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REALTOR®: Silicon Valley REALTORS® present scholarships to 18 high school seniors

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation presented scholarship awards to 18 graduating seniors from public high schools in Silicon Valley at the end of the 2012-2013 school year. The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation is the charitable arm of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR), the local trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay.

The charitable foundation's REALTOR® scholarship program recognizes students who have exemplified outstanding achievements in academics, extracurricular/employment activities and community involvement. The selection committee includes representatives from the local business community, area high schools, area colleges and the local trade association.

Los Gatos High School senior Ruchika Vashisht Goel and Saratoga High School senior Jacqueline Gu were among the students who each received a $1,000 scholarship award at their school's senior awards night. Goel plans to attend Cornell University in the fall. Gu plans to attend Brown University this fall.

Students who received scholarships from the Foundation, the schools from which they graduated, and the colleges and universities they will be attending this fall are: Nicole Reichenberger, Cupertino High School (San Diego State University); Denzel Campos, Fremont High School (San Francisco State University); Silviane Man-Willrich, Gunn High School (Mills College); Kevin Tom, Homestead High School (UC Davis); Arnela Colic, Leigh High School (UC Berkeley); Jerry Liu, Los Altos High School (Princeton University); Ruchika Vashisht Goel, Los Gatos High School (Cornell University); Soumya Kandukuri, Lynbrook High School (Occidental College); Anna de Benedictis, Menlo-Atherton High School (UC Davis); Gal Haroush, Monta Vista High School (UC Santa Barbara); Viet Nguyen, Mountain View High School (Brown University); Sharon Tseng, Palo Alto High School (Stanford University); Ian Ferguson, Prospect High School (UC Berkeley); Mahdi Khan, Santa Clara High School (American University); Jacqueline Gu, Saratoga High School (Brown University); Keren Hendel, Westmont High School (Tufts University); Ajay Patel, Wilcox High School (University of Pennsylvania); and Michelle Erazo, Woodside High School (University of San Francisco).

"This is the 14th year of the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Scholarship Program and we are very happy we can continue to assist our youth as they embark on their college careers," said scholarship chair Nina Yamaguchi. "The seniors selected for the SILVAR Scholarship Program are very deserving of recognition."

"Our scholarship program is one way REALTORS® are able to give back to the community and to our youth," added John Tripp, 2013 president of the REALTOR® charitable foundation. "We also thank the teachers and staff in each high school for helping make this program a success."

Members of the REALTOR® group who presented the scholarships to the recipients include Chris Alston (Keller Williams), Carolyn Miller (Re/Max Real Estate Services), Jimmy Kang (Wells Fargo Home Mortgage), Vivian Wang (Coldwell Banker), Bill Rehbock (Coldwell Banker), Joanne Fraser (Coldwell Banker), Kim Richman (Sereno Group), Mark Burns (Referral Realty), Mary Tan (Coldwell Banker), Amy Sung (DeLeon Realty), Robert Reid (Keller Williams), Nicole Maroko (Re/Max Real Estate Services), David Tonna (Alain Pinel Realtors), Russell Morris (Coldwell Banker) and Theresa Loya (Coldwell Banker).

Since its inception, the charitable foundation has provided $252,000 in scholarships to students in the communities served by members of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®.


The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.

The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

Variations of this article have appeared in local area newspapers.

For further information, please contact Rose Meily at SILVAR Public Affairs, email , or phone (408) 200-0109.

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