From left to right, top to bottom: Amarpreet Mann, Alla Marchenko, Jamal Mehyar, Ayan Mohamud, Gricelda Montes, Olga Natkha, Taylor Nephew, Hawo Nur, Sophimari Obenza, Natasha O’Rourke Perry, Carlos Padilla, Amy Palacios, Johannah Parrish, Eric Jordan Patterson-Floyd, and Lester Pearson
Northwest Asian Weekly’s Diversity Makes a Difference scholarship program celebrates young people who are committed to reaching out across cultural lines. Students are nominated by their school as being champions of diversity. Of those students, a judging panel will choose five winners who will receive $1,000 scholarships and eight finalists who will receive $200 scholarships.
The Diversity Makes a Difference awards dinner will take place on April 2 at Jumbo Chinese Restaurant (4208 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle). For more information or to buy tickets, visit diversity.nwasianweeklyfoundation.org.
Each week, leading up to the dinner, we will print a batch of short profiles of the nominees. This week’s nominees:
Amarpreet Mann
Holy Names Academy
Recommended by Alice Tanaka
Amarpreet Mann teaches Punjabi to the second and third grade students at her church. “She speaks both Punjabi and Hindi in her home and feels strongly that the future generations of Indians in America retain the language and culture,” wrote counselor Alice Tanaka.
“Amarpreet is also active in our Multicultural Student Union (MSU), which sponsors a variety of activities throughout the school year to promote multicultural experiences. … Amarpreet has also been a leader in one of the MSU subgroups, the Asian Pacific Islander group,” wrote Tanaka.
“After she completes college, she hopes to spend time in rural India helping to educate young women, perhaps even opening her own school for girls. Knowing how passionate she is about her goals, I am confident that she will succeed.”
Alla Marchenko
Washington High School
Nominated by Eduardo Ortiz
“It has been a rewarding experience for me to have Alla Marchenko on my case load. She came to this country when she was only six years old and has retained her cultural identity, despite being enveloped by American culture,” wrote counselor Eduardo Ortiz in a recommendation.
“Scholastically, Alla is in the Running Start program where she has been very successful and is currently a member of the T.C.C. Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Alla plans on applying to the Global Honors program and studying abroad while majoring in international business,” wrote Ortiz.
“Outside of academics, Alla volunteers at her church’s Russian school and Sunday school. She also sings in the church choir, plays violin in the band, and has been a member of a mission group that traveled to Russia.”
Jamal Mehyar
Olympia High School
Recommended by Matthew Grant
“As a freshman, Jamal Mehyar showed a passion for anything related to diversity. He always found a way to have a role with our Climate and Culture Committee and Students Together Advocating Non-violence and Diversity (STAND) club,” wrote Principal Matthew Grant.
“Jamal became involved with Village to Village, an organization dedicated to promoting experiences in which high school students interact with others outside of their social group … and he took on the role of student ambassador for Village to Village,” wrote Grant. Mehyar organized a book sale fundraiser.
“Jamal has taken a leading role in organizing a large community, providing an experience for over 120 students from six to eight high schools in our region. With Jamal’s leadership and hard work, we have been able to plan a day-long immersion event on the Nisqually reservation.”
Meyhar talked to his school’s student senate about diversity this year. “By talking about his own Arab background and his experience last spring, Jamal provided a personal example that showed students the impact words have on people from different backgrounds.”
Ayan Mohamud
Chief Sealth High School
Recommended by Marta Sanchez and Guadalupe Barnes
“In spite of a debilitating disease, Ayan Mohamud is an optimistic student fighting for her future,” wrote teacher Marta Sanchez and Assistant Principal Guadalupe Barnes. “Every day, Ms. Mohamud takes a bus equipped for a wheel chair to school. She uses a special computer that allows a piece of equipment attached to her forehead to act as a cursor. She carries a full course load and has a 3.6 GPA.”
“One of the things that stand out about Ms. Mohamud is that she is aware that when people meet her, they look at her differently. Generally speaking, they expect her to not be as smart or capable as people without special needs. Being aware of this, she considers it a challenge to let them know that she is an intelligent, able young lady.
Although Ms. Mohamud represents a section of society that some people tend to think of as invisible, she will definitely be seen and heard.”
Gricelda Montes
Mountlake Terrace High School
Recommended by Julie Petterson
“Gricelda Montes is the vice president and co-founder of a new club at MTHS, Invisible Children.
This nonprofit aids child soldiers in Northern Uganda. Gricelda has helped bring awareness about the plight of these children to our school and community. … At MTHS, she helped oversee a successful book drive, procuring 1,869 books,” wrote counselor Julie Petterson.
“Gricelda has been a member of [Family Career Community Leaders of America] for three years and is currently the president of the club. Members of the club assist needy families in the community with meals and food donations, and they also run our annual blood drive,” wrote Petterson. “She is also a member of DECA, Link Crew, the National Honor Society, and ASB Interhigh, where she serves as secretary.
“Her commitment to helping others and her passion to see justice served earned her a Humanitarian Award in ninth grade.”
Olga Natkha
Washington High School
Nominated by Eduardo Ortiz
“It has been a rewarding experience for me to have Olga Natkha on my case load. Olga takes great pride in her academics and has challenged herself by enrolling in Honors classes and higher levels of math and science,” wrote counselor Eduardo Ortiz.
“Not only does Olga Natkha put great effort into her education, she also spends much of her free time volunteering at her church as a Sunday school teacher. She has also been involved with the Cascade Land Conservatory and the Puyallup Youth Group River Clean-Up Project,” wrote Ortiz.
“Olga Natkha has a goal of attending the University of Washington and pursuing a degree in the field of nursing.”
Taylor Nephew
Shorewood High School
Recommended by Pam Richards
“A strong role model for young women, Taylor takes pride in her multiracial heritage (part Native American and African American) and is focused on achieving success in every part of her life,” wrote counselor Pam Richards.
“Behind the scenes, Taylor is genuinely driven to make a difference for others through active and committed involvement in a wide variety of diversity-related activities. For example, she is an active volunteer with ESL students at the local elementary school, and it’s clear how much she enjoys reaching out to youth and being a mentor for them. She is also a member of our Black Student Union club, planning events throughout the year including a highly regarded and eagerly anticipated school-wide assembly. She has taken advantage of numerous diversity events and is involved in summits at both our high school and local colleges,” wrote Richards.
Hawo Nur
Garfield High School
Recommended by Chief S.K. Labi
Hawo Nur is a student in Garfield’s English as a Second Language department. “To many of our ESL students, English fluency has been an uphill battle. She has the fiber that binds the group of like-minded ESL student[s] who are working hard to be successful in college,” wrote her counselor S.K. Labi in a recommendation.
“Hawo is a leader among her peers, and she has championed a freshly minted club called Africa Umoja. She saw the need for bringing all Africans in our school under one umbrella to discuss several critical issues facing Africa, problems that plague immigrants here in the United States, and efforts to spread Africa’s culture.”
Sophimari Obenza
Roosevelt High School
Recommended by Cynthia Mejia-Giudici and Dr. Littlebrave Beaston
“In school this year, Sophimari Obenza was elected as club coordinator, a part of the ASB class. This specific job requires being the link between the different clubs around the school and the ASB. Sort of like the spokesperson, she keeps in contact with both groups, keeping them both aware of future plans and goals,” wrote Cynthia Mejia-Giudici and Dr. Littlebrave Beaston in a recommendation.
“Sophi has been dancing on the school’s hip hop dance team all four years. Two of those years, she has been co-captain, unifying the team,” they wrote.
“In addition, for the past three years, she has been the president of the Filipino Club, which is a very active club at Roosevelt. They perform in assemblies, sell ethnic food to the student body, and have gone on field trips to volunteer at other schools to lend a helping hand.”
Natasha O’Rourke Perry
Chief Sealth High School
Recommended by Marta Sanchez and Guadalupe Barnes
“Natasha O’Rourke Perry chose a senior project in which she shadowed a student with a severe disability. Although Ms. O’Rourke Perry is not a student with prejudice, she considers herself even more open now,” wrote teacher Marta Sanchez and Assistant Principal Guadalupe Barnes.
“Not only does she embrace racial and gender diversity, but she stretches herself to what may be seen as an invisible area of those students with special needs. Working with a student in a motorized wheel chair with special equipment to aid in talking has opened Ms. O’Rourke Perry’s problem solving skills and perspective. She enjoyed learning how the student overcame obstacles with an upbeat attitude and perspective of meeting life’s challenges. Ms. O’Rourke Perry followed up on her project with a paper on Africa and its government corruption, specifically on how special services did not receive money that was intended for them,” wrote Sanchez and Barnes.
Carlos Padilla
Chief Sealth High School
Recommended by Roberta Lindeman
“[Carlos Padilla], like no other student I have known in my 14-year tenure at Sealth, can motivate and organize his fellow students into action for the common good, whether it be a Cinco de Mayo Assembly, community forums on the Dream Act at the UW and Sealth campuses, or a Latino dance club,” wrote teacher and MECh/LA adviser Roberta Lindeman in a recommendation.
“Carlos is our current ASB vice president, which makes him one of three Latinos, in my experience at Sealth, to hold an ASB office. Undoubtedly, Carlos was elected by the Sealth student body because of his leadership style and openness to all ethnicities represented at our school,” wrote Lindeman.
“In the past year, Carlos has traveled the state, along with university and community college members of Alianza, to educate people about the importance of passing fair immigration laws, particularly for students. Like so many issues, Carlos is passionate about the urgency to pass the Dream Act so that young people like him have an equal opportunity to get a higher education and meaningful employment.”
Amy Palacios
Roosevelt High School
Recommended by Nancy Schub and Dr. Littlebrave Beaston
“At school, she is the president of La Raza. Her ongoing commitment, organization, and motivation skills have kept that club active over several years. She has played a critical role during Diversity Week at school each year, celebrating and sharing her Mexican culture by cooking traditional foods as well as teaching and performing classical Latino dances,” wrote Nancy Schub and Littlebrave Beaston in a recommendation. “She currently dances with Bailadores de Bronce, a Latino folkloric dance group. … She performs around Seattle as well as teaches the dances to interested students at RHS in her spare time.”
“Amy has been working in our autism program at school and has become an important person in the lives of several of those students.”
“Last year, she had an opportunity to provide community service at a hospital in Queretaro, Mexico, which has had a huge impact on her life. She will now be volunteering at both Northwest and Children’s Hospitals, working toward her future goal of becoming a nurse practitioner,” wrote Schub and Beaston.
Johannah Parrish
Bishop Blanchett High School
Recommended by Sullivan Shaw
“[Johannah Parrish] is co-chair of our prayer and liturgy team and is thoroughly involved with events for our diversity action season,” wrote Assistant Principal Sullivan Shaw in a recommendation.
“This year for our liturgy, Johannah helped in welcoming the children’s choir from Uganda. She devoted her school day to showing them around, taking time to answer their questions, and learning more about their culture. … Her way of leadership is refreshing because she equips others to learn the traits of a strong leader so that they can one day lead others and themselves.”
“She uses her commitment to spreading awareness in the way that she interacts with others in classes. When faced with views different than her own, she voices her opinion, but in a respectful tone. She works hard to spread awareness of diversity that eventually leads to acceptance by leading morning meditations, helping plan diversity assemblies, and leading school events that exemplify such ideals.”
Eric Jordan Patterson-Floyd
O’Dea High School
Recommended by Jeanne Eulberg
“Eric Jordan Patterson-Floyd has known many of his childhood friends who have become gang member[s]. Several have been injured or killed. Eric told me that he has felt the pressure from his old friends to join but that he has always fiercely resisted. He is grateful that his parents instilled such a positive core value system in him so that he never even considered the gang life as something that was an option for him,” wrote his counselor Jeanne Eulberg in her recommendation.
“Eric has a sparkling, animated personality that lights up a room. While he has experienced some racial prejudice both at school and outside of school, he told me that he uses those opportunities to educate those he encounters. He said that using his words and his personality would win the most bigoted over much more than anger and violence,” wrote Eulberg.
Lester Pearson
Franklin High School
Recommended by Kerry Donlan
“Lester Pearson has been an active participant in the College Access Now (CAN) program since he joined early in his junior year,” wrote Kerry Donlan, a CAN employee. “He not only eagerly participates in our program but he is the friendliest student in CAN. I can count on him to extend a warm welcome to even the shyest students.”
“Last spring, Lester was chosen from a batch of eligible CAN students to attend a summer program called Bowdoin Bound. … He represented CAN, Seattle, and Franklin High School with pride,” wrote Donlan.
“Within school, Lester is enrolled in the humanities academy, which is known for its academic rigor and college prep curriculum. He participates in the National Honor Society and Black Student Union, and he plays on the baseball team in the spring,” wrote Donlan. ♦
Next week, read more stories about inspirational women. Look for Northwest Asian Weekly on stands or read online at www.nwasianweekly.com.