Valley students attract recognition and scholarships

Lauren M. Viola, a junior at Faith Lutheran Junior-Senior High School, has been selected for membership by the National Society of High School Scholars. Lauren, 16, helps tutor fellow students at her school and also is on the track and cross country teams. The National Society of High School Scholars organization was founded in 2002 to recognize high school students for their academic excellence. The society has more than 150,000 members from 15,000 high schools in nearly 20 countries.

In other youth news:

* Natasha Dua, a junior at Green Valley High School, recently participated in a leadership conference offered to high school juniors through the Foundation for Teaching Economics. The nonprofit organization, which was founded in 1975, offers workshops, internships and training sessions that encourage economic thinking on national and international issues.

* The National Merit Scholarship Corp. recently announced additional winners of Merit Scholarship awards financed by colleges and universities. These scholarships provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for as many as four years of undergraduate study at the educational institution financing the scholarship. The Southern Nevada high school graduates selected as scholarship recipients are: Azaan Akbar of Bishop Gorman High School, Chelsea Stephenson of Coronado High School, Anna Banchik of Advanced Technologies Academy, Erik Brizzee of Palo Verde High School and Jenny Qi of Silverado High School.

* Juniors Bradley Hesse and Amber Walker, both cadets in the Air Force Junior Reserve Office Training Corps at Western High School, have been selected to participate in the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security Oct. 23-28 in Washington, D.C. Bradley and Amber were selected based on their scholastic merit, civic involvement and leadership potential.

* Six Southern Nevada high school graduates are recipients of Vision Source's 2007 See the Change Scholarship. Each recipient will receive a $2,000 scholarship. Vision Source awarded three scholarships to graduates planning on studying art and design, and three to graduates who will study health or science. The health and science recipients are: Christine Lemon of Spring Valley High School, Rachel Ferebee of Palo Verde High School and Shaina Johnson of Mojave High School. The art and design recipients are: Shanice Stevens of Southern Nevada Vocational Technical Center, Stacie Timothy of Las Vegas High School and Jean Wang of Durango High School.

* Channchi Chau, a graduate of Las Vegas High School, is a recipient of the Timothy Wu Scholarship through the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation. Channchi, who received a $3,000 scholarship, was one of 20 scholarship recipients selected by the foundation. The foundation has been awarding scholarships to Asian-American high school seniors since 1989.

If you know of a worthy candidate for this column, mail information to Youth Spotlight, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070, or send faxes to 383-4676.