37 East Aurora Students Named IL State Scholars, Honored By City Mayor

AURORA, IL — Not only were 37 East Aurora High School students named Illinois State Scholars, but they were also honored for their achievements by Mayor John Laesch in front of city leaders at Tuesday's Committee of the Whole meeting.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the State Scholar program, identifies outstanding high school students across Illinois based on a combination of academic achievements, standardized test performance and class rank.

"Thank you for proudly representing the City of Aurora and East Aurora School District 131," Laesch said. "It's outstanding to have 37 East Aurora students being recognized here tonight as Illinois State Scholars."

East Aurora School District 131 Superintendent Robert Halverson was also in attendance and praised students' work ethic and commitment to excellence in the classroom.

"Your perseverance and the way you drive yourselves forward show that you're going to continue to do great things for our community," Halverson said. "Thank you for your hard work, your dedication to academics, and beyond that, for being wonderful human beings. We thank you each and every day for the example you set for our entire community."

The state scholars include:

• Ninel Alvarez
• Jose Arredondo
• Miriam Calzada
• Angel Camacho
• Alejandro Cantarero
• Edgar Cantu Salas, Vianey Castaneda
• Elizabeth Corral Moreno
• Lilia Deltoro
• Ivan Escobedo
• Olena Ftoma
• Samantha Gamino
• Layla Garcia
• Diego Gonzalez Trejo
• Yurem Horta
• Ziyaan Laliwala
• Giancarlo Ledezma
• Andrew Lee
• Kathy Madera
• Fernando Mancinas
• Raquel Martinez
• Sergio Martinez
• Bryan Nevarez
• Angel Nunez
• Nicole Olivo
• Arianna Overstreet-Vinnett
• Jasmine Pina
• Matteos Ramirez
• Guadalupe Reyes Vera
• Ricardo Rios
• Raul Rodriguez
• Juan Sosa
• Dariana Valerio
• Odalis Velazquez
• Joanna Villagomez
• Bryan Xique
• Giselle Zaragoza