The Redwood City Education Foundation has named its interim executive director to be Pati Ortiz after Jason Galisatus, the current director, announced he will be stepping down.
“We are deeply grateful to Jason for his leadership, which helped transform the organization and drive growth amid the tumultuous period of the pandemic,” board President Shannon Petrello said in a press release. “He’s been a tremendous colleague and a valuable asset to the organization. We wish him all the best in his new role.”
Galisatus, who’s leaving to pursue an outside opportunity, according to the press release, was a senior at Stanford University when he joined RCEF in 2015. Most recently, he helped establish a COVID-19 Relief Fund that launched within hours of an announcement from Redwood City School District officials that classes would be going remote.
Nearly $500,000 were raised during that campaign to support struggling families with rental assistance and groceries.
Ortiz, the former head of RCSD’s Community Schools and Partnerships Department and Community School Coordinator, will now lead the agency as its board searches for a permanent replacement.
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Ciara Stuhler of San Bruno was named to the fall 2021 semester Dean’s List at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, for earning a grade point average of 3.5 or higher.
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Monika Fnu of Millbrae and Nichole McCall of Daly City were named to the fall 2021 Dean’s List at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire, for earning a GPA between 3.5 and 3.699.
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San Mateo County residents named to the Fall 2021 President’s List at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire, for earning a GPA of 3.7 or above include Michael Kennedy of San Mateo, Jordan Ballard of San Carlos, Jessica Schikore of Pacifica, Marlene Lopez of San Mateo, Brandon Smith of Foster City, Jazmine Samujh of South San Francisco, Mariah Sandoval of Pacifica, Roxanne Wong of Daly City, Herman Singh of San Mateo, William Elieff of Brisbane, Cnotra Nichols of Redwood City, Mario Ober of Pacifica, Jonathan Premenko of South San Francisco, Denise Zeron of South San Francisco, Jaslyn Escobar of San Mateo and Starley Shelton of Redwood City.
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Lucas Giarrusso of Menlo Park was named to the fall 2021 Dean’s List at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, for earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
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Andrew Chu and Yash Narayan, both seniors at the Nueva School in San Mateo, are among the top 40 finalists selected in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2022, a national math and science competition.
“This year’s finalists have shown resilience and dedication in the face of so many obstacles in their educational pursuits,” said Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of Society for Science, publisher of Science News, and 1985 Science Talent Search alum. “As our world continues to heal and find ways forward, these students will be the key to solving global challenges not only today, but in the future.”
For their projects, Chu aimed to understand how long-term storage resources could be operated in a carbon-neutral system by using supercomputers to simulate how California’s grid will grow and decarbonize by 2045, being one of the first to show that long and short term storage may operate synergistically.
Narayan developed a mobile app, DeepWaste, that helps users accurately identify whether a piece of waste can be recycled, composted or thrown in the trash by pointing their phone directly at the item.
Of the 40 finalists, 10 will be awarded between $40,000 and $250,000 during a live-streamed award ceremony on March 15 after a rigorous judging process starting March 9.
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San Mateo County residents among the fall 2021 graduating class at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, include Daniel Adelberg of Belmont with a masters in computer science, Venkat Patnala of Belmont with a masters in computer science, Nitya Tarakad of Belmont with a masters in computer science, Jason Chan of Daly City with a masters in computer science, Ephraim Kunz of Menlo Park with a masters in computer science, Pei Xu of Redwood City with a masters in computer science, Gary Shi Yin Leung of San Mateo with a masters in computer science, Mehreen Hai of San Mateo with a masters in analytics, Saozhong Han of San Mateo with a masters in computer science, Sheng Xi of San Mateo with a masters in computer science and Rishab Mitra of Half Moon Bay with a Bachelor of Science in computer science.
Class notes is a column dedicated to school news. It is compiled by education reporter Sierra Lopez. You can contact her at (650) 344-5200, ext. 106 or at sierra@smdailyjournal.com.
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