2012 Graduates Honored During Senior Awards Night

Future dancers, writers, filmmakers, athletes and doctors were honored Monday evening during the Senior Awards Night.

Alexandra Mardock was awarded the title Wolverine of the Year for her academic, athletic, musical and charitable achievements. Mardock plans to attend Rice University in the fall to study medicine. Her goal is to one day work for Doctors Without Borders.

The ceremony began with the presentation of tassels to the 122 students with Academic Distinction (cumulative grade point average of 3.5-3.99) and medals to the 87 Valedictorians (cumulative GPA of 4.0 and above.)

Derrick Xin was also honored as the Scholar of Scholars with a cumulative GPA of 4.74. Xin was acknowledged several times during the evening for his advanced placement test scores and received several scholarships. Xin is said to be one of the “top math students ANHS has ever seen” and has been taking advance math classes at University of California, Irvine.

The community presented scholarships to the soon-to-be graduates ranging from several hundred dollars to two years paid tuition at Saddleback College.

Andrew Santala received a standing ovation for his achievements and acceptance to the United States Air Force Academy. His full-ride scholarship totals $415,000.

President Ross Chun presented the Community Leadership award with and President Gary Pritchard. The scholarship, which was awarded to Allison Kerins, was a result of collaborative donations from members in the community including Donny Disbro, CEO of Professional Community Management; Dan Berzansky President, Premier Recreation Services; Mike Ricks, franchise operator of Chick-fil-A in Aliso Viejo; local  realtor Heidi Stoops; Dr. John Cheng of South Coast Medical Group; Joe and Lisa Sachen, owners of Savannah’s Organic Ranch and the Aliso Niguel Community Foundation, a new non-profit organization who made the award possible by administering funds, Chun said.

“[The donors] are leading by example,” Chun said. “Be a member of the community and help support the most valuable assets.”

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