Saratoga News

On Campus

Class of '97 asked to grade the teachers

The National Education Association has asked the graduating class of 1997 to grade their school experience.

The association would like to know what students got out of their 12 years of studies. Students can email comments to graduate@neatoday.nea.org or post their comments on NEA's World Wide Web page at www.nea.org/graduate.

NEA is conducting the survey because they want to know what works and what doesn't. The information will be used to help teach students more effectively. Students' opinions and comments will be printed in an annual "report card" to teachers and will be made available to the general public in the fall. The association expects the report card to become an annual project.

Merit Scholarship winners named

Ron Eval, Jason Li and Robin Lin from Saratoga High School and Lynbrook High School students Eugene Kim and James Yeh recently won College-Sponsored Merit Scholarships. The seniors were honored by the Merit program for exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. Students receive a scholarship from the college they plan to attend.

All five of the seniors won the UC-Berkeley Merit Scholarship.

Five Saint Andrew's students honored

Five students from Saint Andrew's School were recently honored by Johns Hopkins University Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth (IAAY).

Sixth-graders Matthew Burriesci, Julius Cheng, Bryan Knapp and Max Wainwright and seventh-grader Megan Williamson were honored for their outstanding verbal and mathematical abilities. Williamson scored among the top five in the state in the verbal tests.

The students' talents were discovered in IAAY's search for students in the fifth and sixth grades who scored at or above the verbal or quantitative mean scores of eighth- or ninth-grade students on the Plus Academic Abilities Assessment. Williamson scored well above the mean for high school seniors on the SAT 1 : Reasoning Test.

An awards ceremony was held on May 31 at Stanford University, where the students received certificates of merit and special awards.

Saratoga High seniors awarded scholarships

Patricia Adura-Miranda and Jasmine Reyda, both seniors from Saratoga High School, recently won scholarship awards from the Saratoga Foothill Club.

Adura-Miranda was awarded the $1,000 American Heritage Award and Scholarship. She will attend Stanford University this fall, majoring in pre-law and political science.

Reyda won a $500 scholarship for a student outstanding in the field of visual and performing arts. She will attend UC-Berkeley this fall, majoring in computer science and graphics.

Saratogan to serve as LDS missionary

Megan Empey, a 1994 Saratoga High School graduate, will be serving 18 months as a Latter Day Saints missionary in Buenos Aires North Mission, Argentina.

Empey studied two years of pre-nursing and Spanish at Brigham Young University. In 1996, she attended the BYU Center for Near Eastern Studies in Jerusalem, Israel, studying the history, culture and religions of the area. Empey will start a nursing training program at the University of Utah after completing her mission in Argentina.

In Argentina, Empey will represent her faith as an unpaid missionary. In addition, she will be providing emergency disaster aid, health care, literacy education and other community services for the needy.

Saratogan is recognized by alumni association

Leslie Davis from Saratoga was awarded a scholarship by the San Jose State University Alumni Association in May.

Davis, an Occupational Therapy major, received the $1,000 Alumni Association scholarship in recognition of her academic and extracurricular achievements.

Saratoga grad earns law degree, honor

Claudi Renee Teran recently received a Juris Doctor degree from the New York University School of Law.

Teran graduated from Saratoga High School in 1990 and from UC-Berkeley in 1994. Teran counsels corporate clients in high-profile litigation matters forthe law firm of Sidley & Austin in Los Angeles.

County schools given money for libraries

More than 100 Santa Clara County public schools have been awarded $4,792 grants from the California School Library Protection Fund. The grants are a result of Budget Act legislation and taxpayer donations. Argonaut Elementary and Saratoga Elementary are the only two Saratoga schools that will receive grants.

The grant funds, available through June 1998, may be used only for library resources and automation software and not for equipment, staff development, supplies or staffing.

Resident earns college honors

Darren Finnecy has been named to the Dean's List at Oregon's George Fox University for the spring semester of the 1996-97 academic year.

Finnecy had to earn at least a 3.5 grade-point average or higher while carrying at least 12 units. The junior, majoring in business and economics, is the son of Gary and Kathy Finnecy of Saratoga.

Saratogan graduates summa cum laude

Monique R. Kuo of Saratoga recently received a degree in medicine and graduated summa cum laude from Boston University.

Kuo received her degree this spring from the university, the third largest independent university in the United States.

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