For the Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Kent Rotary Club honored the top graduating seniors from the Kent School District at its annual scholar recognition event May 20 at Green River Community College.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Students in the top 5 percent of their graduating class, as determined by their individual schools, were invited along with their families. A total of 97 students from Kentlake, Kent-Meridian, Kentridge, Kentwood, Kent Phoenix Academy, Kent Mountainview Academy, and the iGrad program were honored.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The evening’s program was emceed by Greg Haffner, president of the Kent Rotary Club, and included an inspirational opening by Edward Lee Vargas, superintendent of Kent School District; speeches by student leaders from each school who were selected to speak on the topic of academic success; the principals of each school recognizing their top graduating seniors; and the presentation of 11 academic scholarships.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Student speakers were Christina O’Connor, Kentlake; Mahboobeh Hosseini, iGrad; Alexander Dunmire, Kent Meridian; Kenji Nishikawa, Kent Mountainview Academy; Haley Higgins, Kentwood; Jasmine Olsen, Kent Phoenix Academy; and Maria Anderson, Kentridge.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Rotary Academic Scholarships were $1,500 each and are derived from proceeds from the annual Kent Rotary Escapades Auction held annually at the Showare Center.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The 11 scholarships totaled $16,500 and were awarded to:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2022 Navid Azodi, Kentwood, who is attending University of Washington The Kent Rotary will present vocational scholarships to students from Kent’s Career and Technical Education Program in early June.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n ====<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u2022 Forogh Bashizada, Kentwood, who is attending UW
\u2022 Trisha Glover, Kentlake, who is attending Pacific Lutheran University
\u2022 Mahboobeh Hosseini, iGrad, who is attending Bellevue College
\u2022 Soo Jung Kwon, Kentridge, who is attending UW
\u2022 Tien Nguyen, Kent Meridian, who is attending UW
\u2022 Jasmine Olsen, Kent Phoenix Academy, who is attending Green River Community College
\u2022 Christina O’Connor, Kentlake, who is attending UW
\u2022 Naresh Oli, Kent Meridian, who is attending UW
\u2022 Erika Sweet, Kentridge, who is attending Santa Clara University
\u2022 Paula Whitmire, Kentwood, who is attending UW<\/p>\n<\/p>\n