There are more than 6 million public school students in California.
Only 25 of those more than six million students were named to the 2008 inaugural California All State Academic Team. One of them is Carlsbad Unified School District's Kaylee Weil, who is an effervescent senior at Carlsbad High School.
I attended the March 11 recognition event in Sacramento, along with Kaylee, Carlsbad High School Principal Maggie Stanchi and Kaylee's proud father, Dr. Larry Rosen, who later confided that the photos he took were fuzzy due to the tears of pride streaming out of his eyes.
It was impossible not to be impressed by the students assembled at the dinner. They represented the best and brightest high school students in our state. Kaylee shined as one of the brightest among them.
Earning the achievement was a multi-step process. Every district in the state selected one student. Stanchi and Carlsbad High Counselor Patsy Bentley chose Kaylee to represent CUSD.
“Kaylee is one of the most outstanding students I've encountered in my 28 years in education. She's smart, compassionate, motivating and very giving,” Bentley said.
Out of the hundreds of students selected, 177 were honored with Academic Recognition Awards. After they were introduced, the drama turned up a notch as one by one the 25 All State Academic Team recipients were announced.
After her name was announced, Kaylee walked up to the stage where Gov. Schwarzenegger shook her hand and put a medal around her neck.
“I was shaking so much, I don't remember anything,” she later confessed. “I still can't believe I won. It seems unreal.”
Her achievement is not unreal to anyone who knows Kaylee. She carries a full load of advanced placement classes and is earning a 4.83 grade point average this year while serving as editor of the Lancer Express newspaper. The list of universities that she has applied to, from Stanford to Dartmouth, reads like a who's who of prestigious institutions of higher learning.
Kaylee pursues her passion for world peace through a high level of involvement in Kids for Peace, Future Voters of America and Student Peace Alliance. She also is active politically on local, state and national levels. In addition, Kaylee is an accomplished equestrian and rock climber.
Her sights are set on pursuing a career in astrophysics. When asked if she'd like to be an astronaut, Kaylee replied, “I'd prefer to stay on the ground.”
But after her selection to the first All State Academic Team, Kaylee was walking on air. So were all of us who were privileged to watch a wonderful CUSD student rise to this pinnacle of achievement.
Only 25 of those more than six million students were named to the 2008 inaugural California All State Academic Team. One of them is Carlsbad Unified School District's Kaylee Weil, who is an effervescent senior at Carlsbad High School.
I attended the March 11 recognition event in Sacramento, along with Kaylee, Carlsbad High School Principal Maggie Stanchi and Kaylee's proud father, Dr. Larry Rosen, who later confided that the photos he took were fuzzy due to the tears of pride streaming out of his eyes.
It was impossible not to be impressed by the students assembled at the dinner. They represented the best and brightest high school students in our state. Kaylee shined as one of the brightest among them.
Earning the achievement was a multi-step process. Every district in the state selected one student. Stanchi and Carlsbad High Counselor Patsy Bentley chose Kaylee to represent CUSD.
“Kaylee is one of the most outstanding students I've encountered in my 28 years in education. She's smart, compassionate, motivating and very giving,” Bentley said.
Out of the hundreds of students selected, 177 were honored with Academic Recognition Awards. After they were introduced, the drama turned up a notch as one by one the 25 All State Academic Team recipients were announced.
After her name was announced, Kaylee walked up to the stage where Gov. Schwarzenegger shook her hand and put a medal around her neck.
“I was shaking so much, I don't remember anything,” she later confessed. “I still can't believe I won. It seems unreal.”
Her achievement is not unreal to anyone who knows Kaylee. She carries a full load of advanced placement classes and is earning a 4.83 grade point average this year while serving as editor of the Lancer Express newspaper. The list of universities that she has applied to, from Stanford to Dartmouth, reads like a who's who of prestigious institutions of higher learning.
Kaylee pursues her passion for world peace through a high level of involvement in Kids for Peace, Future Voters of America and Student Peace Alliance. She also is active politically on local, state and national levels. In addition, Kaylee is an accomplished equestrian and rock climber.
Her sights are set on pursuing a career in astrophysics. When asked if she'd like to be an astronaut, Kaylee replied, “I'd prefer to stay on the ground.”
But after her selection to the first All State Academic Team, Kaylee was walking on air. So were all of us who were privileged to watch a wonderful CUSD student rise to this pinnacle of achievement.