“Two-hundred hours … Wow, that’s a lot,” Carlos Martinez said as he leaned back in his chair and glanced at fellow Redmond High senior Athena Anderle on Tuesday afternoon.

Martinez was floored by Anderle’s amount of community service hours, time spent volunteering at City of Redmond events like the Centennial Bonfire and Eggstravaganza. She was also involved with the Redmond Nourishing Network, an organization that aims to stamp out hunger for some students in the Lake Washington School District.

Martinez made an impact as two-year president of the Latinos Unidos Club and organized Cinco De Mayo and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) events along with a toy drive that benefited the Seattle Children’s Hospital and more.

Both 17-year-old students will receive their diplomas on June 17 at KeyArena in Seattle and are the Redmond Reporter’s featured Mustang graduates this issue.

Anderle (3.8 grade-point average) will next attend the University of Washington and major in chemical engineering, and Martinez (3.2 GPA) will first head to Bellevue College and then transfer to UW to major in communications and hopes to eventually produce fashion shows.

“I did a lot of outreach to organize and present events. I really enjoyed working with people. I wanted to make a difference in the community,” Martinez said of interacting with representatives from the City of Redmond and the Old Fire House Teen Center. He had to be at the forefront and make things happen, “I had to speak up and come out of my shell,” he added.

In addition to performing community service, Anderle was Redmond High’s Key Club vice president and Associated Student Body treasurer. She didn’t just attend classes and head home afterward, she was dedicated to “branching out and being a more independent and confident person for the future,” she said.

Anderle also job-shadowed her aunt at Acucela, a medical company focused on finding a cure for age-related macular degeneration, the largest cause of visual loss for people over age 50.

By learning from her aunt, Anderle was able to “do something that was pretty important for me and the people around me. They’re making something that could help people.”

Anderle and Martinez don’t know exactly what awaits outside of the Redmond High halls they’ve called home for the last three years. Things are going to be different, they say, and they’re looking forward to building new communities of friends in the classroom and beyond.

BEAR CREEK

Over at The Bear Creek School, seniors Sydney Helton and Yoon Lee sat down with the Reporter on Monday to discuss their time on the Redmond campus and their plans after graduation, which will take place tomorrow at the First Presbyterian Church in Bellevue.

Helton and Lee both attribute the sense of community at the small Christian school to making them who they are today. Here’s the lowdown on the soft-spoken 18-year-olds: Helton is involved in student leadership and drama and will study international relations at Boston University; Lee is a National Merit finalist and will study his beloved math at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.

“Getting to know the faculty and students kind of pushed me out there,” Helton said of getting involved at school. On the leadership front, she’s learned to “give opinions and not be scared of getting shot down.”

Helton, who sports a 3.85 GPA, said that by being involved in drama she’s learned that everyone’s important, whether it’s the star of the play or the students behind the scenes.  She’s performed on stage and taken on the role of assistant stage manager during her four years at Bear Creek. As assistant stage manager, Helton thrives when it comes time to “take charge and make sure things get done and that everybody does their best.” She plans to stay involved in the theater realm at Boston University.

Lee arrived at Bear Creek six years ago after his family moved to America from Korea.

At first, he didn’t speak much English, but communicated with people through math problems, he said. That bond with students and teachers soon grew when he became accustomed to the American culture and language.

“I gained confidence from that,” said Lee, who has a 3.97 GPA. “People have sincerely welcomed me and I’m a completely different person.” He’s also helping other Koreans adjust to American life as a teacher’s assistant at the United Seattle Korean School in Shoreline.

On branching out from his first American home and attending college in California, Lee added: “I’m a little nervous, but I’m excited.”

Less than a week prior to graduation, Helton buzzed about the “insane” bond that the seniors possess.

“I’ve learned to value the people around you and the community,” she said.

(Redmond’s Overlake School declined to participate in the senior spotlight because school officials didn’t want to single out individual graduates.)