Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Jasmin Ghaffarian (left) and Angel Cheng were honored by their peers for their school activities and volunteer efforts.

Los Gatos High School seniors honored for citizenship, service

By Michelle Alaimo

Los Gatos High School held its annual Awards Assembly and Senior Awards Night June 4, and although many awards were given, only two were unannounced until the ceremonies. The junior Citizenship Cup Award went to Angel Cheng, and Jasmin Ghaffarian was chosen to receive the Senior Service Award.

Both students were chosen as the award-winners by their peers, and neither had any idea that they would receive the award.

"It was a shock to me," Cheng said.

This is the fifth year that the school has presented these two awards.

Several criteria must be met before a senior can qualify for the Senior Service Award. Vice Principal Al Simon said that once a student is nominated, the awards committee looks at the activities in which the student is involved. Ghaffarian was involved in just about everything that the senior class did this year, Simon said.

Other criteria include a requirement that the student be involved in a variety of activities, be dependable and responsible, have leadership capabilities and have performed a variety of services for the school, such as committee work and behind-the-scenes planning.

Simon said Ghaffarian "was a standout" when the nominees were being decided.

Ghaffarian served four years on the student council, was president of three organizations--A Place for Teens, the Los Gatos League and her senior class--and served in an AIDS-awareness group, in the Interact Club and on the yearbook staff.

Ghaffarian, who also received the Los Gatos League Scholarship and Wildcat Service Award, was not present at the awards ceremony because she was busy planning a party. Simon said Ghaffarian was planning a memorial birthday party for Jeff Peckler, who was killed by a drunk driver in an auto accident in January.

The nominee for the Junior Citizenship Cup Award must meet many of the same criteria. Cheng is involved in a number of activities. She served three years on the student council, just finished a two-year term as a Saratoga Youth Commissioner, founded LGHS's Asian Cultural Exchange Club and volunteers at Martha's Soup Kitchen.

Cheng says she is happiest when working at the soup kitchen because she is giving back to the community.

Cheng is a very strong advocate of healthy drug- and alcohol-free living, Simon said.

"These kids are two super, super girls," Simon said. "They're the kind of kids that make my job fun."

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