jeffrey Kim, Murrieta Valley High School
Parker Lake, Murrieta Valley High School
Taylor Shimono, Murrieta Valley High School
Abigail Murray, Vista Murrieta High School
Brian Nguyen, Vista Murrieta High School
Eman Sherif, Vista Murrieta High School
NUVIEW UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT
Tan’yeasia Brewster, Nuview Bridge Early College High School
PALM SPRINGS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Adriana Ortega, Cathedral City High School
Liliana Zamora, Cathedral City High School
Esmeralda Salazar, Desert Hot Springs High School
Kimberly Sanchez Briones, Desert Hot Springs High School
Brandon Fong, Palm Springs High School
Colleen Velasco, Palm Springs High School
Erika Gutierrez, Rancho Mirage High School
Olivia Manes, Rancho Mirage High School
PALO VERDE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Don Xavier Pelicano, Palo Verde Valley High School
PERRIS UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Sonia Singh, California Military Institute
Sophia Acosta, Heritage High School
Dayra Leal Sanchez, Heritage High School
Andrea Serrato, Heritage High School
Erick Amezcua, Paloma Valley High School
Kathleen Phan, Paloma Valley High School
Sean Michael Reyes, Paloma Valley High School
Karina Gonzalez Guillen, Perris High School
Julian Mercado, Perris High School
Lara Santa Cruz, Perris High School
RIVERSIDE COUNTY EDUCATION ACADEMY
Alma Martinez, Riverside County Education Academy
RIVERSIDE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Litzy Garcia, Arlington High School
Kieren Ritter, Arlington High School
Jiaxin Li, John W. North High School
Shawn Schive, John W. North High School
Jiwon Shiu, John W. North High School
Yaksh Patel, Martin Luther King High School
Amandeep Rana, Martin Luther King High School
Yushan “Susan” Su, Martin Luther King High School
Blaze Arnold, Ramona High School
Lucy Juarez, Ramona High School
Victor Lao, Ramona High School
Simran Brar, Riverside Poly High School
Carissa Gann, Riverside Poly High School
Michelle Krakora, Riverside Poly High School
Nivedita Kanrar, Riverside STEM Academy
SAN JACINTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Guadalupe Botello Urincho, San Jacinto High School
Sierra Golding, San Jacinto High School
Carolina Villegas, San Jacinto High School
TEMECULA VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Andra Deaconn, Chaparral High School
Stacy Li, Chaparral High School
Berlin Paez, Chaparral High School
Gabriela Goldsmith, Great Oak High School
James Han, Great Oak High School
Stephanie Lai, Great Oak High School
Kai Aiello, Temecula Valley High School
Gwyneth Lu, Temecula Valley High School
Harrison Shaw, Temecula Valley High School
VAL VERDE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Saul Gonzalez, Citrus Hill High School
Cheyenne Jackson, Citrus Hill High School
Chad Shearer, Citrus Hill High School
John David Aragon, Rancho Verde High School
Thai Gillespie, Rancho Verde High School
Marco Rodriguez, Rancho Verde High School
(Photo Caption)
Top Row (from L to R): Alma Martinez, Riverside County Education Academy, Riverside County Office of Education; Nathan Strong, Temescal Canyon High School, Lake Elsinore USD; Ana Padilla, Jurupa Valley High School, Jurupa USD; Yushan “Susan” Su, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD; Ethan Duong, Palm Desert High School, Desert Sands USD; Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Judy D. White; Peichung (Ryan) Chou, Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD; Cristina Valdez, Desert Mirage High School, Coachella Valley USD; Amy Calderwood, Beaumont High School, Beaumont USD; Colleen Lagazo, Banning High School, Banning USD; Hamilton Nguyen, Hillcrest High School, Alvord USD
Bottom Rom (from L to R): Thai Gillespie, Rancho Verde High School, Val Verde USD; Stephanie Lai, Great Oak High School, Temecula Valley USD; Carolina Villegas, San Jacinto High School, San Jacinto USD; Sabrina Gobran, Western Center Academy, Hemet USD; Dayra Leal Sanchez, Heritage High School, Perris Union HSD; Don Xavier Pelicano, Palo Verde Valley High School, Palo Verde USD; Olivia Manes, Rancho Mirage High School, Palm Springs USD; Brian Nguyen, Vista Murrieta High School, Murrieta Valley USD; Maria Fe Bazan Urmereta, Canyon Springs High School, Moreno Valley USD; Tan’yeasia Brewster, Nuview Bridge Early College High School, Nuview Union School District
