Two Recent Graduates Honored in S. El Monte

Two area graduates were honored recently by the South El Monte City Council.

George Retamoza, 20, a 1991 graduate of Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead, has been accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. For the past year, he attended the Naval Academy Prep School.

“I have dreamed of attending one of the U.S. military academies ever since I started high school,” Retamoza said.

Cynthia Villegas, 18, will visit Japan for six weeks this summer as a friendship ambassador, sponsored by the South El Monte Industrial Lions Club.

Villegas graduated June 18 from Mountain View High School in El Monte, where she was a California Scholarship Federation Gold Seal student. She plans to major in biology at Pomona College.

“I’m eager to meet the Japanese face to face and see their way of life firsthand,” Villegas said.