GGUSD Celebrates its Accomplished Class of 2022 Valedictorians

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

The Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD) Board of Education celebrated the district’s 12 Class of 2022 high school valedictorians during its meeting on May 17 with a video spotlight of each of the accomplished scholars.

“The Board of Education is extremely proud of this group of intelligent, well-rounded and hard-working scholars and we are confident that they will go on to achieve lifelong success,” said Board of Education Trustee Teri Rocco.

Bolsa Grande High School tri-valedictorian Chuong Tran will attend UCI to major in Mechanical Engineering to pursue a career in aerospace or robotics. Chuong enjoyed leading his STEM Math-Escape team to second place in regionals and helping lead the water polo team to CIF.

Bolsa Grande High School tri-valedictorian Fatimah Patel will attend UCLA to major in English with the goal of pursuing a career as a lawyer. She developed an interest in law through her participation in Bolsa’s UCI Saturday Academy of Law program where she presented a case to a superior court judge in a real courtroom and earned a Merit of Excellence award.

Bolsa Grande High School tri-valedictorian Khanh Giao Pham Tran will attend UCLA in the fall to major in Biochemistry with the goal of becoming an anesthesiologist or surgeon and helping the sick and underprivileged in her community. In high school, she enjoyed becoming the front ensemble section leader in Drumline and earned the ADLA Scholarship for Drumline.

Garden Grove High School valedictorian Justin Pham will attend UCI to major in Computer Science and hopes to pursue a career as a software engineer. Justin is an AP Scholar with Distinction and was on a student team that won the area’s Congressional App Challenge.

Hare High School valedictorian My Nguyen will study psychology at Golden West Community College and hopes to open her own art therapy or counseling clinic in the future. In high school, she was on the Principal’s Honor Roll and received recognition for her award-winning artwork.

La Quinta High School valedictorian William Tran will major in Biomedical Engineering at UCI with the prestigious UC Regents Scholarship. He’s proud that he was accepted into every university he applied to and in high school, he enjoyed playing on the boys’ basketball team.

Los Amigos High School valedictorian Brianna Bayliss earned the prestigious Gates Scholarship and the Regents Scholarship at UCLA where she will major in Mechanical Engineering. In high school, Brianna enjoyed the Simon Scholar program, leading discussions in Coffee House Club and participating in competitions with the Minorities in STEM Club.

Pacifica High School co-valedictorian Natalie Huynh will attend UCSD in the fall to major in Bioengineering and Biotechnology with the goal of pursuing a career in the field of renewable energy. The AP Scholar with Distinction won first place in the UCLA Nanovation competition and founded her school’s Craft Buddies Club to foster friendships and inclusiveness.

Pacifica High School co-valedictorian Kane Li will attend UCSD in the fall to major in Computer Science. The Commanding Officer of Pacifica’s NJROTC, Kane enjoyed competing in the Academic Decathlon, placing second in the national Brain Brawl competition and earned an impressive 1570 on his SAT.

Rancho Alamitos valedictorian Vy Quach will attend UCLA to major in Biochemistry with the plan to pursue a career as a pharmaceutical scientist. A Simon Scholar and AP Scholar with Distinction, Vy was also named MVP on Rancho’s varsity girls’ basketball team.

Santiago High School co-valedictorian Valerie Garcia will attend UC Berkeley to major in Computer Science to pursue a career as a software engineer. In high school, she organized a jean drive and was proud the school donated more than 500 pairs of jeans to homeless teens in the community.

Santiago High School co-valedictorian Michael Nguyen will attend UCI to major in Computer Science with the goal of becoming a software engineer and working for Tesla, Microsoft or Google. Michael enjoyed serving as varsity captain of the school’s tennis team and was proud to earn the state’s Seal of Civic Engagement.