St. Mark's Alumni News

December 2009

• John Chiu class of 1990 is living in Washington, D.C., and has recently accepted a job as an HR Specialist in Recruiting for the Smithsonian Institution!
• Andrew Lomeli class of 2001 has been working at Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as a CHCI Fellow for Health Care Advocacy since September and beginning in January at the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, where he will be working directly under the Senior Adviser for Hispanic Affairs.
• Dilip Gokhale class of 2001 is graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio on Dec 18th, with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Legal Studies magna cum laude with leadership honors. Dilip is the son of Ms. Shelia who teaches in our pre-school.

November 2009

• Sonora High School inducted the following St. Mark's alumni in the National Honor Society: Kenneth Olguin and Sasha Ostrovsky class of '06 and Christopher Gaarder and Kayse Sheppard class of '07.
• Julia Sargsyan class of '09 attending La Serna is on the varsity tennis league championship team.

September 2009

• Mark Oesterle class of 1986, is principal at Diamond Canyon in the Deer Valley Unified School District in AZ. will travel to Bulembu, Swaziland from September 27 - October 11, to renovate houses and local schools for hundreds of orphans who have lost their parents to the AIDS epidemic. This two-week trip will focus on helping the orphan crisis, with an estimated 120,000, orphaned and vulnerable children on the African continent.

August 2009

• You are cordially invited to return to St. Mark's Lutheran School for our 45th Anniversary School Reunion. Please join us on Saturday, August 8th, between 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., to reconnect with your classmates. We have invited current and former teachers who will be thrilled to see you. We'll have old photographs and fond memories to share. Lunch and refreshments will be served. We'll have some fun St. Mark's items for you to take home as mementos.

June 2009

• Jeremy Wong (05) graduating from Troy will be attending the Pharmacy School for 6 years at The University of the Pacific.
• Andrew Lomeli (01) been accepted for a one-year long Public Policy Fellowship with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington D.C. The fellowship is extremely competitive, since this year only 16 graduating college seniors were selected nationwide.
• Michelle Birtja (00) daughter of our computer teacher Mrs. Birtja, begins her extrenship today as a clerk for a judge in Pasadena. She just completed her first year of law school at Western State University College of Law.
• Kyle Kitagawa (2005) brother of Owen in 6-M is graduating from Wilson High, he has received a special 2009 AVID scholarship and will wear an AVID sash at graduation. He is planning on attending Cal Poly Pomona where he will be involved in the ROTC program.
• Chris Koo (2005) is graduating from Wilson High School, He is only 1 of 15 seniors from the entire class to receive the Black Sash award for successfully completing the IB program, he also will be attending Cal Poly Pomona.
• Tyler Lavey (2005) and son of Ms. Robin Lavey 3rd grade teaching aide has graduated from Arroyo Pacific Academy and will be attending Citrus College.

May 2009

• Congratulations to Brandon Roberts, Class of 2008, who recently participated in The Shakespeare Festival at Reseda High School. Brandon made it to the finals for his portrayal of Iago from "Othello." His group from Colony High School in Ontario placed 5th. Brandon will also appear in Colony High School's production of "Once on This Island." The play will run from May 6th-16th (excluding 5/9/09) and Brandon invites his fellow St. Mark's alumni to come out to see the play.
• Congratulations to Devinn Harris class of 2005 who was recently named Elite Dancer at West Coast Dance Explosion.
• Casey Perez class of '03 has been accepted at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY for the fall term of 2010. Evan Ezaki class of "01 will be graduating from USC
• Greg Saavedra (01) graduated 5/22 from UC Berkeley with a BA in history. He will be attending Golden Gate Law School in San Francisco in the fall.
• Kim Saavedra (05) graduates from Rosary high school and will attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo - along with other Rosary graduates Paige Dominguez going to Sonoma State, Lauren Olvera University of the Pacific, Janelle Vallejo will attend University of Arizona and Alyson Zavala will be going to UC Irvine.
• DJ Carlisle (05) Graduates from Servite on 6/6 and will be going to USC. Sean Jordan is also graduating from Servite, he will attend Arizona University.
• Alyson Merchant Schuster class of '06 and daughter of Mrs. Merchant received her Masters degree in Counseling Psychology from Mount St. Mary's. Lauren Olvera class of '06 will playing for the women's soccer team this fall when she starts at Pacific University.

April 2009

• Sonora High School released the names of students for their academic achievement awards. The following St. Mark's alumni were honored: Class of 2006 Ryan Bourgaize, Kareen Khamo, Sasho Ostrosky and Sophia Sargsyan. Class of 2007 Mariel Delgado, Sara Delgado, Nicole Fields, Christopher Gaarder, Kayse Sheppard and Matthew Tate.
• The Fullerton Sunrise Rotary Clubs honors the top 100 out of Troy High School's approx. 2,400 students. Two St. Mark's alumni were honored: Jacqueline Wu '05 and Austin Sheng '06.
• Department Head Awards were given by Troy High to the following alumni: Daniel Chiou '08 for Fundamentals of Programming, 9th Grade P.E., Biology IB, Geometry Honors and English 1 Honors, Austin Sheng '06 for Pre-Calculus Honors, U.S. History AP. Connie Lu '05 for Calculus AB-AP and Physiology. Jeremy Wong '05 for Math Analysis Honors. Michael Gamboa '05 for Advanced Composition and NJROTC 3.
• A special New College Junior Scholar Awards was given to Austin Sheng.

March 2009

• Ericka Altamirano class of '07 sister of Diego in 4 - Gamboa was named to the Honor Roll at Fairmont High School. Congratulations Ericka!!
• Congratulations also to Maddy Shipard class of "07 who was voted onto the first team all Del Rio League girls soccer team at La Serna. Maddy is the daughter of Ms. Hall P.E. Teacher.

February 2009

• Congratulations to Dillon Miyasaki, Class of 2008, who was recently selected the freshman Student of the Month at La Serna High School in Whittier.

October 2008

• Jonathan Montes brother of Natalia (7-Blue) and Amanda (6-Shelton) was one of 25 students chosen from Servite High School to carry the American Flag at Angel Stadium field during the National Anthem on October 1st.

September 2008

• Update on former St. Mark's students: Leo Shaw and Angela Wu are attending Princeton University Alex Kwok, Rachel Cheng, James Wohlmouth and Candice Chen are at UCLA, Cailyn Van Riper: U of San Diego, Ryan Chang: LMU, Brian Sam: UCI, Jasmine Hui: UC Berkeley.
• JJ Sahagian class of 08 was elected Vice President of the freshmen class at Sonora High School.

June 2008

• This year's high school graduates: Leo Shaw - Salutatorian at Troy High School, and Angela Wu - Valedictorian at Walnut High School
• Jade Vega, Victoria Martinez, Alexandra Gay and Maya Arellanes all from class of 2007, were on the Honor Roll at Rosary High School. Good Work Girls!!!!!!
• Japheth Maico (07) brother of Razelle 7-W was named Swimmer of the Varsity Swim Team at Los Altos.
• Mario Zamorano(07) now attending Whittier Christian High School received an award from CSF for "High Academic Honors" for the 2007-08 academic year. He was awarded the "Best Defensive Player" for 2007-08 Frosh/Soph Basketball Team. He also received a "Varsity Letter' for Volleyball. Mario received an award for "Excellence in Spanish 1".

May 2008

• Samantha Swoger (04) sister of Mackenzie in 6-K will be attending University of Arizona.
• Richard Washington (04) will be graduating from Loyola and has decided to attend USC.
• Ryan Chang (04) brother of Evan in 8th grade is graduating from Loyola and will be attending LMU.
• Megan Sullivan (04) sister of Patrick 7-Red will be graduating from LaSalle this week and will attend Sonoma State University.
• Tyler Thomas (07) was awarded the Best Defensive Player Award for Freshman Basketball at Sonora.
• Bryant Higa (07) brother of Joshua in 1st grade, is on the Fresh/Soph Track & field team at Sonora. He placed 1st in 200 m dash and 4x100m relay and placed 2nd in 100m dash and the long jump in the Freeway League Finals.
• Freshman Alumni at Sonora High School were awarded Academic Achievement Awards, Congratulations to Mariel Delgado, Sara Delgado, Nicole Fields, Christopher Gaarder, Kayse Sheppard and Matthew Tate.
• Nicole Fields (04) sister of Karen 7-Blue and daughter of Ms. Fields 1st grade aide was chosen as "varsity swimmer of the year" her freshman year at Sonora. Good Job Nicole!!
• Marina Harris (03) has been accepted to the Master's program in opera at USC this fall.
• Emily Muller (03) is in Phoenix working as a teacher and will be getting married this summer.
• Cassandra Jasso (04) has been accepted at USC and will major in communications.

April 2008

• Troy High School honored four (4) St. Mark's Students at it annual Top 100 Students Banquet they are: Leo Shaw, Catherine Lee, Jacqueline Wu and Austin Sheng. .Congratulations to all our former students!
• Brian Sam class of 2004 and brother of Kelly Ann Sam 8-A will be attending U.C. Irvine in September. Sasach Ghuman is graduating from Diamond Bar H.S. and has been offered a partical football scholarship at San Diego State.
• We are proud to announce that former student, Ramon M. Guerra, is graduating from St. Mary's University School of Law with a J.D. and a Masters in International Relations this May.
• At Troy High School, Top Student Merit Certificates were awarded to Jacqueline Wu class of 2005 for Spanish 3 and Leo Shaw (04) for Calculus BC/AP.
• Graduating from Sonora, Rhio Rodriguez, (04) will be attending George Washington University. Richard Johnson (04) who won a National Achievement Scholarship and plans to attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA after he graduates from La Serna.
• Devon Rennie (03) is attending USC and is on the women's track team.
• Jeremy Lee (04) brother of Hailey and Garrett Lee in 6th grade, will be attending UC Irvine.
• Melanie Mendoza (04) will be attending Berkley in the fall.

March 2008

• Jacqueline Wu - Class of 2005 is placed as one of Troy High School's Top 100 Students, and her sister Jocelyn Wu is currently in 8th grade. Congratulations Jacqueline!
• Amani Sampson class of 2004, sister of Reggie Sampson 5N/L was accepted to Wesleyan University.

February 2008

• Stanley Chung class of 2004 achieved The Eagle Scout Rank on December 22, 2007. Stanley attends Troy High.

December 2007

• Alumi from Troy High School 2007 AP Test Result:
  Stanley Chung(2004) and Jennifer Poon(2004) are named AP Scholar (Students who receive grades of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams)
• Charity Apelo(2003) currently attending Stanford, Jeffrey Brumaugh (2003) currently attending UCLA, Janice Dow(2003) currently attending U Penn , Jonathan Eng(2003) currently attending Yale, Alex Kwok(2004), Bryan Medlock(2003) currently attending USC and Leo Shaw (2004) are named AP Scholar with Distinction (students who receive an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and on five or more of these exams.
• Charity Apelo(2003), Jeffrey Brumaugh (2003) and Jonathan Eng(2003) are named National AP Scholar (Students who receive an average grade of 4 or higher on all AP Exams taken, and on eight or more of these exams.)

June 2007

• Michael Gamboa class of 2006, son of Mrs. Gamboa 4th grade teacher has received from Troy High School the Outstanding Cadet and Distinguished Cadet Awards from NJROTC. Michael also received a varsity letter in Academics & Drill in the Troy NCROTC program. Go Michael!
• Richard Washington class of 2004 received the "Most Outstanding Jr" award from Loyola High School. Great Job Richard!
• The following Seniors from Troy High will be graduating with an International Baccalaureate Full Diploma, Charity Apelo, Jeffrey Brumbaugh, Janice Dow, Jonathan Eng, Bryan Medlock. A special congratulations to Jonathan Eng, son of Mrs. Eng, Computer Tech and 8th Grade Teacher on being named Valedictorian. Congratulations to all our alumni!

May 2007

• The following students from Troy High School have received Foreign Language Awards AP/IB Spanish 4 Jeff Brumbaugh class of 2003. Spanish 1 Austin Sheng class of 2005. Japanese 4 Jessica Tang class of 2003. Latin 1 Catherine Lee. Spanish 2 Honors Jackie Wu, Latin 2 Catherine Lee.
• Class of 2003 Reunion: St. Mark's congratulates our Class of 2003 as they graduate from high school and move on to their next stage of life. Many of the former St. Mark's graduates met at the Fellowship Hall for a reunion on May 27, 2007. The reunion was thoughtfully organized by former students, Huber Bongolan, Cindy Chang, and Stefanie Wong. It was clear that you were all very happy to see each other again at the Reunion. Please see the list below indicating the plans for our former students. We are proud of your achievements in the past four years and we admire your tenacity in attaining your goals. As you enter college and careers, we extend many blessings upon each of you in all of your endeavors.

Class of 2003

• Valerie Andalibi-CSU Long Beach
• Joseph Antonios- UC Riverside
• Charity Apelo - Stanford
• Gustavo Barcena - JHU
• Huber Bongolan - UC Irvine
• Jeffrey Brumbaugh - UCLA
• Stephanie Campos - UC Berkeley
• Cindy Chang - UC San Diego
• Ryan Chen - USC
• Tiffany Cheng - UC Irvine
• Brittany Dement - CSU Long Beach
• Audrey Dong - Cal Poly Pomona
• Janice Dow - U of Pennsylvania
• Jonathan Eng - Yale
• Matthew Estrada - LMU
• Andrew Fields - UC Irvine
• Eric Godoy - Cal State Fullerton
• Solomon Gomez - either military or community college
• Natalee Goto - University of Chicago
• Ryan Hata - Mt. SAC
• Christopher Heintz - FJC
• Kasie Kang - San Diego State Uni.
• Mariesa Kubasek - Santa Clara Uni.
• Bennett Lin - Mt. SAC
• Kevin Liu - UC Santa Barbara
• Darren Mar - Cal Poly Pomona
• Lauren Marshburn - Uni. of Redlands
• Kelsey McCarthy - UC Berkeley
• Bryan Medlock - USC
• Kane Mejia - UC Riverside
• Jamie Nakatani - UC Davis
• Lindsey Newman - culinary school
• Billy Ochoa - C.S. Fullerton
• Derek Pan - UC Santa Barbara
• Kristen Prindible - Vanguard University
• Julia Roca - Tulane University
• Skyler Romero - PCC
• Stacey Saavedra - Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• Brianna Sahagian - N.Y. University
• Jon Sahagian - UC Irvine
• Jessica Tang - Wellesley
• Rebecca White - CSU Fullerton
• Brandon Wong - UC Irvine
• Caleb Wong - Cal Poly Pomona
• Stefanie Wong - UCLA

April 2007

• Chelsea Dean class of 1999 and daughter of Mrs. Dean our art teacher will be graduating from the University of British Columbia with a degree in Sociology in May.
• Matthew Guerena class of 2006, a Pre-IB student at Wilson High School has made the varsity basketball spring squad. His brother is Grant in 4- Gamboa.
• James Freimann, class of 2005 lettered in varsity wrestling at Servite High School.
• The Fullerton Sunrise Rotary Club honors the top 100 out of Troy High School's approx. 2,400 students. Four St. Mark's alumni were honored: Charity Apelo (class of 2003), Jeffrey Brumbaugh (Class of 2003), Jonathan Eng (class of 2003) and Leo Shaw (class of 2004).
• Department Head Awards were given by Troy High to the following alumni:
  Austin Sheng (class of 2006) for Geometry Honors and English 1 Honors, Connie Lu (class of 2005) for Algebra 2 Honors), Leo Shaw (class of 2004) for Computer Science AB-AP and Pre-Calculus Honors, Jonathan Eng (class of 2003) for Calculus BC-AP, Spanish AP and History of South-East Asia IB/High Level 2. Department Head Awards - Catherine Lee for Latin 2.

March 2007

• Jonathan Eng, St. Mark's class of 2003 a senior at Troy High School has been awarded the highly prestigious 2007 National Merit Scholarship Award. Only 2,500 high school students across the nation receive this award every year. Jonathan is the son of Cynthia Eng our computer tech and math teacher. Congratulations Jonathan!!!!!
• Brian Polak son of Diane Polak our Pre-School Secretary has been named head coach for the Inglewood Blackhawks. Brian played for Bishop Amat and UCLA. Brian then went on to coach at Bishop Amat and Culver City High Schools. Congratulations Brian!!
• Cassandra Jasso, a 2004 St. Mark's graduate will be performing in the Walnut High School production of Beauty and the Beast. Showtimes are Friday, March 23rd at 7:00 P.M., Saturday, March 24th at 2:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M., Friday, March 30th at 7:00 P.M., and Saturday, March 31st at 2:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M.
  Tickets are $12 for Adults / $10 for Students and Seniors
  Reservations - 909 444-3699 or www.whsasb.com/beauty/
  Walnut High School Performing Arts Center 400 N. Pierre Rd. Walnut, CA 91789

February 2007

• Morgan Hentzen, a 1998 St. Marks graduate and a June 2007 Stanford University graduate has been accepted to further her studies at Oxford University.

September 2006

• Jonathan Eng, Class of 2003, has been elected to be the president of Troy High School National Honor Society. Members of the Society also include St.Marks' Alumni Charity Apelo, Jeffrey Brumbaugh.

June 2006

• The following St. Mark's graduates from class of 2002 are graduating from Sonora High School this week. Danielle Manookian and Megan Lee will attend UCLA. Gretchen Muller - Chicago College of Performing Arts. Cydney Shindell - Pitzer College. Taleen Ghazarian, Gloria Rayo, Kristina Malkasian and Lea La Croix - U.C.I. Asal Azizonddin - U.C. San Diego. Gino Ochoa and Ariana Bejar-Naseri - Cal Poly Pomona. Mitch Calmer - Whittier College. Greg Karjala - Fullerton Community College, Rebecca MacPherson and Morgan Reily - Cal State University Long Beach. Lisa De La Pena - San Diego State University. Madison Stewart - Oregon.
• Ryan Chang, class of 2004, brother of Evan 6-M placed 2nd with a Chinese Bamboo Flute in the Woodwind Category competitions at this year's Junior Classical League State Convention in Northern Ca.

May 2006

• Megan Sullivan & Jacqueline Adams have been appointed to the Student Life Council at La Salle High School for the 2006-07 school year. Megan is the Assistant Commissioner of Spirit and Jacqueline is the Assistant Commissioner of Activities.
• Julian Robles class of 2002 has been offered a soccer scholarship to Michigan.
• Jeffrey Woo, class of 1998 is graduating from UC Riverside with a degree in English and completing his Teaching Credential through the Graduate Studies Program next year. Jeff is the brother of Katie (4-S) and Libby (4-A) Woo.

April 2006

• Samantha Swoger sister of Mackenzie (4-Anton) was elected ASB Commissioner of activities at Cornelia Connelly High School.
• The Fullerton Sunrise Rotary Club honors the top 100 students out of Troy High School's approximately 2,400 students. Four St. Mark's alumni were honored: Charity Apelo (Class of 2003), Jeffrey Brumbaugh (Class of 2003), Jonathan Eng (Class of 2003) and Leo Shaw (Class of 2004).
• Department Head Awards were given by Troy High to the following alumni: Alex Aw (Class of 2002) for Robotics, Jonathan Eng (Class of 2003) for Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus Honors and Physics IB, Jessica Tang (Class of 2003) for Japanese 3, Kristin Soo Hoo (Class of 2005) for Spanish 1.
• Jonathan Eng was also the recipient of Special Harvard Book Award and Boy's State Junior Delegate Award.

March 2006

• Jonathan Eng, Junior at Troy has been selected to be a Boys State Delegate by the American Legion. Only boys with outstanding leadership, character, scholarship, loyalty and service to their school are considered for Boys State. Jonathan will attend a week session in June in Sacramento, with intense study of function and operation of government in CA for city, county and state levels. Jonathan is the son of Cynthia Eng our I.T person.

November 2005

• Bryan Medlock, class of 2003, from Troy High School was awarded the Boy Scout Eagle Rank.

June 2005

• Steve Cook class of 1999 has received his AA degree in Culinary Arts and his Cordon Bleu Chef certificate from the CA School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena.
• Matthew Estrada class of 2003 and brother of Ms. Estrada 3rd grade teacher was nominated for the National Honor Society. He is a sophomore at Bishop Amat High School.

May 2005

• Jonathan Eng class of 2003 is a member of the Troy High School team which was send to Philadelphia to participate in the American Computer Science League National Competition. They brought home First Place in USA and Fifth place International.
• Kit Hentzen class of 2004 placed 4th in the 500 freestyle at the recent division 3 CIF Swimming Championships while Stephanie Cobau also class of 2004 and sister of William Cobau 6-M placed 3rd in the 500 freestyle and 5th in the 200 freestyle.
• Courtney Hentzen class of 2001 is graduating from the University of Washington and planning on going to Med School.
• Richard Washington class of 2004, was the only freshman to receive the Outstanding Cub-Community Service Award at Loyola High School on May 23rd.
• Congratulations also to former student Laura Barnes class of 1991 on receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ross University.
• Servite High School announced that two former St. Mark's students, Brian Perez and James Vella made the Principal's Honor Roll.

April 2005

• The Fullerton Sunrise Rotary Club honors the top 100 students out of Troy High School's approximately 2,400 students. Four St. Mark's alumni were honored: Chairty Apelo, Jeffrey Brumbaugh, Janice Dow, and Jonathan Eng.
• Department Head Awards were given by Troy High to the following alumni:
Art:....................................Jessica Roan
3-D Design:...........................Rosaline Wong
English 1 Honors:...................Jennifer Poon
Advanced Composition Novel:.........Alex Aw
World British Literature:.............Kristie Kang
French 2:.............................Janice Dow
Japanese 2:...........................Jessica Tang
Spanish 2:............................Charity Apelo, Jonathan Eng
Algebra 2 Honor:......................Jeffrey Brumbaugh, Jonathan Eng
Geometry:.............................Jenna Tanimoto
Geometry Honors:......................Leo Shaw
Chemistry IB:.........................Jonathan Eng
Geography/Non-western cultures IB:....Jennifer Poon & Leo Shaw
AP European History IB:..............Jonathan Eng

• Flori Pierri, St. Mark's graduate class of 2001 has been named a Scholar in the College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program and a College Board AP Scholar.
• St. Mark's graduate class of 1996, Nicole Irving is beginning her third season as one of the Laker Girls.
• Emma Cofer St. Mark's class of 2001 has been awarded a scholarship from Rosary High School for writing.
• Greg Saavedra St. Mark's class of 2001 from Servite High School was awarded the Boy Scout Eagle Rank.
• Several St. Mark's alumni where honored for their Wilson High School History Day projects in a ceremony on January 19, 2005. Earning honorable mention were Stephanie Campos, Nazi Propaganda; James Wohlmuth, Bay of Pigs; Steven Tate, American Revolution; Catherine Tay and Allyson Yee for Immigration to Ellis Island. First place winners were Evan Miller, Timothy Chan, Jeremy Lee for their Enigma project, Candace Chen for Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5: Message to Stalin; and Kelsey Wong and Audrey Yonesato for the Watergate Scandal, Jasmine Hui, Rachel Cheng, and Kimberly Chen won first place in the group competition for their Nazi Propaganda project.