April 28, 2006

Preuss School Student Wins $20,000 Scholarship
to Add to Multiple Graduating Honors

By Pat JaCoby

Christopher Khavarian, a senior student at the Preuss School at UCSD, has been recognized as one of the country’s most outstanding high school seniors by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and awarded a $20,000 college scholarship.

The latest award provides the topping on a layer of other scholarships—totaling some $45,000—that this mega student has accumulated en route to graduation in June. Among these were scholarships from Nordstrom Community Scholars, the Chargers Champions, Penny Savers Youth Excellence Scholarship, Bank of America Achievement Award and the Ford Salute to Education.

Christopher Khavarian

Khavarian joined 249 other high school students who competed for the 50 national Coca Cola Foundation scholarships of $20,000 during a Scholars Weekend in Atlanta, Ga. A national selection committee representing education, business, government and arts leaders from throughout the U.S. evaluated the students on their academic achievements, school and community leadership, and desire to succeed. The finalists were chosen from an initial applicant pool of more than 50,000 representing some 23,000 high schools nationwide.

A San Diego native, Khavarian has been admitted to Stanford University where he will major in bioengineering sciences and hopes eventually to become a transplant surgeon.

He entered the Preuss School in 6th grade as a member of the charter class and since then has held a number of leadership posts. He currently serves as editor-in-chief of the Preuss School newspaper, president of the Preuss Chapter of the National Honor Society and member of the California Association of Student Coumcils, among others. For the last three years he served as co-chair of the San Diego County Science and Engineering Fair, and was a founding member and spokesperson for the first West Coast high school chapter of Students for Organ Donations.

Media Contact: Pat Jacoby, 858 534-7404