Local high school seniors receive Edward Teller Science Scholarships (2009)

Four local high school seniors from Livermore and Tracy have been awarded Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) prestigious Edward Teller Science Scholarship.

The awards, instituted in 2004 in honor of the late Dr. Teller, renowned physicist and Lab co-founder, are given annually by the Laboratory to graduating seniors who excel in science studies.

This year's award winners from the Livermore Valley Unified School District are Amanda Johnston of Livermore High School and Alexa Danner of Granada High School. The Tracy Unified School District winners are Vatsal Jhalani of Tracy High School and Baljit Singh of West High School. Each receives a scholarship of $1,500 toward a college education.

Johnston is a well-rounded student athlete. She earned straight A's in all science classes with an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.9 while participating in the varsity swim and water polo teams. She will be studying at the University of California at Davis in the fall.

Danner is an accomplished student athlete who is passionate about science. She completed seven science courses while a student at Granada High School. She will attend the University of California at Davis in the fall, to study veterinary medicine.

Jhalani has taken the most rigorous science classes offered in high school. He has conducted a research project and written a paper on the antioxidant, Glutathione, in plants. His research was recognized with a first place award in the chemistry division at the Sacramento regional science fair.

Singh graduated from the Space and Engineering Academy at Tracy's West High School, where he demonstrated his leadership abilities. He helped to implement a science night at Tracy's North Elementary School, where he taught students about the basics of rocketry. Baljit will attend the University of California at Davis in the fall.

The awards were presented to each student by the LLNL's Science Education Program manager, Richard Farnsworth, at the high schools' awards ceremonies.