Favorite Sons & Daughters
Katie Eklund, 17, has been named Miss Las Vegas Teen USA.
Eklund, a senior honors student at Centennial High School, has a 4.2 grade-point average.
She plans to compete in the Miss Nevada Teen USA Pageant in January.
Eklund is the teen spokesperson for Aid for AIDS of Nevada and helps raise funds for Candlelighters, Grant a Gift for Autism and Downtown Mission Outreach.
She traveled to the Philippines this summer to volunteer with various projects, including pouring cement, funding a water purifying system and feeding children in the outskirts of Leyte and Cebu.
James Dambro and Timothy Mallon, both of Las Vegas, were named as semifinialists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program representing the top 1 percent of students in the state.
About 1.5 million high school juniors entered the contest by taking the 2010 PSAT.
To become a finalist, semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record, be recommended by the school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the student's earlier performance on the PSAT.
Geneyieve C. Ronquillo graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
Ronquillo is the daughter of Sonia Ronquillo of Las Vegas.
Alfredo B. Ramirez-Gomez has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
A 2011 graduate of Del Sol High School, Ramirez-Gomez is the son of Benjamin Ramirez of Las Vegas.
Renee D. Martin graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
A 2010 graduate of Desert Oasis High School, Martin is the daughter of Amy and John Martin of Las Vegas.
Maximilian "Max" Savage, 9, got to meet his idol, Oakland A's outfielder Hideki Matsui, when the team was playing at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
Max's mother, Erina, sent a letter to the Oakland A's explaining that her son has learning issues, and she had told him that if he improved his grades, she would take him to see Matsui play.
Max was allowed to watch batting practice from the field, then meet Matsui with the help of a translator. He took pictures with the baseball player and received a signed baseball.
Donald A. Charles has joined the U.S. Army under the Delayed Entry Program.
The program gives young people the opportunity to delay entering active duty for up to one year.
Charles, a 2010 graduate of Burk Academic Preparatory Center, plans to report to Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla., for basic training this month.
He is the son of Anthony Charles of Maple Grove, Minn., and Margaret Kenow of Las Vegas.
Andres I. Saldivar has graduated from Army Basic Field Artillery Cannon Crewmember Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla.
The course is designed to train servicemembers to maintain, prepare and load ammunition for firing.
A 2010 graduate of Desert Pines High School, Saldivar is the son of Jose Isaac and Velia Saldivar of Las Vegas.
Tatiana Pagan of Las Vegas has participated in Box City at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Ind., to help raise awareness of the homeless crisis.
On Oct. 3, World Habitat Day, Pagan was one of approximately 135 students who built box shelters, listened to community speakers share personal stories of homelessness and learned how local nonprofit organizations are addressing the issue.
Christina Louise Chenes of Las Vegas has graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a Master of Music degree.
Lauren Jewell of Las Vegas has been selected as a homecoming royalty finalist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jewell is the daughter of Dean and Cindy Jewell. She is majoring in actuarial science.
Melissa Skaar of Henderson has been named to the dean's list at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga., for the summer quarter of 2011.
