Silicon Valley REALTORS® present scholarships to 18 graduating high school seniors

SILVAR Past President David Tonna presented the scholarship award to Yun Seo (Jennifer) Kim, graduating senior from Saratoga High School.

The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation presented scholarship awards to 18 graduating seniors from public high schools in Silicon Valley at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. Each student received a $1,000 scholarship.

The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation is the charitable arm of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®, the local trade organization representing over 4,500 Realtors and affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. The Charitable Foundation’s REALTOR® scholarship program recognizes students who have exemplified outstanding achievements in academics, extracurricular/employment activities and community involvement. The selection committee includes representatives from the local business community, area high schools, area colleges and the local trade association.

Students who received scholarships, the schools from which they graduated, and the colleges and universities they plan to attend are: Greg Pommier, Cupertino High School (UC Berkeley); Brianna Clarice Clark, Fremont High School (Tuskegee University); Daniel Rothenberg, Gunn High School (San Francisco State University); Arisa Ananda Faron, Homestead High School (Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo); Aleksandra Vojvodic, Leigh High School (UCLA); Jhosseline Guardado, Los Altos High School (UC Davis); Laurel Michelle Finkle, Los Gatos High School (UCLA); Jessica Zheng, Lynbrook High School (Princeton University); Caroline Kelly, Menlo-Atherton High School (University of Michigan); James Mullen, Monta Vista High School (UCLA); Marisa Noelle Gong, Mountain View High School (Washington University in St. Louis); Promise Lee, Palo Alto High School (UC Davis); Kevin Wei, Prospect High School (UC San Diego); Vicente Lozano Lovelace, Santa Clara High School (UC Santa Cruz); Yun Seo (Jennifer) Kim, Saratoga High School (New York University); Tuyen Nguyen, Westmont High School (UC Santa Cruz); Rachanon Wajanakunakorn, Wilcox High School (Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo); and Rachel Bontempi, Woodside High School (UC San Diego).

“Our selection committee makes its selections based not only on superior academic accomplishments, but we also look for excellent students who contribute to their communities. The seniors selected for the Charitable Foundation scholarship program are deserving of recognition and we are very happy we can assist them as they embark on their college careers,” said scholarship program chair Nina Yamaguchi.

“Now on its 16^th year, the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Scholarship Program is one way REALTORS® are able to give back to the community and to our youth,” added John Tripp, 2015 president of the Realtor Charitable Foundation. “We thank the teachers and staff in each of the participating high schools for helping make this program a success. The program is truly a partnership effort between the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation and the dedicated educators in our service area.”

Members of the REALTOR® group who presented the scholarships to the recipients during their school’s senior awards night were Chris Alston (Keller Williams), Fe Manzano (Century 21 M&M and Associates ), Jimmy Kang (PNC Mortgage), Nina Daruwalla (Coldwell Banker), Cassie Maas (Alain Pinel Realtors), Dani Fletcher (Sereno Group), Suzanne Yost (Alain Pinel Realtors), Mark Burns (Referral Realty), Mary Tan (Coldwell Banker), Robert Reid (Keller Williams), Sue Bose (Referral Realty), David Tonna (Alain Pinel Realtors), Russell Morris (Coldwell Banker) and Theresa Loya (Coldwell Banker).

Since the program started, the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation has provided $288,000 in scholarships to students in the communities served by members SILVAR. The scholarships are made possible by donations from REALTOR® and affiliate members of SILVAR.