lc graduate salute 06 2020

Larchmont Chronicle JUNE 2020

Congratulations,

Class of 2020!

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Local graduates reveal their choices for college

By Billy Taylor

Looking for ways to give back to the community Hancock Park senior Chris Tanquary has deep family roots in the neighborhood.

His grandfather, Grafton P. Tanquary, was raised on Dunsmuir and attended Third Street School and Los Angeles High School. But for Chris, he has matriculated at Larchmont Charter School (LCS) from first grade.

When asked about his time at Larchmont Charter, Tanquary says that he will best remember his time on the court: “Quite frankly I am a sports kid. My passion is basketball.”

Tanquary explains that he grew up playing on the LCS basketball program, which has been “built from the ground up” over the past six years: “I will miss it very much.

Playing on the team taught me many lessons, including sportsmanship, loyalty, brotherhood and humility.”

In fact, Tanquary says that his experience with LCS basketball is the reason he now wants to pursue a career in

says that he is planning to study this fall at Santa Monica College, where he will begin his kinesiology courses. From there, Tanquary says that he wants to transfer to UCLA to obtain his teacher’s credentials.

“My intention is to return to my LCS family and teach physical education and coach basketball,” says Tanquary, who notes that he’d ultimately like to specialize in working with kids that are physically challenged. “Quite frankly, I want to give back to a community that has given so much to me.”

In the meantime, Tanquary admits he’s looking forward to some free time: “It’s been a long, very busy 12 years.”

Chris Tanquary

physical education, as a teacher and coach.

Senior year activities were cut short this year, including tennis season, another sport that Tanquary plays. “It’s been sad and difficult to process,” admits the graduating senior.

“It has certainly given me a

different view of life, and it has exposed inequalities in society. I think it’s up to my generation to change that now.

However, I don’t really want it to go back to normal; I want it to go back to better,” says Tanquary.

With that in mind, Tanquary

To study mathematics, medicine on campus Immaculate Heart senior Samantha Hutchinson also is a longtime Larchmont resident, and, for the past year, she has served as a school reporter for this paper.

“I have lived in the Larchmont community since I was born. This community means everything to me, and the people here are like family,” says

Hutchinson, who attended Larchmont Charter for elementary before transferring to Immaculate Heart (IH).

While at IH, Hutchinson worked as a member of the student council and she helped to plan two dances.

Both are experiences that she says taught her “about the responsibilities it takes to be a leader.” Outside of school, Hutchinson volunteered at Cedars-Sinai on the weekends.

“Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus pandemic, my track season was cancelled and so was our school’s tradition of having graduation at the Hollywood Bowl,” said Hutchinson of her biggest senior year disappointment.

When it came time to consider college, Hutchinson says she first narrowed her list to her top 10 schools. But because of the pandemic, she didn’t get to visit any of the campuses.

“My top three picks were Cornell, UC Berkeley and Boston College,” said Hutchinson.

In the end, she has decided to attend UC Berkeley because (Please turn to page 4)

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GRADUATES OF 2020 says that “everything for the fall is really up in the air,” but she says that there is a real possibility that classes will begin online for the first semester.

Samantha Hutchinson

College choices (Continued from page 2)

of the school’s “amazing mathematics program as well as the tremendous amount of school spirit and traditions that they have on campus,” said Hutchinson. She plans to study applied mathematics and pursue a career in the medical field. “Hopefully this blend of science and math can help me launch a successful career.”

Currently, Hutchinson

Moving east for a little academic exploration Fremont Place resident Bryce McMullin told us that his main activity during his senior year at Loyola High School was the theater program. “I acted in two productions, one of which got cut short,” said McMullin. In addition to acting, he served as the program’s spirtual coordinator, which means he organized small pre-show moments for the cast and crew to pray and reflect.

In 2018, McMullin played the lead role of King Richard in “Richard III” at Loyola’s Hannon Theatre (while maintaining a weighted cumulative GPA above 4.0).

McMullin’s senior activities didn’t end with the theater program; he also served as a member of his school’s Big Brother program, which helps incoming students adjust to life at Loyola.

“So much about my senior year was changed by the coronavirus,” McMullin told us last month. “The obvious one

being the sudden transition to an online schedule.

“The change to an online schedule meant the sudden cancellation of our spring musical, ‘Pippin,’ which ended after nearly two months of daily rehearsals.” McMullin says that the school allowed the cast to invite parents to attend the last rehearsal: “But it definitely wasn’t the same,” he says. Other changes to the Loyola schedule meant that graduation was moved to online, and senior prom was cancelled.

While considering colleges, McMullin says he spent a lot of time visiting campuses for both official tours and personal trips: “I probably visited around 30 in person,” he says. Soon, he realized he had a problem because he “liked most of them,” so he spent some time and narrowed his list to 12 schools. When asked, McMullin says that his top four choices were Yale, UPenn, Vanderbilt and Duke.

Which did he pick? “My final decision was Duke,” says McMullin. “I applied for early decision and got in, which meant that I didn’t have to complete the application essays for many of the shools on my list, as early decision is a binding agreement.”

the extent of freedom I have in choosing my classes, and that I don’t have to declare a major until the end of sophomore year.”

That extra time might come in handy because McMullin says that he is “terribly unsure” about his focus in college and beyond: “I enjoyed my senior psychology class, so I may choose to pursue that, and maybe a theater studies minor. But as of right now, I am just going to take the classes that seem of interest and hope to figure it out from there.”

Bryce McMullin

Coincidentally, McMullin says that Duke was the first campus that he visited. “Something about the look and the atmosphere there just felt right,” he admits.

An impressive theater program, smaller class sizes and specific opportunities in Duke’s curriculum are reasons McMullin lists: “I like

To study film production at a California university

For Larchmont Charter senior Amaya Lawton, senior year was her favorite year in high school, until it ended.

“Senior year meant I had a lot more freedom and was able to focus a lot more on my art and personal projects without being stressed out like in previous years,” says Lawton, who is a Larchmont Charter lifer.

For the past couple of years, Lawton says that she’s had the opportunity to express her creativity in her school’s visual and performing arts pro(Please turn to page 5)

Immaculate Heart Congratulates the Class of 2020!

A Catholic, Independent, College Preparatory School for Girls Grades 6 – 12

Our graduates have been accepted at universities and colleges across the country, including: American University Amherst College Bard College Bishop’s University Boston College Boston University California State University, All Campuses Cal Poly Pomona Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Chapman University Colgate University Connecticut College Cornell University DePaul University Emerson University Fordham University Gonzaga University Goucher College Grinnel College Howard University Loyola Marymount University Loyola University Chicago Macalester College Mount St. Mary’s University New York University Oberlin College Otis College of Art & Design Pepperdine University Pomona College Purdue University

Rhode Island School of Design Reed College Rollins College Saint Mary’s College of California Santa Clara University Sarah Lawrence College School of the Art Institute of Chicago Seattle University Smith College Spelman College Syracuse University The Catholic University of America The George Washington University Tufts University University of California, All Campuses University of Chicago University of Michigan University of Oregon University of Portland University of Puget Sound University of San Diego University of San Francisco University of Southern California University of St. Andrews University of Washington University of Wisconsin Madison Vassar College Virginia Tech Wellesley College Whitman College

5515 Franklin Avenue ♥ Los Angeles, CA 90028 ♥ (323) 461-3651 ♥ www.immaculateheart.org

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College choices (Continued from page 4)

gram: “I’ve been acting in the school’s plays and musicals since my sophomore year, directing and designing costumes for these shows since my junior year, and that’s in addition to art, yearbook, choir and film classes.”

It was going to be an amazing senior year, she thought. Then coronavirus hit: “I was working on our spring musical, where I was planning to do both acting and costumes, when it got cancelled a week before we were set to open.”

Since then, Lawton says that she has been helping to create artistic illustrations to fill empty pages of the yearbook. “It’s really sad for a lot of my peers that all of the things we’ve been working towards all year, like in visual art, performing art, and sports, have been cancelled, and we’ll never get to celebrate all the hard work we put towards them.”

When looking at colleges, Lawton started with a list of five schools: “I had a very precise focus on where I wanted to go, and I wanted to spend more time perfecting those applications instead of doing tons of applications personalized to colleges that I wasn’t enthusiastic about.”

Lawton intends to study film production, and although she felt like there were “a fair amount” of great programs in California, she quickly narrowed her top picks to Chapman University, UCLA and Cal State Northridge.

WESTRIDGE SCHOOL

Congratulations Class of 2020

Amaya Lawton

“A few weeks ago, I committed to Cal State Northridge for a degree in cinema and televison arts, which I’m really excited about!” said Lawton.

The Cal State campuses will probably be closed this fall, Lawton’s been told, so she is planning to start college online: “Thankfully, my program for the first year is all general education units, so I’ll be able to knock them out at home.”

Even with the inconveniences, Lawton is optimistic: “The good thing from this situation is that we’ve been encouraged to make friends early, by getting involved in your future college’s online communities. I’ve already made a few friends, which I may never have done.”

Members of the Westridge Class of 2020 will continue their educational pursuits at the following institutions: Barnard College Boston University (2) Brandeis University Brown University California Institute of Technology University of California: Berkeley Santa Cruz (2) University of Chicago (3) Claremont McKenna College (2) Columbia University & Trinity College Dublin Cornell University George Washington University (2) Hamilton College Haverford College High Point University Indiana University Johns Hopkins University

CLASS OF

Lehigh University Loyola Marymount University (2) University of Michigan University of MinnesotaTwin Cities New York University (3) Northeastern University (3) Oberlin College Pasadena City College University of Pennsylvania (2) Princeton University (3) Scripps College University of Southern California (7) St. Olaf College The New School Tufts University (3) Tulane University (2) Vassar College (2)

Washington State University University of Washington Wellesley College Wesleyan University

An independent, forwardthinking girls’ school committed to educating intellectually adventurous thinkers, and courageous, compassionate leaders.

324 MADELINE DRIVE, PASADNA, CA 91105 626.799.1053 EXT. 256 WESTRIDGE.ORG

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Commencement looks different this year; first graduating class for GALA

By Rachel Olivier Graduation is looking a little different for high school seniors this year. Many schools are hosting online events with an eye to having in-person celebrations or commencement ceremonies later on in the year. Some schools are trying different ways to make it special, such as yard signs announcing graduates, keepsake boxes, films celebrating the graduates and car parades.

GALA’s first graduating class This year will be the inaugural graduating class for Girls Academic Leadership Academy (GALA).

“We are so proud that all of our girls are graduating, and 80 percent are going on to a

four-year university — many with full scholarships,” said GALA’s principal Elizabeth Hicks. The school will have a virtual pre-recorded ceremony for its 43 seniors, which will be shown June 11.

An online baccalaureate service to recognize 16 graduating seniors at Episcopal School of Los Angeles will be held Thurs., June 4.

“We will hold our full-blown celebrations as soon as it is safe to do so and when we can get all of our graduates together,” noted Megan Holloway, chaplain at the school.

This will include a commencement ceremony and dinner for the seniors and their families later in the year.

Almost 300 Harvard-Westlake graduates will accept diplomas in a drive-through ceremony Fri., June 5, according to Ari Engelberg, head of communications at Harvard-WestCOLLAGE showcases some of the many lake. signs posted on neighborhood lawns con- W e s t r i d g e gratulating our 2020 graduates.

School honored

MARLBOROUGH SCHOOL DRIVE-THROUGH COMMENCEMENT takes place on May 28, in the parking lot and driveways of the school, and features teachers cheering on their graduating students.

Photo by Bill Devlin

63 graduating seniors with a car parade after the online commencement Fri., June 5.

Board chair Rick Caruso will address 303 Loyola High School seniors at a virtual graduation ceremony Sat., June 6.

An online ceremony was held for the 73 seniors graduating at Shalhevet Sun., June 7.

There will be 350 Fairfax High students graduating in an online ceremony Thurs., June 11.

Larchmont Charter High

School will hold a virtual ceremony for 103 graduating seniors Fri., June 12.

Ceremonies later in the year The 19 high school graduates at Pilgrim School were given yard signs and keepsake boxes to help celebrate their graduation. In addition, the school is making a film about the students and their families that will be shown at a drive-in event sometime in July. Kris Williams, librarian at Pilgrim School, said the film would in-

corporate many of the elements of their traditional baccalaureate service. They hope to have an in-person ceremony later in the year, perhaps in December.

Earlier ceremonies There were 20 seniors who accepted diplomas at New Covenant Academy May 14 via a ceremony held over YouTube.

A Zoom reception followed.

Marlborough School hosted a drive-through celebration for 88 graduating seniors May (Please turn to page 13)

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‘Signs of affection’ posted on lawns of graduating seniors

By Talia Abrahamson High school seniors across Los Angeles and the nation received large gift boxes with custom signs and wire stakes this spring.

Schools including Campbell Hall, Harvard-Westlake, Shalhevet and Marlborough delivered lawn posters to all their graduating seniors and encouraged them to post the signs on their front lawns.

What Campbell Hall calls “signs of affection” are small tokens to celebrate high school graduation while everyone remains socially distanced. With “Class of 2020” embossed on the front, the signs are meant to distinguish homes with graduating seniors so that passersby can recognize their accomplishments from afar. The lawn signs are customized with school colors and mascots so that students can also represent their schools when at home.

Students have been sending in photos with their lawn signs to school social media accounts for virtual celebrations. These photos serve a second function: to document for the school archives how students and administrators are finding ways to celebrate seniors while traditional in-person ceremonies have been suspended.

Talia Abrahamson is a 2020 graduate of Marlborough School.

LAWN SIGNS throughout the community salute graduating seniors. This is just a sample.

Congratulations to the Class of 2020

2020 High School Acceptances: Academy of Music and Performing Arts at Hamilton High School | American International School Chennai* Bishop Montgomery High School | Brentwood School* | Buckley School | Campbell Hall | Chadwick School Crossroads School | Episcopal School Los Angeles* | Geffen Academy | Immaculate Heart High School Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles High School | Loyola High School* | Marlborough School* | Marymount High School* New Roads School | Notre Dame Academy | Notre Dame High School | Oakwood School* | Pacifica Christian High School* St. Bernard High School | Wildwood School | Windward School* | Vistamar School* *Denotes Turning Point graduate(s) enrolling next fall.

8780 National Boulevard | Culver City, California 90232 | www.turningpointschool.org

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History of past college pandemic responses as a guide for this fall

By Talia Abrahamson Most universities have suspended in-person classes and sent students home to minimize potential spread of COVID-19, as the country mobilizes resources to care for growing numbers of infected patients. Officials have branded these efforts as part of their “war” against the virus, with President Donald Trump even calling himself a “war-time president.” The present circumstances are shaping up to be comparable to 1918, when the world faced a pandemic and a world war concurrently, and among others, universities have been looking to history to guide current responses to COVID-19.

1918 responses The 1918 flu pandemic, known as the Spanish Flu, swept across the globe toward the end of World War 1. With at least 50 million deaths and 500 million infections, which at the time was a third of the world’s population, the pandemic claimed more lives than the war. Traditional university life was upended, especially with the institution of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) in April 1918, which the US War Department cre-

ated to train young men for war while they were still taking college courses. 157 colleges established the SATC on campus just in time for the second wave of the virus to hit, in October. The SATC was demobilized in December following the armistice.

Because SATC training was considered vital to the war effort, students stayed on campuses, and that compelled universities to find ways to minimize spread. Universities like Yale and Notre Dame prohibited students from leaving campus and entering the surrounding college town. No member of the Yale community could see an external contact unless the Yale Emergency Council granted a special pass.

Ban on gatherings South Bend, Ind., where Notre Dame is located, instituted a ban on public gatherings. Notre Dame’s football team had to cancel three of its nine games, and classes were cancelled for a week.

Similarly, a century later on March 19, 2020, South Bend banned all non-essential travel, and like other collegiate and professional sport seasons, the football season was ended.

Incoming freshman at Notre Dame Nell Hawley said that it is difficult to start the school year in the fall without the school’s customary traditions. Because freshmen have not experienced universities under normal circumstances, many are afraid or disappointed that they are not receiving the college experience that they signed up for.

“Football at Notre Dame is a really big thing, and it’s the heart of the Notre Dame culture,” Hawley said. “Missing out on football, and just the traditions that go along with that, will be really sad, especially as a freshman.”

During the Spanish Flu, the Army had special interest in ensuring that their recruits followed optimal hygienic and sanitation procedures. Before the SATC was demobilized at the University of Pennsylvania, the SATC took over in setting up emergency hospitals and a sanitation squad. The SATC at Columbia University in New York City had one of the best records for nationwide SATC camps, cleaning and ventilating the mess hall, taking temperatures, decreasing the number of students per living space and increas-

ing the number of bathrooms.

Universities today will be looking into all of these measures, but circumstances are not entirely the same. For one, the Army is not present to aid with sanitation measures. By age, health risks to the student body are comparably lower than the Spanish Flu, whose victims were largely between the ages of 20 and 40 and were otherwise considered healthy, making college campuses hot spots for fatalities. Although research is ongoing, COVID-19 seems most serious for the elderly and people with underlying or pre-existing health conditions.

Online alternatives Colleges now have the ability to look into online alternatives for classes. Most colleges are already instituting some variant of online classes for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year and may continue those classes through the fall semester. However, online schooling is something else that disadvantages incoming freshmen, who have not had the chance to meet their peers, find friends and connect with clubs and extracurricular opportunities.

“In terms of virtual classes, I feel like that’s something I wouldn’t prefer, just because I want to meet new people,” Hawley said. “It will be hard to establish those friendships and connections early on, especially over Zoom.”

Spanish Flu-era masks Stanford and Harvard kept their campuses open, back in 1918. Stanford required all community members to wear masks made of cheesecloth and mandated nightly temperature checks. Harvard quarantined any student who sneezed or coughed during class and cancelled large lectures.

History has seen a variety of collegiate responses to pandemics, including when Cambridge sent home all students, including Isaac Newton, as a preventative measure during the Great Plague of London in 1665. While at home, Newton developed the foundations for his theories on calculus, optics and gravity.

Universities have been examining a variety of pandemic-conscious measures, some in line with historical efforts and others completely new.

Some plans include reducing (Please turn to page 15)

Congratulations to our Class of 2020 From Strength to Strength

Our graduates have been accepted into these outstanding schools:

Miles Gerber

Joey Little

Julia Vaughan

Josh Nasseri

Itai Pedowitz

Archer School for Girls • The Buckley School • Campbell Hall School • Chadwick School • Crossroads School • The Episcopal School of Los Angeles • Geffen Academy • Immaculate Heart School • Larchmont Charter School • Marlborough School • Milken Community School • Oakwood School • Pilgrim School • Rolling Hills Preparatory School • Summit View School • Tree Academy • Turning Point School • Westridge School for Girls • Westside Neighborhood School • Willows Community School • Windward School •

For more information, visit: brawerman.org/east

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USC student copes with a senior year reshaped by COVID-19

2017 Academic Junior High Decathlon STATE CHAMPIONS

Congratulations to the 2020 Graduating Class from Cathedral Chapel School!

Samantha Ayala Bishop Conaty High School Jalen Cabral Cathedral High School Kylin Cantrell John Muir High School Cristian Chapman Enovate High School Yu Hyun Choi Loyola High School Samuel Christopher Harvard Westlake School

GRADUATE Justin Chung attended his USC commencement ceremony “virtually” this year due to the pandemic.

goodbye.”

According to Chung, he only found out that he had graduated after receiving a brief email with details for a “virtual celebration” where actor and USC alumnus Will Ferrell offered students some comedic words of wisdom.

After the commencement ceremony was over, Chung was fast to start working on his next move.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time preparing for the LSATs and getting my law school applications ready,” said Chung, who plans to study entertain(Please turn to page 15)

Dominic Hernandez Don Bosco Technical Institute Patrick Holloway Loyola High School Jacob Hwong Park Cathedral High School Jihun Joo Loyola High School Paul Jopanda Cathedral High School

Justin Cofield Crossroads High School

Kennedy Kilpatrick Immaculate Heart High School

Rhyse Cunningham Culver City High School

Mark Kim Loyola High School

Megan David Notre Dame Academy

Roberto Lopez Loyola High School

Jordan del Pozo Bishop Conaty High School

Anabel Manriquez Notre Dame Academy

Jared Fellin Cathedral High School

Francesco Monzon Culver City High School

Lily Gray Notre Dame High School

Aaron Moon Beverly Hills High School

Aliyah Hampton Marlborough School

Althea Morris Campbell Hall School

Issac Nuño St. Monica High School Annie Park Marlborough School Patrick Park Loyola High School Nathan Pena Cathedral High School Camila Perez St. Monica High School Joaquin Recinos Loyola High School Calle Richtmyer-Han Immaculate Heart High School Izabella Rivera Bishop Conaty High School Katherine Sanchez Bishop Conaty High School Hannah Silverstein Notre Dame Academy Evelyn Song Bishop Conaty High School Diego Velasco University High Magnet School

A Catholic Education is an Advantage for Life!

755 S. Cochran Ave • 323-938-9976

St. Brendan School 238 S. Manhattan Place, Los Angeles, CA 90004 www.stbrendanschoolla.org

Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2020

Angelina Bland - Marlborough William Blando - New Roads Peter Borges - Loyola Erin Bracco - Immaculate Abigail Byrne - Marlborough William Chandler -Loyola Sergio Chavez - Notre Dame Chase Cheng - Loyola Jamie Choi - Marymount Finn Corboy - Loyola Cutter East - Harvard-Westlake

Luke Garvin - Loyola Baron Gonzalez - Loyola Janella Herrera - Marymount Emile Hidalgo - Loyola Imogen Hutchman - Immaculate Elianna Isbell - Immaculate Benedict Jeong - Loyola Aiden Kim - Loyola Diana Kim - Marymount Madison Lee - Marlborough Mariasole Marino - Marymount

Olivia Martinez - Immaculate Mckenzie Mercado - Immaculate Elizabeth Murphy - Immaculate Rachel Oh - Marymount Oliver Payne - Loyola Jacob Prior - Loyola Jonathan Ryu - Loyola Mary Salcedo - Marymount Louis Son - Loyola Kiley Topping - Immaculate Aiden Turrill - Loyola

©LC0620

By Billy Taylor Local student Justin Chung would have walked with his graduating class at the University of Southern California (USC) last month were it not for the coronavirus. Instead, he watched the ceremony from his home computer.

“I graduated college in my sweats,” laughed Chung, as he described the anti-climatic ending to his undergraduate program at one of the country’s most elite universities.

The longtime Miracle Mile resident and Loyola High School alumnus had spent the past four years living near USC when, in mid-February, Chung says everything changed.

“First, classes were halted, but I was still living near campus. Then, we weren’t allowed to walk around because of sanitation reasons,” Chung told the Chronicle last month.

The university quickly moved classes to Zoom, but Chung says that it was not quite the same: “We had a lot of senior projects planned that didn’t happen.”

It wasn’t just academics that Chung missed out on, but the social activities that come with graduating college: “My friends had a tradition to go to this bar called 901 on Wednesdays, and we didn’t get to do that. In fact, a lot of my friends weren’t from Los Angeles, so we didn’t even get to say

Cathedral Chapel School

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Three Fairfax students receive scholarships in virtual ceremony

By Rachel Olivier Dong Su Kim, Juel Nissi Park and Yomna Ehab Shousha, seniors at Fairfax High School, were awarded the 2020 Irene Epstein Memorial Scholarship by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) in an online ceremony May 20.

The students, who were first, second and third, respectively, in their graduating class, were presented with commemorative plaques along with the scholarships by Howard Katzman, Aerospace Corporation executive and education chairman of the Los Angeles chapter of SAMPE, at the virtual event. In addition, City Councilman Paul Koretz is mailing the winners commendations from the City of Los Angeles.

The scholarships were increased to $4,000 this year, noted George Epstein, Park La Brea. Epstein, who manages membership at SAMPE, has taught engineering courses at UCLA and for NASA, and he developed military defense systems for the Air Force, Navy and Army.

A short video presentation, in which Epstein explains the history of the scholarship award,

will be featured at Fairfax High School’s Senior Awards Night.

At the top of their class The students have each earned “A” grades in Advanced Placement math and science courses, participate in school and community events and plan to earn science degrees.

Dong Su Kim, ranked first in his graduating class out of 328 students, has a grade point average (GPA) of 4.463. Kim’s (AP) classes included environmental science, biology, statistics, calculus, psychology and physics.

He was student body treasurer, president of the physics and chess clubs and particpated in track and field. He ran in the Los Angeles Marathon as part of the Students Run L.A. Club.

Kim plans to major in bioengineering at the University of California at Berkeley.

Juel Nissi Park is second in his class, with a GPA of 4.378.

His AP classes included calculus, physical chemistry, biology, environmental science, macro economics and computer science. He was president of the math modeling club, vice-captain of the varsity tennis team, and a member of the physics club. Park plans to study premed human biology at University of Southern California.

AT THE ZOOM board meeting where scholarship students were honored included, from left to right, George Epstein, Howard Katzman, Dong Su Kim, board member Alan Hyken, Juel Nissi Park, Yomna Ehab Shousha, Fairfax High School counselor Beri Best, board member Alma Saiya and board member Sana Elyas, calling in from India.

Yomna Ehab Shousha is ranked third in her class, with a GPA of 4.365. Her AP classes included environmental science, statistics, calculus, physics, and macro-economics. She was named the Fairfax High School’s Advanced Placement Scholar with Honor. Park founded and is active in the

Girls Up Club, a UN organization that promotes the health, safety, and leadership of girls in developing countries. She plans to attend Claremont McKenna College as a pre-med or engineering student, majoring in economics and engineering or science management.

The Irene Epstein Memorial

Scholarship program was initiated in 1996 after the death of Irene Epstein, George’s wife, to assist financially needy, academically deserving students to attend college to study engineering, science, mathematics or medicine.

This is the 24th year that these scholarships have been awarded.

Visit lasampe.org.

CONGRATULATIONS! JB Culminating Class of 2020!

Best wishes to our students as they embark upon their college-bound journey. Burroughs MS students are academically prepared and they successfully matriculate to the following schools: Buckley School Campbell Hall Cleveland Magnet Fairfax HS & Visual Arts Magnet Hamilton HS & Humanities Magnet Hollywood HS SAS Immaculate Heart

“If you think you can do it, you can.” John Burroughs

Los Angeles HS SAS Loyola HS Marshall HS SAS Notre Dame HS Pacific Hills HS St. Genevieve St. Mary’s Academy University HS SAS Venice HS Windward School

A special THANK YOU to our parents, teachers, staff and neighbors for making this a successful school year!

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PRINCIPAL JASON Song addressed seniors at New Covenant Academy in one of many virtual commencement ceremonies around the city last month.

Commencement (Continued from page 6)

28. Previously, each of the seniors had received a lawn sign for her family to display, proclaiming her status as a Marlborough graduate. In addition, there are plans to host an in-person gathering either in August or December, whichever is safe, said Carly Rodriguez, director of communications at Marlborough.

Marymount High School held a virtual ceremony for 108 seniors “with plenty of surprises for our families” at the end of May, said Stephanie David, director of marketing and communications at Marymount. David noted that an in-person celebration would be held sometime in the future, when it is allowed.

Ninety-six young women graduated from Notre Dame Academy in a virtual ceremony May 30.

Christine Knudsen, longtime chair of Immaculate Heart High School’s theology department, who retired last year, addressed 118 seniors and their guests at Immaculate Heart’s virtual commencement Wed., June 3.

Additional ceremonies The following schools had not returned our calls or emails by press time, but still appear to be having some sort of commencement ceremonies.

Buckley seniors graduated May 29.

Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles has Mon., June 8 as the school’s commencement date.

Los Angeles High School will hold a commencement ceremony Thurs., June 11.

Congratulations to the

Class of 2020!

PILGRIM

SCHOOL

An Independent School Established in 1958 • Early Education • Elementary • Middle School • High School (Day/Boarding)

540 South Commonwealth Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90020 (213) 385-7351 A division of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles

This year, more than ever before, you set sail into an unknown future, but we know that you will make it yours. You will make your mark on our world. We are so proud of your creativity, strength of spirit, and resiliency as you leave Pilgrim for ports as far-flung as RISD and Purdue, as iconic as Stanford and UC Berkeley, and as close to home as UCLA, CSUN, and CalArts. You are a small class with mighty plans and we look for our future to THRIVE in your hands.

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‘Wonderland’ triplets harmonize on music of the ‘70s, ‘80s

By Talia Abrahamson Christian, Isabella and Magdalena Ortega-Christiansen perform as the band 111 Wonderland and are fresh off their first televised performance on Nickelodeon’s “America’s Most Musical Family.” They picked up singing almost a decade ago, and now, they are 15 years old.

“We sang a song together and did harmonies, and everyone loved it,” Magdalena said, “so we started after that.”

The triplets, who are Hancock Park natives, specialize in a mix of pop and acoustic music and consider the harmonies of the 1970s and 1980s as their model.

They have covered songs from “Put A Little Love On Me” by Niall Horan to “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” by Leonard Cohen.

Among other inspirations, they pointed out the Jonas Brothers, which is an allbrothers pop band.

“There’s not a triplet band,” Isabella noted. Magdalena agreed and added, “When we sing, there is a connection since we’re triplets and siblings.”

Before COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, the band practiced daily and recorded in the studio every two weeks under the guidance of multi-platinum record producer Andrew Lane.

THE BAND 111 Wonderland: (left to right) Magdalena, Isabella and Christian Ortega-Christiansen.

Photo by Ashley Wendt

They transitioned to homeschooling in seventh grade so that they could have more time to focus on their music.

In addition to vocals, each band member has an instrumental specialty, with Isabella on the piano, Magdalena on the guitar, and Christian, who decided recently to pick up the bass ukulele.

“When we want to record in the studio or play live, we want some kind of rhythm because no one plays drums,” Magdalena said. “When we learn a new song, we get our harmonies as well as our instruments down. It takes time for us to start singing and playing at the same time, but we

practice, and then it comes together and sounds great.”

111 Wonderland released its first original song, “You,” with Magdalena as lead vocalist, and dropped an accompanying official music video on Nov. 29. They have had to put additional filming on hold for the immediate future, but they have two additional original songs in the works so that each band member gets a turn at taking lead vocals.

“We don’t want the two others to be background music because it’s not really how we want that to be,” Magdalena said. “We want everyone included.”

They timed the release of

CHRIST THE KING SCHOOL Congratulations to the

Graduating Class of 2020!

Elaiza Allen Sebastian Alora Marly Ayala Eve Mariel Azul Alexander Binder Eugene Choi Tyler Dy Jon Christopher Edmalin Jacob Fernandez Erin Kim Neil Kim Brooke Lee Joel Lee Jazmine Lopez Chavez Esperanza Quintanilla Isaac Seo Brandon Torres Curtis Won Ryan Won

Undecided Loyola High School Holy Family High School Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto Loyola High School Loyola High School St. Monica High School Loyola High School Cathedral High School (Math & Science Academy) Immaculate Heart High School Loyola High School Marymount High School Brentwood St. Monica High School Holy Family High School Loyola High School Cathedral High School (Math & Science Academy) Granada Hills High School Granada Hills High School

617 North ArdeN Blvd. l.A. 90004 (at Melrose & Vine)

(323) 462-4753

©LC0620

Our graduates will attend the following Catholic High Schools

“You” with the air date of their performance on “America’s Most Musical Family.”

The Nickelodeon show, which ultimately named The Melisizwe Brothers as the winner, was a reality music competition among 30 musical families from across the country.

They submitted a video of their covers and were the last group to be selected for the show.

“It was very exciting and also shocking,” Magdalena said.

“No one thinks you’re going to get in right away. We just auditioned once. Everyone else had to do it maybe twice, but they liked us right off the bat.”

“We’re very unique,” Christian added.

They performed an acoustic version of “Without Me” by Halsey, with Isabella as lead vocalist. The group performed under their family’s name, “Christiansen,” in-line with the naming pattern established by the program. The performance was their first time singing on television.

Previously, their largest audience was about 300 people.

“I was mostly nervous because I was singing the main for that song,” Isabella said. “I never played in front of so many people, and then, of course, we’re

on TV, so I was really nervous backstage. But, as soon as I got onstage, I wasn’t nervous when I started singing.”

Although they did not advance, they gained followers as a result of the show. The YouTube video of their performance has close to 150,000 views. On Instagram (@111wonderland), their covers — many of which are filmed in their own living room — receive thousands of views. They have partnered with Palm Tree Productions to produce those videos and the band’s still images.

111 Wonderland also has a YouTube channel and Spotify account where the band updates followers with their latest songs.

“That’s why we keep posting covers and photos, so we can keep it going with our followers and our music,” Isabella said.

The triplets said they hope to perform at more venues, when it is safe to do so, and build up their social media presence with the releases of new original songs and covers.

“It’s our passion,” Christian said. Magdalena added, “This is what we want to do, forever.”

Talia Abrahamson is a 2020 graduate of Marlborough School.

Larchmont Chronicle

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(Continued from page 11) ment law. “And I’ve been managing a young artist named Nick Vyner over Zoom.”

The ambitious graduate says that he has been holding weekly “virtual meetings” with his budding artist, where they discuss music tracks set to be released later this month as well

as a live show fundraiser in the works (more information at nickvyner.com).

Although Chung says that he did have feelings of disappointment in regard to his final weeks as an undergraduate, he optimistically told us of the experience: “I’m trying to spend this time to find opportunities to better myself and to help those around me who are in need.” An approach we can all take.

VIRTUAL meetings conducted online are how Chung (right) is pushing forward with his plans for singer-songwriter Nick Vyner (left).

Fall fears

(Continued from page 10) class sizes; learning in-person with live-streamed lectures; offering only remote learning; insulating community members who are older than 35; shortening block schedules; bringing only freshmen to campus; and postponing the start of the school year to

January.

In many ways these are unprecedented times, but there are methods and lessons to be drawn from the past.

Universities will need to determine how they open, quickly, because the new fall term is only a few months away.

Talia Abrahamson is a 2020 graduate of Marlborough School.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE The Larchmont Charter School family salutes the class of 2020! We recognize your perseverance over these last few months and hard work over the last four years in achieving this milestone. We are grateful that we have been able to learn, laugh, grow and graduate "together."

CLASS OF 2020!

We're proud of you and know that you have the curiosity, creativity and compassion that our world needs now more than ever to address the great challenges before us.

Congratulations Seniors!

Anthony Aguilar • Alex Alegre • Alexander Arellano • Aaryon Belk • Liam Bermudez • Maurice Bernier Alma Blanco • Jordan Bolte • Luxe Boone • Courtney Bow • Finn Boydstun • Dominiq Brooks • Karla Calvo Polanco Kai Camacho • Paolo Camon • Karla Carrasco • Francis Cendana-Guerrero • Logan Cheney • Ryan Cheung Joseph Choe • Daniel Choi • Adriana Contreras • Lea Dahlke • Lucas Dahlke • Ryan De Jesus • Ashley De Mira Daisy Deagueros • Brazil Demarks • Georgette Elkaim • Ye-Ab Fekadu • Laura Gayfullina • Tristan Go Arianna Gomez • Madeline Gomez • Joey Gray • Daisy Green • Daevon Guerrero • Serenity Harris • London Hayes Ava Henry-Hinojosa • Oona Hollister • Joo Hong • Dana Hwang • Marwa Iskander • Bernard James Brianna James • Eoin Janeiro • Jason Jin • Eugene Jo • Evan Jones-Sawyer • Aspen Jung • Lile Khomasuridze Grace Kim • Amaya Lawton • Jade Lee • Juliann Lee • Kyoung Eun Lee • Eli Marcus • Martin Martinez Sebastian Massengale • Ruby Matheu • Emma Mele • Sofia Menck • Ashley Mendez • Linsey Miyakawa Cassius Mohapi • Emily Mondragon • Emily Moreno Melah Motani • Jaimie Myong • Gitane Neil • Adal Ong Dohyun Park • Tanner Park • Arria Patton • Lolita Perrudin • Azure Porton • Ilan Pozeilov • Roy Readmond Anthony Reyes • David Reyes • Ludwig Rodriguez • Leonard Rogers • Aaron Romo-Navarrete • Jonah Sage Gisselle Santos • Clarisse Sapida • Mickie Scheinbaum • Richard Shin • Vincent Snyder • Hinata Soares David Song • Liam Stahl • Quinn Stark • Aminata Sylla • Christopher Tanquary • Rocco Trillo • Brigid Tucker Christopher Vargas • Denice Yoon • Se Min Yoon • Ralston Young

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Larchmont Chronicle

Congratulations,Class of 2020!

We are incredibly proud of our Class of 2020 graduates who were all admitted to four-year collegiate programs and gained acceptance to over 155 college and/or university programs.

Please note that all institutions with one or more graduates attending are denoted in bold, and that a school denoted with an * indicates multiple enrollees.

American University Amherst College Bates College Baylor University Boston College Boston University * Brown University * Bucknell University California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) California State University (Fullerton) Carnegie Mellon University Colgate University College of William and Mary Columbia University Cornell University Denison University Elon University Emory University George Washington University * Georgetown University Gonzaga University Haverford College Howard University Indiana University Kenyon College Loyola Marymount University * Mount Saint Mary’s University Muhlenberg College New York University * Oberlin College Pepperdine University Rhode Island School of Design Rutgers University Santa Clara University *

Santa Monica College Scripps College Smith College Southern Methodist University * Syracuse University * Texas Christian University The New School The University of Texas at Austin * Tulane University * Union College University of California (Berkeley) * University of California (Davis) * University of California (Los Angeles) * University of California (Santa Barbara) University of California (Santa Cruz) University of Chicago * University of Colorado Boulder * University of Michigan * University of Notre Dame * University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania University of Rochester University of San Diego University of San Francisco University of Southern California * University of Virginia University of Washington University of Wisconsin * Vanderbilt University Vassar College Villanova University * Wake Forest University * Wellesley College Whitman College Washington University in St Louis *

For more information on this outstanding group of young women, please visit: www.mhs-la.org/Classof2020