THE COMPLETE PACKAGE

From kindergarten to his senior year of high school, Michael Lee, an offensive lineman at Grant High, has never missed a day of school.

While others came up with excuses--bad hair day, hard test day, beach day, ditch day, runny nose day--Lee refused to ruin his record of perfect attendance.

The closest he came was in first grade when he got chicken pox. Fortunately, it happened during school vacation.

“It’s just like work,” his mother, Barbara, said. “It’s a commitment you make. If you have a headache, you take two Tylenols and move on.”

On March 4 at the Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills, Lee and 49 other senior football players will be honored as scholar athlete winners by the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

The players had to achieve a minimum 3.0 grade-point average while demonstrating outstanding community leadership and football ability to earn the honor.

These are the best and brightest local teenagers, the ones who offer hope for the future. Here are just a few of their inspiring tales:

* Lee, a 6-3, 285-pound tackle, lives in Pacoima and dreams of becoming a teacher.

“I just like helping people,” he said.

He credits his mother for making sure he never skipped a day of school.

“Having home-cooked meals from your mom every night [helps],” Lee said. “She took care of me. I’ve been sick but never enough to keep me out of school.”

* Ken Turner, a defensive back at Crespi, is founder and president of Students Against Drunk Drivers at the Encino campus. At the first meeting, only 10 people showed up.

“At first, people stayed away not wanting to touch the subject,” he said.

The meetings grew to 30 students. Posters were made along with a video. The message was clear: Don’t drink and drive.

“I think it’s been pretty cool,” he said.

* David Johnson, a linebacker at Canyon known for his bone-jarring tackles, was mowing the lawn at his grandmother’s mobile home park when he soon found himself doing chores for her neighbors.

“Rake the leafs, get over there, you missed a spot,” his grandmother, Dorothea, reminded him.

Johnson, who has a 3.73 GPA, seems to enjoy helping his grandmother’s friends.

“Helping people makes you feel good,” he said.

* Doug Baumwirt, a linebacker for City semifinalist Granada Hills, has been organizing swim meets for blind children who attend the Braille Institute as part of his Boy Scout duties.

“Some can hardly swim, then the next year, they swim as fast as I can,” he said. “Sometimes they’re too scared and you have to coach them across the pool and swim with them.”

He said of his experiences, “They [the kids] can teach you a lot.”

* Ryan Cornner, a linebacker from Royal with a 4.17 GPA and 1370 SAT score, works for a coffee house in Simi Valley. He’ll make the best nonfat caffe mocha with whipped cream, unless you also want a nonfat double latte or a double cappuccino extra dry.

“I get to meet different people,” he said.

Cornner wants to be an orthopedic surgeon. He said his English teacher, Judith Haren, has been a big influence.

“”She helped me learn to evaluate myself and make the changes I needed to make,” he said.

* Donny Hamilton, a defensive back at Birmingham, plans to attend San Diego State, enroll in the Navy ROTC program and become a fighter pilot.

“I’m going to come out a first lieutenant,” he said.

Hamilton looks forward to any and all challenges.

“I’m going sky diving for my birthday,” he said.

The list goes on and on.

K.C. Bounds of City champion Taft has a 4.20 GPA and 1440 SAT. Kyle Cremarosa of Burroughs has a 4.20 GPA and is headed to Harvard. Mike Meyer of Burbank has a 3.95 GPA and is a whiz in geometry. Kevin O’Shea of Alemany is an Eagle Scout. Nathan Rasmussen of Hart assists in building homes in Mexico.

Brakkton E. Booker of Sylmar wants to be the next Bryant Gumbel. Mike Seidman of Westlake was recognized as the best tight end in the nation. Largely forgotten is his GPA of 3.7 and honor roll status.

Then there’s Jeff Garcia, the quarterback from Hueneme. He’ll receive a special award at the banquet for having the most improved grade-point average.

After the first semester of his sophomore year, Garcia’s GPA was 1.20. Last semester, it was 2.66. And he promises to try for a perfect 4.0 this semester. He is the best of the success stories, a teenager who finally realized what it takes to succeed in school.

“I knew I could do it,” Garcia said. “I had to stop being lazy and put my head into the books. I told my mom for three months, ‘Disconnect the phone.’ All these girls were calling. I had to drop some sports to get my grades up. It was worth it.”

The change in Garcia’s attitude is sincere.

“I had never seen the inside of a library,” he said. “I never had an interest. Now, if someone says, ‘Let’s go to the library,’ I’m there.”

These are the teenagers ready to make a difference next year and beyond.

*

Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.

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* Garrett Lepisto

Agoura

* Kevin O’Shea

Alemany

* Kris Machiels

A.V. Christian

* Edward Chaidez

Bell-Jeff

* Daniel Tatum

Bethel Christian

* Donny Hamilton

Birmingham

* Mike Meyer

Burbank

* Kyle Cremarosa

Burroughs

* Bryan Jones

Calabasas

* Tanner Ragland

Campbell Hall

* Victor Torres

Canoga Park

* David Johnson

Canyon

* Larry Mudgett

Chaminade

* Reggie Lee

Chatsworth

* Ken Turner

Crespi

* Blane Kezirian

El Camino Real

* Chris Brandt

Grace Brethren

* Doug Baumwirt

Granada Hills

* Michael Lee

Grant

* Nathan Rasmussen

Hart

* George Witter

Harvard-Westlake

* Dwight Norman

Hueneme

* Jason Newman

Kennedy

* Mike Brown

Lancaster

* Adam Fabela

Littlerock

* Ashcon Madjid

L.A. Baptist

* Ernie Azpeitia

L.A. Lutheran

* Joshua Rosenthal

Monroe

* Cause Hanna

Newbury Park

* Justin Thenutai

North Hollywood

* Todd Fenton

Notre Dame

* Zach Schwartz

Oak Park

* Shane Johnson

Palmdale

* Chris Borquez

Paraclete

* Walter Melgar

Poly

* Bun Kaing

Reseda

* Ryan Cornner

Royal

* Ricardo Acevedo

St. Genevieve

* Jason Edmond

San Fernando

* John Van Duzee

Saugus

* Tim Bird

Simi Valley

* Brakkton E. Booker

Sylmar

* K.C. Bounds

Taft

* Wes Cobos

Thousand Oaks

* Lorenzo Deliso

Valencia

* Andrew Shin

Van Nuys

* Mike McKenna

Viewpoint

* Paul Tait

Village Christian

* Mike Seidman

Westlake

* Eduardo Sigal

Westmark

* Tony Sullivan

Cal Lutheran

* Marc Zimmerman

Valley College