Heads Above the Crowd

Each spring, The Times invites Orange County high schools to nominate members of their graduating class for outstanding achievement in the areas of leadership, academics and the arts.

The nominees form an incredible group. Before the names ever reach us, the schools--many of which have scores of truly outstanding students--have had to narrow down their picks to three. The newspaper then chooses one of the nominees to spotlight with a profile of each school and a list of members of the senior class in this section.

It isn’t easy. But it sure is fun.

All the nominees are accomplished--and inspiring.

Here are this year’s nominees, representing schools with senior classes of 25 or more, and in some cases graduating classes of nearly 700 students:

Aliso Niguel High

Leadership: Joshua K. Partington

Academics: Rick Zinke

Arts: Lauren Nicole Roth

Anaheim High

Leadership: Darlene Tu’ua

Academics: Omar Khalid

Arts: Victor Ramos

Bolsa Grande High

Leadership: Ebony H. Reed

Academics: Nga Ngoc Nguyen

Arts: Le My Duong

Brea Olinda High

Leadership: Tiffany Whitton

Academics: Michelle K. Allis

Arts: Brooke Nichols

Brethren Christian High

Academics: Alison Bergman

Buena Park High

Leadership: Miggy Fagins

Academics: John Y. Shen

Arts: Susannah Colleen Hicks

Calvary Chapel High

Leadership: Jeremy Ampe

Academics: Charles M. Eldridge

Arts: Esther Ivey

Canyon High

Leadership: Liza Clay

Academics: Elizabeth Smith

Arts: Monique Faye Crine

Capistrano Valley High

Leadership: Chandra King

Academics: Maulik Shah

Arts: Joey Hurley

Capistrano Valley Christian High

Leadership: Caleb Patrick Lund

Academics: Sarah Andrews

Arts: Kate Pierce

Century High

Leadership: Andrew C. Albers

Academics: Leakana Houth

Arts: Cesar R. Villa

Cornelia Connelly High

Leadership: Michelle Lynn Isaac

Academics: Annelise Marie Heinz

Arts: Lisa Cristina Perez

Corona del Mar High

Leadership: Siamak Shahmardi

Academics: Aaron Gruber

Arts: Emily Ludmir

Costa Mesa High

Leadership: Myra Dimson

Academics: Bruce Hancock

Arts: Arthur LeRoy Ross

Cypress High

Leadership: Natalia Martinez

Academics: Walter Dan Nguyen

Arts: Ryan O’Brey Bishop

Dana Hills High

Leadership: Deana Nogales

Academics: Yousuke Hamai

Arts: Heidi Andrea Rhodes

Edison High

Academics: David K. Chan

El Dorado High

Leadership: Tracy Le

Academics: Jennifer C. Shieh

Arts: Jonathan Mann

El Modena High

Leadership: Jeff Tucker

Academics: Monica Castillo

Arts: Lily Good

El Toro High

Leadership: Josue Lopez

Academics: David Isen

Arts: Angelina Kalani Holliman

Esperanza High

Academics: Max Lin

Estancia High

Leadership: Geoffrey Fortner

Academics: Eva Varma

Arts: Bret Taboada

Fairmont High

Leadership: Adeel Husain

Academics: Michelle Jo

Arts: Meghan Lindsey Clyne

Foothill High

Leadership: Juliet Chung

Academics: Naomi Tomimatsu

Arts: David Waibel

Fountain Valley High

Leadership: Geoffrey Marecek

Academics: Sean Chou

Arts: Marisha Goldhamer

Fullerton Union High

Leadership: Avery De Venanzio

Academics: Kim Van Ngo

Arts: Kristin F. Godeke

Garden Grove High

Leadership: Nicole Nguyen

Academics: Tung Huu Nguyen

Arts: Tiffany Holm

Huntington Beach High

Leadership: Zac Ryder

Academics: Erin Nettifee

Arts: Brendon O’Connor

Irvine High

Leadership: Shai Kalansky

Academics: Vernon Liang

Arts: Kimi Armstrong

John F. Kennedy High

Leadership: David Y. Joo

Academics: Anne Ho

Katella High

Leadership: Steve Seung-Hoon Do

Academics: Guillermo M. Vargas

Arts: Emily Sanderson

Laguna Beach High

Leadership: Emon Abdolsalehi

Academics: Aaron Michael Krinsky

Arts: Michael Irish

Laguna Hills High

Leadership: Jenny Lynn Steiger

Academics: Golnaz Alemi

Academics: Shirley J. Lai

Arts: Loren Mader

La Habra High

Leadership: Kimberly Anne Jenkins

Academics: Janie B. Porter

Arts: Elizabeth Ann Mahon

La Quinta High

Leadership: Stephania Loan Vu

Academics: Chau Diem Tran

Arts: Stacia Dike

Loara High

Leadership: Jackie Leeman

Academics: Linda In Yea Kim

Arts: Abby Rose Winnick

Los Alamitos High

Leadership: Katy Ansite

Academics: Dylan Kann

Arts: Catherine Elizabeth Learned

Los Amigos High

Leadership: Phi Tang

Academics: Renee Orem

Arts: Kevin Ancheta

Lutheran High of Orange County

Leadership: Meera Gupta

Academics: Derek William Bartlett

Magnolia High

Leadership: Asiolefolasa “Asi” Asoau Faoa

Marina High

Leadership: Danielle Allison Alvarez

Academics: Sandy Lee

Arts: Don Bui

Mater Dei High

Leadership: Leonard J. DeLorenzo II

Academics: Julia Kelly

Arts: Travis Coleman

Mission Viejo High

Leadership: Ann Marie Yeager

Academics: Lily Bradley

Arts: Jay Donnell

Newport Harbor High

Leadership: Matt Singer

Academics: Rusty Hill

Arts: Justin Lo

Ocean View High

Leadership: Andrew Spencer

Academics: Jessica Noel Johnson

Academics Zeynep Eroglu

Arts: Elisa Lee Avik

Orange High

Leadership: Krista Pellerin

Academics: Paul Nissenson

Arts: Rebecca Lujano

Pacifica High

Leadership: Miles Harrigan

Academics: Daiana Radac

Arts: Keara Skinner

Rancho Alamitos High

Leadership: MyMy T. Lu

Academics: Dieutrang (Susan) Le

Arts: Daniel E. Navarro

Rosary High

Leadership: Katie McCann

Academics: Megan Corty

Arts: Natalie Xavier

Saddleback High

Leadership: Chrystal Garcia Santoyo

Academics: Huy Tran

Arts: Tuan Anh Nguyen

St. Margaret’s High

Leadership: Megan Canright

Academics: China An Hanson

Arts: Emily Evans

San Clemente High

Leadership: Briana Stephenson

Academics: Jennifer Thomas

Arts: Esrom Jenkins

Santa Ana High

Leadership: Miguel Bolanos

Academics: Jenny Zavala

Arts: Karla Navarro

Santa Margarita High

Leadership: Stacy Fikert

Academics: Brad Poon

Arts: Jackie Sepulveda

Santiago High

Leadership: Blanca Prado

Academics: Daniel Quach

Arts: Rosa Medina

Savanna High

Leadership: Eranio Cordova

Academics: Chi Tran

Arts: Andrew Bermond

Servite High

Academics: Kyle Smith

Arts: Eric Woolery

Sonora High

Leadership: Joy Grether

Academics: Christopher M. Streeter

Arts: Johannes Beers Rittershausen

Sunny Hills High

Leadership: Lindsay Florin

Academics: Raj M. Vyas

Arts: Garrick Chak

Trabuco Hills High

Leadership: Heather Denos

Academics: Marisa Dye

Arts: Tony Huy Duc Tran

Troy High

Leadership: Alex Smolen

Academics: Clinton Conley

Arts: Bryan Fulton

Tustin High

Leadership: Daniel Choi

Academics: My Le Nguyen

Arts: Shad Laws

University High

Leadership: Shallon Lester

Academics: Elaine Auyoung

Valencia High

Leadership: Jean Liao

Academics: Ida Sze-Yat Kwok

Arts: Kathryn W. Yu

Valley High

Leadership: Enrique Escobedo

Academics: Lam Giang

Arts: Michelle Santana

Villa Park High

Leadership: Steven Lee Choate

Arts: Annie Bates

Western High

Leadership: Aaron Bell

Academics: Christopher Hurtado

Arts: Roberta Kosht

Westminster High

Leadership: Alicia Lanz

Academics: Minh Luu

Arts: David L. Parks

Whittier Christian High

Leadership: Christina Denise De La Torre

Academics: Juliane Irvine

Arts: Grace Chisholm

Woodbridge High

Leadership: Anne June Christensen

Academics: Siddharth R. Patel

Arts: Amir Khosrowpour