Albany Today

MacGregor High School graduate Yesenia Vasquez, center, wins the Albany Police Activities League 2009 college scholarship. With Vasquez is APAL Executive Director Chief Mike McQuiston, left, and APAL Board Member Brad Griffith, right

The Albany Police Activities League has chosen Yesenia Vasquez as their 2009 scholarship winner. Ms. Vasquez graduated from MacGregor High School in June 2009 where she stood out both as a top student and an outstanding contributor to the Albany community, the organization said. She will begin her college career next week at Contra Costa College.

Yesenia graduated one year early from high school due to her outstanding academic performance while earning the respect of many students and every staff member, APAL said. She excelled in the culinary arts program where, according to Principal Alexia Richie, “she led cooking classes, worked with over 400 elementary students and took charge of other catering projects for (school) district functions.”
Yesenia volunteered in an Adult Education cooking class assisting with food preparation, cooking and cleanup while employed at several other jobs and attending MacGregor high school. The instructor had high praise for Yesenia’s contributions to the program especially her dependability and strong work ethic.

Yesenia said she has a passion for helping others, especially children, and her future goal is to become a pediatrician. She has already begun her career in the health field working in a local orthodontic office.

“I enjoy building relationships with my patients, educating them on healthy dental care, and giving them the confidence to smile,” Yesenia said.

The Albany Police Activities League Scholarship Committee and its Board of Directors said it is honored to have Yesenia Vasquez as their scholarship winner and wished her the best in her future endeavors. For more information about APAL and its programs, please go to: www.albanypal.net

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 3:59 pm and is filed under People in Albany. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.