There was a movie in the 1980s called “Soapdish,” in which Sally Field played an ego-fragile actress who, when she re-affirmation of her stardom and popularity, would stop in a shopping mall and soak up all the adolation from random fans.
Scott Hettrick
Here in Arcadia, if you ever need a boost of inspiration, it can be found each year at the annual Public Schools Luncheon hosted by the Masons at the Arcadia Masonic Center, where an amazing group of Arcadia High School seniors are introduced who are National Merit Scholarship Finalists. Of the 1.5 million students who apply for this privately-financed competition, only 15,000 become finalists. AHS principal Dr. Brent Forsee prefaced the parade of academic superheroes by noting that many cities have only a handful or less than a handful of National Merit Scholarship Finalists and many entire states have 10-12 or less. Arcadia High introduced 22 finalists Thursday. While that is amazing, what is inspirational is to watch each of them come forward to introduce themselves and note the university they are attending — the list sounds like they are reading the top-ranked schools in the country: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, and of course USC and UCLA in some cases.
Finalist Albert Gianatan with AHD principal Dr. Brent Forsee (l) and Mayor John Wuo.
But what makes you smile is when their names are announced and you hear the cheers from the fellow students, especially those in the Senior Men and Women club who come to volunteer as waiters and waitresses for the lunch. And the goose bumps come when they begin thanking their parents (most of whom are standing there taking pictures) and the teachers who have inspired and supported them. One young lady said she was very proud to be an Arcadian. Most are amazingly confident and eloquent, and mix in a delightful assortment of typical teenage-speak. Extra-curricular programs are called “Extra-currics.” When completing their comments many ended with, “So, yeah…” Some throw in some humor like the one who credited/blamed his father for picking out the suit he was wearing, which he said was OK even though it was a little short.
The Finalists: Rohan Anand, Kuan Chang, Nathan Chou, Albert Gianatan, Alexander Hwang, Boyang Jiao, Benjamin Kim, Daniel Lee, Jerry Li, Rui Li, Qiao (Jacky) Liang, Aimee Lim, Melody Lin, Irene Liu, Kimberly Long, Zhi Yuan (Brandon) Luo, Goldie Shen, Rayna Tian, Justin Wang, Nancy Wei, Annie Yang, and Evin Zhao. Said Deputy Superintendent and the moderator of the lunch Dr. David Vannasdall after the students were all introduced, “That just never gets old; I could watch that all day.”
Deputy Superintendent Dr. David Vannasdall
The program also included a number of songs played by the All Arcadia Elementary Honor Band and recognition by retiring Superintendent Dr. Joel Shawn of the winners of the Profiles in Excellence staff recognition program, including Teacher of the Year Lorie Felippa. Other teachers recognized: Irene Cheng, Paul Childs, Renee Costarella, Lauren Englund, Tom Forbes, Loni Harris, Susan Kim, Terry Liu, Raymond Mynster, Lorie Purdy, Amy Short-Graves, Bradley Smith, Carole Spies, and Alejandra Worozaken.
In the non-teaching category, Olivia Lopez was named Classified Employee of the Year, and other recognized were: Lee Callander, Bernice Carrasco, Tamara Goad, Anne Joseph, Connie Lopez, Lisa Lucas, Gabriella Mejia, Teri Rademaker, Eric Sandberg, Olga Villegas, and Marianne von Kriegenbergh.
The guest speaker at the event was former Arcadia Mayor and Past Master of Arcadia (Masonic) Lodge #278, Jim Helms.
— By Scott Hettrick