Tartan Scholars Class of 2007

• This first graduating Tartan Scholar is described as very strong academically, excelling in science and the humanities. Her teachers find that, “she is confident, honest, and maintains an extraordinary level of focus and involvement in everything she takes on”. She earned a Gates Foundation Millennium Scholarship that will pay for all expenses for ten years of higher education with no financial cap. Students qualify for this award by excelling in the classroom and demonstrating a financial need to continue their education. She will major in Pre-Med at Stanford University and plans to become a surgeon.


• Both her parents expressed thanks for the help provided by the Foundation. Her father explained, “The level of academic advice and focused counseling provided by St. Margaret’s helped my daughter get into Stanford”, and her mother said, “The Foundation scholarship provided a powerful financial match to our parenting efforts”. Her mother was very grateful for the “example of social responsibility” set by the Picerne Family Foundation and, in a speech at the Tartan Scholars Dinner, she encouraged the graduating Tartan Scholars to follow Mr. Picerne’s example and make their world a better place.
  


• The second graduating student’s extraordinary personal strength is seen in her many accomplishments. Her counselor said, “she gets the job done – whatever it takes. She is very intellectual.” Her class load included Advanced Placement (AP) English and Latin. She was very involved in dance for four years, played softball, and is interested in Environmental Science. Though she has not yet fully determined her plans for the future, she will be attending University of California, Davis.


• “Mature, independent and spunky” is how the third graduating Tartan Scholar is described. Her peers know her best as a phenomenally fast soccer player on the varsity team. The Vice Principal said she shows a “natural talent for pulling people together”, and described her as “the glue” on the Varsity Soccer Team. She excelled in the humanities at St. Margaret’s and plans to take pre-med courses at University California, Davis. Inspired after witnessing the birth of a younger sibling, she is pursuing her dream to become an OB/GYN.


• The fourth graduating Tartan Scholar’s counselor described her as a “very competitive overachiever who is strong academically”. Her course load included many AP classes such as History, Art, Calculus, and Chemistry. She loves Latin and Egyptian and can interpret hieroglyphics. She participated in the Harvard model congress program in San Francisco and was inspired to become a public defender after becoming concerned about inequity in the justice system for those who have few financial resources. This student plans to study English or Psychology at Stanford University as preparation for law school.


• Both students and staff at St. Margaret’s look up to the fifth scholarship student. According to her school counselor, she is “an extraordinary, quiet leader, mother figure, and spiritual guide for others”. She was elected to be on the student honor committee by both faculty and peers. Participating in chorus all four years, she was also involved in theater and even directed a student play. She managed the softball team, played on the basketball team, and attended many of the Tartan football games with her father. This student will be attending University of California, Santa Barbara, with a full scholarship to pursue her studies in sociology and social work. Inspired by her aunt who runs an orphanage in Mexico, she hopes to start her own orphanage some day.
  

For further information about the Tartan Scholar Program, contact Ryan Dahlem, Director of Admissions, St. Margaret's Episcopal School at (949) 661-0108 ext. 251.

Click Here to Contact the Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation