Area students earn school scholarships

Local high school seniors were among the winners in the finals of the 2004 Bank of America Achievement Awards program in the Gold Coast region, West San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley area.

First-place winner Jonathan Kommemi of Simi Valley High School won a $2,000 scholarship.

Second-place winners Sujing Qiu of Westlake High School and Tyler Mullen of Viewpoint School, both Westlake Village residents, earned $1,500 scholarships each.

Gerard Lumban of Thousand Oaks High School won a $500 scholarship.

The final event, held in Santa Barbara recently, was one of 10 regional finals held throughout the state. About 15,000 seniors from public and private high schools were selected as outstanding students in the first phase of the competition.

Among the major criteria in selection of honorees were: academic achievement during judging, the qualities of leadership, character, personality, regard for others and a sense of civic responsibility.

Ultimately, 320 finalists were selected to compete in the 10 regional final Achievement Awards events.