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The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation Trust, the charitable arm of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®, presented scholarships to 18 graduating seniors from public high schools in Silicon Valley at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Each student received a $1,500 scholarship. The scholarship awards are made possible by donations from SILVAR members.

Now in its 24th year, the Charitable Foundation Scholars Program is a partnership effort between the foundation and educators in public high schools located in SILVAR’s service areas. The program recognizes students for their outstanding achievements in academics, extracurricular activities, and community involvement.

The selection committee, chaired by Scholars Program chair Nina Yamaguchi, includes representatives from the local business community and SILVAR. Since its start, the program has awarded $490,500 in scholarships to graduating seniors in communities served by SILVAR members.

“The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® established our scholars program as part of a long-term effort to support our communities and schools, and to invest in our youth. Our high schools are among the best in the nation. In addition to honoring our students, the program is an opportunity to thank the teachers, administrators and school board members who make our schools special,” said Nina Yamaguchi, scholarship program chair.

Students who received scholarships, the schools from which they graduated, and the colleges/universities they plan to attend are Celina Ke Yang, Cupertino High School (UC Berkeley);Quan Quoc Bui, Fremont High School (UC Riverside); Emily Z. Serrato, Henry M. Gunn High School (Santa Clara University); Elise Vambenepe, Homestead High School (UC Berkeley); Chaeeun Kwon, Leigh High School (Emory University); Audrey Zhu, Los Altos High School (UC Berkeley); Sharaniya Balasingam, Los Gatos High School (Stanford University); Qihui Sun, Lynbrook High School (Cornell University); Ada Yi Jue Cai, Menlo-Atherton High School (New York University); Hernan Maldonado, Monta Vista High School (UC Riverside); Devan Melwani, Mountain View High School (UC Berkeley); Cayden Gu, Palo Alto High School (Stanford University); Adrienne Ferguson, Prospect High School (Columbia University); Heidi A. Hu, Santa Clara High School (UCLA); Christina Chang, Saratoga High School (New York University); Maddon Hoh-Choi, Westmont High School (UC Berkeley); Sharvi Agrawal, Wilcox High School (Case Western Reserve University); and Keira Mahoney, Woodside High School (UC Berkeley).

“We are very happy that we can continue to assist our youth as they embark on their college career,” said Eileen Giorgi, president of the REALTOR® Charitable Foundation. “The seniors selected for the SILVAR Scholars Program have worked hard and deserve to be recognized. We also thank our members, whose contributions have made it possible to continue our program for 24 years.” Members of the local REALTOR® group presented the scholarship awards to the recipients during senior awards night at their respective schools. The scholarship presenters included Adriane Alston (Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno), Joanne Fraser (Compass), Jim Hamilton (Compass), Jimmy Kang (eXp Realty of California), Wendy Marioni (Compass), Tracey McNeely (Compass), Sunita Merchia (Merchia Realty), Russell Morris (Coldwell Banker Realty), Navneet Parmar (Real Estate Experts), Tammie Peters (Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno), Robert Reid (Keller Williams Realty), Sarah Sanusi (Keller Williams Realty), Stacey Woods (Compass), Selena Young (Coldwell Banker Realty).