Shining stars - our list of outstanding graduating seniors

Published on June 6, 2012

Each year, we profile a group of outstanding high school seniors, culled from the many nominations sent in by you, our readers. And each year, we find it almost impossible to choose among the many extraordinary leaders, givers and enormously talented graduating teens.

Taking her role(s) seriously

Published on June 6, 2012

Disguised as an elderly woman in czarist Russia, Sheridan Pierce took the stage at Brentwood School. As the bright lights touched her face and the character took over her body, Pierce poured her heart into her role, and she realized that she was meant to act. The play was "Fiddler on the Roof," and Pierce, a ninth-grader at the time, was playing Yente the matchmaker. The significance of the role, she said, was her connection with the character on a more personal level. "Deep in my soul, I'm already a little old Jewish lady," she joked.

A song in his soul

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax
Published on June 6, 2012

Quinn Lohmann closes his eyes and tilts his head slightly. His fingers find their place between the frets of his guitar, and his voice rings out, soft and crystal clear. "We all got a life to live. We all got a gift to give. ..."

It’s all about the kids

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 6, 2012

When his late grandmother was first diagnosed with terminal cancer three years ago, Jason Aftalion was moved by the volunteers who visited her at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. "I was so touched by how they talked to her and spent time with her, so she wouldn't be lonely," said Aftalion, a Persian-American senior at Milken Community High School.

Sometimes, less is more

Published on June 6, 2012

In her junior year, Oakwood senior Katherine Bernstein spent two weeks in Sierra Leone with the North Hollywood school's immersion program. Amid carrying buckets of cement for a new school and helping to paint a map of the world in its library, she was struck by a major difference between life in Southern California and the West African nation.

A real page-turner

Published on June 6, 2012

Corinne Kentor may be coming of age in the iPad and Kindle era, but she feels most at home surrounded by books. The more classic the volumes, the better. It's "Candide" and "Don Quixote" that thrill this New Community Jewish High School (NCJHS) senior, who lights up when she discusses the works of Shakespeare or the Brontë sisters.

Working toward ‘never again’

By Ryan Torok
Published on June 6, 2012

Milken Community High School senior Leah Gluck is dedicated to raising awareness about genocide, even though it seems so distant and unsolvable.

Shoah survivors ‘graduate’ from New Jew

By Julie G Fax
Published on June 5, 2008

New Community Jewish High School (NCJHS) awarded eight Holocaust survivors honorary high school diplomas last Wednesday night, symbolically handing them back a part of their adolescence that had been stolen by the war

Outstanding seniors, Class of 2008

Published on June 5, 2008

Southern California's best and brightest graduating high school seniors

Gifts for Grads That Will Make the Grade

By Emily Pauker
Published on June 9, 2005

Gifts for Grads That Will Make the Grade