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Schools

Comcast Highlights Student Leaders and Achievers

Over 20 high school seniors from Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties will be honored in Sacramento June 14 with $1,000 scholarships.

Over 20 high school seniors from Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties have been named recipients of the 2012 Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship.

The company chose 180 seniors from throughout the state—including three from Sunnyvale—to receive the scholarship worth $1,000. Of the honorees, 120 of them are expected to attend a recognition ceremony on the steps of the State Capitol on Thursday, June 14.

"Instead of just giving them a check, we want to invite the students and their families to Sacramento for a day," said Bryan Byrd, director of communications for Comcast California. "They'll get to go on a tour of the State Capitol building and the California Museum of History, Women and the Arts."

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Governor Jerry Brown is expected to attend the ceremony. Tom Torlakson, the state superintendent of public instruction, will be there along with state senators and assemblymembes.

Each school's principal nominated one student who best represents his or her school, Byrd said. The final recipients were then chosen based on academic performance, extracurricular activities and involvement in their communities.

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"This is not a strictly academic scholarship," Byrd said. "We are looking for leadership qualities, too. Volunteer work is a large part of the scholarship."

As if $1,000 wasn't enough, the names of two students will be drawn during the ceremony for $10,000 scholarships. Twenty-five students will also walk away with a new laptop computer.

"You can imagine the reaction of the families when students' names are drawn for an additional $10,000 scholarship," Byrd said. "There's a lot of happy people."

Among the winners from Santa Clara County are:

  • Matthew Schroeder, Saint Francis High School, Campbell
  • Meera Patel, Homestead High School, Los Altos
  • Pascal Purro, Mountain View High School, Los Altos
  • Peter Dennis, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto
  • Rushikesh Joshi, Archbishop Mitty High School, Sunnyvale
  • Gabriela Ortega, Downtown College Prep School, Sunnyvale
  • Natali Smily, The King's Academy, Sunnyvale

Among the winners from Santa Cruz County are:

  • Caitlin Sorkhabi, Soquel High School, Aptos
  • Holly Borg, Santa Cruz High School, Santa Cruz
  • Ranae Maloney, Scotts Valley High School, Scotts Valley
  • Jennifer Smith, Pacific Collegiate Charter, Watsonville
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