San Mateo Grads Honored at Capitol

A handful of local high school seniors ended the school year on a high note: with a scholarship and trip to the state Capitol.

Thomas Barri of Junipero Serra High School, Hannah Chu of Alpha Beacon Christian School, Mariko Kuga of Hillsdale High School, Amrit Saxena of Aragon High School and Catherine Parmele of San Mateo High School each were awarded $1,000 scholarships – plus some recognition in Sacramento – for their outstanding work.

“It was quite the phenomenal experience – touring the state Capitol and meeting members of the state Legislature,” said Saxena. “It was an absolute treat to meet with other very highly motivated students.”

Saxena is set to attend Stanford University in the fall and double major in computer science and management science. He said he probably look for a career in academic research or consulting.

Saxena said he solely organized a nonprofit initiative to promote literacy in orphanages in India his freshman year. He continued it the next year but had to take a break one year as he was invited to MIT for a research program for the top 40 juniors in the country.

He also held math contests for younger students in his community. Saxena believes those two things, along with his 4.5 GPA and repeated success in several math contests, are what made him a likely choice for the scholarship.

The scholarships were awarded by Comcast, which handed out a total of $210,000 Wednesday to students across the state, a company spokesman said.

“Comcast has a longstanding commitment to education and community service,” said Bryan Byrd, Comcast spokesman. “The founder of Comcast thought you can’t just be a business in the community, but you have to help the community you’re in.”

Since 2001, Comcast has given out its Leaders and Achievers $1,000 scholarship to one senior per high school, Byrd said. Each high school in the Comcast area in Northern and Central California that wants to participate nominates one senior based on a combination of GPA, extracurriculars and community service. Then a third party that specializes in scholarships makes sure all the requirements are met.

Four years ago, Comcast decided to add a ceremonial function for the awardees, Byrd said. Each of the 190 students granted the scholarship and their families are invited to Sacramento for a ceremony, free tour of the Capitol and free tour of the California Museum.

Byrd said 20 students won a free laptop computer at Wednesday’s ceremony, and two names were drawn to win a $10,000 scholarship.