Walnut High School senior Samantha Kozlo, the school’s ASB president, was lauded with the Super Star Student Award for her efforts to keep students and staff connected throughout the pandemic. Since summer 2020, Sarah was in daily contact with school leadership to find ways to boost morale. In January, when COVID-19 numbers surged and the hope of returning to campus looked bleak, Sarah coordinated a presentation designed to build empathy and finish the year strong. Students and teachers shared their perspectives and frustrations with distance learning. The meeting was authentic, insightful, vulnerable, and allowed the Mustang family to grow stronger.
“Sam, you could have given up, lost hope, and phoned it in for the school year, but you continued to push through,” praised Principal Dr. Ryan Maine. “Thank you for your unwavering leadership and the countless hours you invested into our school this year!”
Walnut High School parent volunteer Sarah Woo received the Partner in Education Award for her steadfast involvement as KAPA (Korean American Parent Association) president, Walnut High Community Club member, and band parent. KAPA has been instrumental in bringing the school’s Korean community together while gathering donations, recruiting volunteers, and offering support. One of the many examples of Sarah’s service through KAPA includes coordinating Teacher Appreciation Week staff goodie bags.
“The success of Walnut High School rests heavily on the support and dedication of community volunteers like Sarah,” said Principal Maine. “Sarah, we are grateful for your time, energy, talent, dedication, and the many ‘bandwiches’ you’ve made for our band kids. Our school is a better place because of your service!”
The Walnut High School Wolf Corp. Robotics Team received recognition for winning the Inspire Champions Award at the Los Angeles FTC Regional Tournament in a field of 70 teams last month. This is the first time a team from Walnut Valley USD has received this elite award. Wolf Corp. also scored the Compass Mentor Award and took 3rd Place in the Robot Game, 2nd Place - Think (Engineering Notebook), and 2nd Place - Connect (Interacting with STEM Companies) Award. The team also qualified for the World Championship for the second year in a row. Congratulations to members Kawin Watkins, Nathan Tan, Gordon Lau, Jason Wang, Conor Fox, Kevin Yu, Joshua Hsu, Daniel Ji, Glory Zhang, Zhenkai Weng, Ethan Tungpalan, Jonathan Soo, Prerna Bharath, parent coaches Scott and Lek Watkins, and club advisor Amanda Lindmann Boeder.