Board of Education honors two students for their exemplary extra-curricular achievements

On Tuesday, Nov. 17, the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD) Board of Education recognized two students with a “You Are The Advantage” award — Sana Talwar from Valencia High School, and Connor Sung from Lakeview Elementary School.

The “You Are The Advantage” award is one of the district’s most prestigious commendations.

Sana Talwar is an International Baccalaureate (IB) and Val Tech student. She responded to the Technovation Challenge, which encourages girls from around the world to build an app that addresses a community problem. Sana’s team created an app to promote volunteerism, and was mentored by Valencia teacher Natasha Ulibarri. Their efforts caught the attention of filmmaker Lesley Chilcott, who was directing a documentary on the initiative. The documentary is called “CodeGirl,” and it honors the efforts of 5,000 high school girls from 60 countries that participated in this year’s Challenge. Sana was not only featured in the film, but was also invited to its premiere in Hollywood and a studio interview on CNN. Recently, Sana and her team received $15,000 in backing from a venture capitalist in San Francisco, as well as support from an app developer who is facilitating the interests of other investors in New York. This experience has raised Sana’s awareness of gender inequality in the tech field, and ignited a passion to inspire and equip high school girls to pursue careers in computer science and engineering.

Connor Sung has been studying piano since the age of four under the instruction of Jenny Shin. He has participated in local and international competitions, and has been honored with invitations to perform in various piano concerts. Recently, Connor was awarded first prize at the fourth annual Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition for Young Pianists in New York City. In October, Connor received the gold medal in the French Suite Category at the Southern California Junior Bach Festival. And in June, Connor performed at Carnegie Hall as an award for winning first prize in the Elementary Division of the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition. At age five, he and two other students of Ms. Shin had the rare opportunity to perform at a private fundraiser concert with pianist Lang Lang in San Diego. Connor has won many additional awards at international youth piano competitions. Along with his piano studies, Connor enjoys spending time with his older brother and sister, both of whom also play the piano and are alumni of Lakeview Elementary.

Both students exemplify the district’s core values, and the recognition of the a “You Are The Advantage” award is well-deserved.