Valleywide : 40 Students Named National AP Scholars

In recognition of their extraordinary academic achievement, 40 students from San Fernando Valley high schools have been named National Advanced Placement Scholars.

The students were chosen because of their outstanding performance on eight or more college-level Advanced Placement exams, said Janice Gams, spokeswoman for the New York-based College Board, which administers the annual tests.

In all, Valley recipients represented 5% of the 734 students selected nationwide and 19% of California’s honorees. Gams noted that based on their exam performance, all of the scholars received credit for at least two years of college.

“These kids are dynamite,” she said.

Former North Hollywood High School student Grace S. Kwak was one of seven scholars selected to attend a special College Board luncheon held last week in San Diego. She is now attending Harvard, said her high school counselor, Susan Bonoff.

Other AP scholars from Valley-area schools this year are Eric Seidman, Chaminade College Preparatory, West Hills; Alex Wagner, El Camino Real High School, Woodland Hills; Tung Khuu-Nguyen, Glendale High School, Glendale; Alice Chang, Cleveland High School, Reseda; Matthew Ahart, Joseph Blitzstein, Michael Borden, Joshua Bush, Aditya Damle, Eric Futoran, Elizabeth Goodman, Erik Horacek, Chichien Hou, Brittany Kesselman, Caroline Kim, Kim Nguyen, Keith Rabkin, Steven Stiglitz, Arvin Tseng and Zachary Weinberg, all from Harvard-Westlake School, Studio City.

Also: Shane Cooper, Anton Dochtermann, Damon Francis, Sander Granat, Zheng Huang, David Javier, Helen Kwak, Robert Lamont, Joon Lee, David Lowsky, Juan Nuno, Eyal Ophir, Sarah Pearlman, Nick Sanders, Kevin Shapiro, Christine Simons and Insoo Suh, all from North Hollywood High School, North Hollywood; Meredith Protas, Van Nuys High School, Van Nuys; Gary Witt, Westlake High School, Westlake Village.