Sequoia HS Leader Founded Shoe Donation Club

When reading Sophie Schouboe’s resume of classes and extracurriculars, it’s difficult to imagine that all this was achieved in just four short years of high school.

But the Whitman College-bound senior can track her own transformation from a somewhat shy freshman to a more confident, outgoing senior who will give the Valedictorian Commencement speech along with her on Friday.

“She’s a super star in the classroom,” said Principal Bonnie Hansen. “But she also cares about the success of everyone around her. Her presence makes classes better for everyone.”

The modest student attributed a large part of her success to her teachers’ assistance and teaching styles.

“They take time to form personal relationships and pushed me,” Schouboe said. “I really wanted to succeed because they helped drive me and made me think that I could do whatever I wanted to do, even ridiculously hard subjects, like Physics.”

Schouboe’s mother, Judy, modest like her daughter, also pointed to other influential individuals on her daughter.  

“I couldn’t say enough good things about the teachers at Sequoia,” Judy Schouboe said. “That personal level has helped her tremendously because she thrives on that relationship with her teachers.”

However, Judy Schouboe did recall a key point during Sophie’s high school career that spurred Sophie’s love for the environment.

It was only six weeks spent in a rural village in Paraguay back in 2008, but Schouboe came back three years more mature, her mother said. The teenager had stayed with a family through the Amigos de las Americas program and focused on environmental projects in her time in South America.

It was this trip that led to a summer job with the city manager’s office’s Verde Youth Ambassadors. During her summer job, she and the other ambassadors built a composting system for Woodside High School. They also tended to the gardens at , Woodside High and , and even built a new one for Garfield Elementary School.

Her senior year, Schouboe also became president of the ECOS (Environmental Outreach and Service) Club. She and the club organized the second largest environmentally safe e-waste drive that the partner company, Green Citizen, had ever helped organize.

 “Often times, this waste is shipped to developing countries where the chemicals can harm the people who handle them,” Schouboe said.

In Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, Schouboe plans to study either environmental studies or psychology. In addition to the multitude of interesting environmental experiences, Schouboe said a psychology class she took senior year piqued her interest in how the brain controls certain body functions.

Schouboe explored other activities when she and her friend, Stephanie Lee, started a Shoe Rafiki Club that sought to donate shoes to Kenya. However, they quickly learned the logistical difficulties of sending shoes to Kenya and re-routed their destination to the Philippines, where Lee’s family was from.

Each shoe donor wrote a note attached to the shoes that explained where the shoes had traveled and how the wearer had used them. The recipient then sent a note back electronically about how he or she planned to use them.

“I really liked the personal connection of writing notes,” Schouboe said of the nearly 150 pairs of shoes she was able to donate.

 Her mother recounted other lessons that the club taught Schouboe.

“It taught Sophie what it took to motivate her peers,” said Judy Schouboe. “She also had to structure the club to bring the younger students into leadership positions.”

This compassion was also shared with her classmates and teachers.

Principal Hansen said that just this week, Schouboe dropped off baked goods to thank Hansen for everything she had done for her the past four years.

“This is a perfect example of what type of well-rounded and caring student [Schouboe] is,” Hansen said.