2012 Youth Service Awards nominees
The 2012 Youth Service Awards sponsored by The Press Democrat will be......
My motivation to stay in school
By BRIANA LEPPANEN VALLEY OAKS INDEPENDENT STUDY SCHOOL, SENIOR, 17 For me, school has been mostly enjoyable. I was the quiet student who took the hand that she was dealt without complaining. But this all changed when a new teacher in the school treated the entire class disrespectfully. [...]
Teen Face: Jose Soto Jr.
By ROBERT DIGITALE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT When Jose Soto Jr. was 14, he got up at 4 a.m. two days a week to take a four-hour bus ride across dry ranching country from his hometown to Guadalajara, Mexico. Those long days in travel and classes at a [...]
Teen moms: Never had doubts about having — and keeping — her baby
By KELSEY MATZEN and SIMONE VAN OMMEREN-AKELMAN CASA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL Teenage girls daydream about the day when they will have a baby, choose a name and dress it in adorable outfits. Little thought is given to the mess that babies create, the finances that they require [...]
Teen moms: Petaluma girl unaware she was pregnant for 6 months
By ITXASO GARAY and CAMILLE GASSER CASA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL Danielle Packett, a student at Casa Grande for two years and now a junior at San Antonio High School, never noticed any changes for six months. She went about her daily life care free and unaware she [...]
Teen Face: Morgan Rasmason of Windsor
By MARTIN ESPINOZA THE PRESS DEMOCRAT To question why Morgan Rasmason excels at whatever sport she plays is a little like asking why giraffes walk moments after they’re born. “It’s how birds know how to fly and giraffes know how to walk. It’s just there,” said Kurt Ludwigsen, [...]
Teen Face: Alyssa Herr
By RANDI ROSSMANN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT El Molino High School senior Alyssa Herr is physically and mentally far from her life in the west county and a typical senior year. Herr, 18, is living in Lopburi, Thailand, through a 10-month student immersion program offered by the Rotary [...]
Procrastination: Discipline vs. delay
By RYAN LE MARIA CARRILLO HIGH SCHOOL, SENIOR, 18 “Procrastination is part of my life,” Maria Carrillo High senior Richard Liang admitted. Enrolled in five AP classes, swimming three hours a day after school and involved in a myriad extra-curricular activities, Liang’s plate is full. Yet, on a night when [...]
Teen Face: Ian Runge
By KEVIN McCALLUM THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Ian Runge had never attended a school with more than 100 students before he stepped as an awkward freshman onto Casa Grade High School’s sprawling campus. He’d spent his elementary and middle school years cloistered in small private Christian schools. Being thrown [...]
Maria Carrillo students get new perspective abroad
By AMANDA KRALEY MARIA CARRILLO HIGH SCHOOL, JUNIOR, 16 Three Maria Carrillo High School students wake up in the morning, grab all their things, and head out the door to school. But they are not going to the east Santa Rosa school. Senior Angie Howard, junior Dante Mazzanti [...]