Students of the Month February 2021
Lake Washington High SchoolJessica Laing describes herself as a student who is driven, hardworking, compassionate and dedicated to creating change in her community. Her goals revolve around issues that are close to her heart. Jessica’s short-term goals are graduating and majoring in a field about which she is passionate, as well as continuing to be a part of community-based work. Her long-term goals include making sure African American communities are not deprived of basic necessities like affordable health care, student financial aid, proper school resources, and healthy produce in grocery stores and restaurants. She wants to improve funding for mental health and community building organizations that can improve the poverty and reduce crime that are often linked to Black communities. Galen describes her past challenges with school tests and workload, notes how she was able to overcome this with hard work, and a balance between her education and the social parts of her life. Galen’s major accomplishments include being a founding member of the Black Student Union at Lake Washington High School, co-creating a website about issues prominent in the Black community, and supporting students and faculty alike by creating the Perspectives in Remote Learning at her high school.
Juanita High SchoolIsabel Ruth Grizzard is an ambitious senior at Juanita High School, and participates in an online Running Start program at Cascadia College. Isabel likes to spend time drawing, listening to music, and talking with friends. Her goals are to attend a four-year university to study business and marketing as these subjects have been her interests since starting high school. Isabel says she gets her hard-working and light-hearted personality from my mother, who is a medical interpreter and runs her own business. Isabel says she is a great role model. Through her father's illness and passing, she always remained hopeful, but above all, she always puts her trust in God. Watching her mother succeed even through the challenges she faced, motivated Isabel to work hard in school and live a happy life. For four years, Isabel volunteered to be a group leader and participating art teacher for VBS at her Catholic church. She enjoys helping young kids with arts and crafts while teaching the word of the Lord!