School Days:
Gilroy Unified School District
Spotlight on 2018 GUSD Grads
By Melanie Corona, Public Information Officer, Gilroy Unified School District
I
In June, our four district high schools, Gilroy High, Christopher High, Mt. Madonna, and Dr. TJ Owens Early College
Academy (GECA) honored 784 graduates in ceremonies throughout the community. Graduation is always a time of
renewed faith in the world as our graduating seniors embark on the next phase of their journeys: college, workforce,
military service, and life in general. The school district is proud to recognize all of our amazing Class of 2018 graduates
across the district through four examples that follow.
attend Westmont College in the fall,
majoring in biochemistry/pre-med and
music with a possible additional major
in history or communications. Michael
is considering a medical career focusing
on specialized surgery, psychiatry
with an emphasis in mental illness, or
oncology. Michael served as GECA’s
Class President for four years and as
ASB President during his senior year. He received GECA’s
2018 Character Counts Award and the Gilroy Chamber of
Commerce’s 2018 Susan Valenta Youth Leadership Award.
His high school years taught him that he doesn’t need to
change the whole world to consider his life meaningful. “By
using my gifts to improve the lives of people in the small
communities God has put me in, I’ve discovered that life
isn’t so much about how many people I reach but how much
positive change I can inspire in peoples ’ lives, even if I only
end up helping a few individuals.”
Pranavi Kethanaboyina (GECA
graduate) will take her talents to
Stanford University in the fall as a
Science, Technology and Society major.
Pranavi wants to be a Social Entrepre-
neur, pursuing clean water initiatives
and world literacy. During her junior
year, she completed her Girl Scout
Gold Award project by organizing a
STEAM Club for elementary school
students at Las Animas. The club has since been extended to
two other schools serving 100 students. Pranavi worked with
the Miss CEO organization to launch a Gilroy-based pilot
program for high school students; helping with curriculum
planning and serving as the organization’s fi rst high school
ambassador. During her senior year, Pranavi worked with
the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce to launch a local TEDx
event, “Be the Change,” for youth speakers. Pranavi served
in ASB and the Interact Club, and participated in the Santa
Clara County Offi ce of Women’s Policy Girls Advisory Team.
Pranavi credits her father with teaching her to take initiative
and problem-solve to chart the course of her life.
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
Sloane Pace (Gilroy High School
Valedictorian) will attend UC Berkeley
in the fall to major in Molecular and
Cell Biology and minor in Public Policy.
Her career goal is to practice maternal/
fetal medicine. Sloane was a member
of the Gilroy High Biomedical Science
Academy student cohort. She served as
the high school’s student representative
to the GUSD School Board, sang in the
chamber choir, competed as a varsity gymnast for the Mustangs,
and was named as the Paul Thompson Inspirational Athlete.
She participated in Girl Scouts and received the Silver Award
for her blog that provided fashion advice to young women
affected by scoliosis. This summer, she completed her duties
as Gilroy Garlic Festival Queen, coached the Xcel gymnasts at
USA Sports. She will represent Gilroy in a Sister Cities visit to
Takko-machi, Japan, in September. In her valedictory speech,
Sloane said, “I believe that being a student here has changed
me for the better and that being a Mustang has changed us all
[class of 2018] for good.”
Sergio Jimenez
(Gilroy High
School graduate) will attend the honors
program at UC Davis in the fall,
majoring in environmental engineering,
with the hopes of working for the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency or a Water
District. He is passionate about environ-
mental conservation and wants to raise
the standard of living through environ-
mental improvements in his commu-
nity. At Gilroy High, Sergio participated in CSF, Interact Club
and Link Crew. He was also a track and fi eld and cross-country
athlete for the Mustangs. When asked about his high school
experience, Sergio shared that a lesson he learned time and
again was to “help if you can help, and not help for a reward
or recognition, but because it’s the right thing to do.”
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018
gmhtoday.com
Michael Kong (GECA graduate) will