News Release from the Highline High School Alumni Foundation

Pirate Grad Comes Through Big for Highline High School Alumni Foundation

BURIEN – Highline High School Alumni Michael Walsh has made a gigantic financial pledge to the school’s Alumni Foundation.

Walsh, a 1977 graduate, will donate $100,000 per year for five years beginning in 2019. This amount is on top of the $20,000 he already gives annually. The entire amount will be used for college scholarships for Highline seniors.

“I’m thrilled and ecstatic,” said Foundation President Gary Korsgaard, a 1964 Highline graduate. “This is just a super opportunity for us to help more students. We had a goal to expand our program and it has come true. Michael Walsh is truly an amazing individual.”

Walsh was the 2017 Highline High School Alumni of The Year. For his part, he says this is his way to give back to the community where he was raised.

“It’s the best feeling in the world to give back to others,” Walsh commented. “I want to help kids with vision to better themselves and the world. The last thing we need is to have our best students not make good decisions in their lives because of financial needs. Also, it’s much more fun to give money while you’re alive so you can see the good being done.”

Walsh gave the Alumni Foundation credit for building trust with donors. “The Foundation has done a great job with selecting kids, so that gives me and other donors faith that our dollars will be spent wisely,” he observed. The Foundation started in 1995 and offered one $500 scholarship. In 2018, it gave out 23 scholarships worth $67,000. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded a total of 341 scholarships worth $618,000.    

Walsh was what he called a “boss nerd” while in public school in Burien. In ninth grade, he rode his bicycle from Sylvester Junior High to Highline High School to take all available calculus and science classes. Once he completed these, he attended Highline Community College for advanced classes while still in high school.

He attended Cal Tech and quickly found that he was no longer the smartest guy in the room. “The whole place was populated with boss nerds from their high schools,” he laughed. “I liked that, and I wanted to learn how to hang in that room!”

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics from Cal Tech, he earned a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern. While working on his doctorate at Northwestern, he discovered the personal computer. “I just blossomed from there,” he said. “I realized what a powerful tool this would be.” The doctorate went by the wayside and he was involved in six startup tech companies – all unsuccessful. The seventh was a home run: He was one of the founders of Coupons.com, which has since been acquired by Quotient Technology. Walsh is just starting retirement and looking forward to more philanthropy.

Walsh currently funds four scholarships through the Alumni Foundation: A $5,000 scholarship in the name of retired Highline teacher Don Bunger, targeted at students with a science and engineering bent; and three $2,500 scholarships in the name of his parents, Roger and Linda Walsh, for students moving into vocational careers.

“I owe so much to my parents, who sacrificed a lot to help me fund my education, and to the community as a whole that supported my education,” Walsh concluded.

Donations may be made by check to the Foundation at P.O. Box 66647, Burien, WA 98166 or on the organization’s web site at http://www.highline-highschool-alumni-foundation.org/

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(Contact: Foundation President Gary Korsgaard, 206-300-8529; Marc Anderson, 503-819-0375)

141 One  Year Members                         

29 New Lifetime Members              

Total 2017 Member Donations = $22,080

Thank you for your generous donations for HHS Scholarships

Front Row, L-R Noel Rodriguez, Tramy Nguyen, Kim Ha, Haylee Beckham, Caitlynn Rahal Middle Row, L-R Valerie Tran, Emmanuel Cruz Soria, Maria Arevalo Martinez, Minh Tu Huynh, Christine Nguyen, Michelle Lopez, Cathy Nguyen, Dennise Lopez Sanchez, Tsion Hailu Back Row L-R Cesar Lopez, Ingrid Perce, Christian Hagler, Anita Chung, Nghi Lam, Erendira Mercado, Precious Gonzalez, Leann Barnes Not present: Daniel Villalon-Tinoco

Article By B-Town Blog Writer Shelly Voie

On Sunday evening, June 10, the Highline High School Alumni Foundation awarded over $67,000 in scholarships to 23 graduating seniors of Highline High School. Families, alumni, staff, and honorees celebrated the students’ awards and accomplishments at the Highline ERAC Building.

Foundation President Gary Korsgaard (Class of 1964) opened the evening with Pirate pride about how much the program has grown since 1995, when it awarded just a single $500 scholarship.

Scholarship chair Patti Burgess (Class of 1950) shared a story about the namesake of the first scholarship, “a very precious teacher” named Harry Lemon. Mr. Lemon taught music and biology at HHS and later taught at Camp Waskowitz. While teaching names of trees and plants, he would joke with Waskowitz students, “I know you’ve heard of a fuzzy peach, but you probably haven’t heard of a hairy lemon!” Burgess then introduced the 2018 Harry E. Lemon Scholarship recipient, Ingrid Perce, and continued by highlighting information about each scholarship, its sponsor, and its winner.

New this year is the Tom Sawyer AVID Scholarship, which is named for a former principal. Its recipient, Erendira Mercado, said “AVID has been really helpful. They helped me pay for three SATs and the ACT.” AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap by preparing all students for college and other postsecondary opportunities. In Highline, AVID is an elective class that students can join in middle and high school.

When asked what they liked about HHS, some students answered the spirit, the people, the diversity, and those “who are trying to change the stigma of going to Highline High School,” explaining that the run-down building doesn’t represent the high quality of the students and teachers in it.

 More than one student thanked Sydney Williams, HHS College and Career Access Specialist, for her invaluable help with college and scholarship applications.

University of Washington Seattle is the favorite choice of the graduates, with Western Washington University, Gonzaga University, Pomona College, Stanford University, Pacific Lutheran University, Colorado College, and George Fox University rounding out the list.

The Foundation’s annual golf tournament funds some of the scholarships. Alumni and staff (living or passed), family members, and BECU round out the remainder of the donors and scholarship namesakes.

The 2018 Highline High School Alumni Foundation Scholarship recipients are:

§  Anex Brothers (Basil, George, & Robert) Science Department Scholarship: Cathy Nguyen

§  John P. Ashley Family Scholarship: Christian Hagler

§  Donald Bunger Future Technology Scholarship: Leann Barnes

§  Patti Burgess Future Teacher Scholarship: Valerie Tran

§  Uli & Gayle Chi Mathematics Scholarship: Maria Arevalo Martinez

§  Dick Dahlgard Visual Arts Scholarship: Tramy Nguyen

§  Dr. Alan Gunsul Scholarship: Precious Gonzalez

§  Emily Nishimura Herod Scholarship: Michelle Lopez

§  Harry E. Lemon Memorial Scholarship: Ingrid Perce

§  Mavis Luksan Scholarship: Minh Tu Huynh and Anita Chung

§  McEachern Family Fine Art Scholarship: Dennise Lopez Sanchez

§  Tom Sawyer AVID Scholarship: Erendira Mercado

§  Nancy Tully Memorial Business Department Scholarship: Emmanuel Cruz Soria

§  Roger & Linda Walsh Scholarship: Caitlynn Rahal, Noel Rodriguez, and Nghi Lam

§  The BECU Turnaround Scholarship: Daniel Villalon-Tinoco & Tsion Hailu

§  English Department Scholarship: Cesar Lopez

§  Music Department Scholarship: Haylee Beckham

§  Social Studies Department Scholarship: Christine Nguyen

§  World Language Scholarship: Kim Ha

Information about the Highline High School Alumni Foundation is at http://www.highline-highschool-alumni-foundation.org.

Front Row:  L-R Leann Barnes (Donald Bunger Future Technology Scholarship), Caitlynn Rahal, Nghi Lam, Noel Rodriguez (Walsh Family Scholarships)

Back Row:  Sponsor Mike Walsh

Introducing Our Current Board Members:

President – Gary Korsgaard 1964

Vice President - Joanne Bakken Pease 1970

Treasurer - Scott Salzer 1971

Secretary - Martha Brock 1958

Member At Large - Sally Newton 1970, Tricia Anderson 1977

Alumni Soundings Coordinator – Michele Ham Miller 1978

Golf Day – Kevin Ostic 1971, Larry Olson 1960

Scholarships - Patti Burgess 1950, Tricia Anderson 1977

Membership - Cathy Low 1967

Website - Kevin Ostic 1971

Facebook Manager – Marc Anderson 1972

Athletic Hall of Fame – Howard Call 1957

The Highline High School Alumni Foundation awarded over $60,000 in scholarships to Pirate seniors this year. Here are this year’s recipients, honored June 4, 2017: 

Top row, left to right:  Joey Swim-Balcom (English Department Scholarship), Amir Shazaad (Uli & Gayle Chi Mathematics), David Dinh (Nancy Tully Memorial—Business), Chelsi Haskins (Music), Kathleen Silvernale (Dick Dahlgard Visual Arts), Jenna Wydick (R. & L. Walsh), Benji Box (Harry E. Lemon Memorial), and Carson Torres (McEachern Family Fine Arts). 

Middle Row, left to right:  Miriam Alkorashy (Emily Nishimura Herod), Lauren Powers (Donald Bunger, Future Technology), Tara Nester (Anex Brothers—Basil, George, & Robert, Science), Alyda Marincovich (Patti Burgess Future Teacher), Natalie Ha (Steve & Candy Eyler-Irwin), Rasha Barem (Social Studies), and Madison Hall-Lambert (Dr. Alan Gunsul). 

Front row, left to right:  Dominic Quiroz (Turn-around), Jason Luna-Posadas (Patti Burgess Future Teacher), Stephanie Menka (R. & L. Walsh), Katherine Montenegro-Blandon (R. & L. Walsh), and Tseyon Nurilegn (Mavis Luksan).  Not pictured:  Debbie Acheampong (Mavis Luksan), Miquela Wallace (Turn-around), and Nayeli Quiroz-Torres (World Languages). 

Photo by Marc Anderson. 

The winners and their scholarships are, left to right in the top row. Kayla Brower (Turnaround Scholarship); Rachel Brazil (English Department); Saint Williams (The Turnaround); Joe Kenta Niizuma (Donald Bunger Future Technology); Hansol Kim (Emily Nishimura Herod); Carissa Merkel (McEachern Family Fine Arts); Allen Braun  (Uli & Gayle Chi Mathematics); Robert Bilic (Social Studies); Han Luc (Nancy Tully Memorial Business).

In the middle row left to right are Rachael Tang (Dr. Alan Gunsul Scholarship); Karina Marroquin (World Language Department); Celestina Adu (Mavis Lukson); Rachel Myers (Patti Burgess Future Teacher); Nomandeep Kaur (The Anex Brothers (Basil George, & Robert) Science Department); Trang Minh Khuc (Roger & Linda Walsh); Ailed Gomez (Roger & Linda Walsh); and Som Subba (Roger & Linda Walsh).

In the front row left to right are Gavin Mosier (Mavis Lukson Schoarship); Jose Bermudez (Music Department); Lodrigo Omar (Harry E. Lemon Memorial);  and Yohannesabeb Belay (Dick Dahlgard Visual Arts). 

The Highline High School Alumni Association has awarded 21scholarships worth over $50,000 to 2015 graduating seniors at the Burien school.

The winners and their scholarships are, left to right in the top row. Olivia Beckham (Uli & Gayle Chi Mathematics), Julissa Gallegos (Donald Bunger Future Technology), Yusuf Ali-Halane (World Language Department), Citlaly Ramirez (Roger & Linda Walsh), Jacob Hines (Mavis Lukson), Hai Quang Le (Harry E. Lemon), Fredy Galpani (Roger & Linda Walsh), Nizama Djuderija (English Department) and Sydney Williams, Highline High college and career access specialist.

In the second row are Rodha Sheikh (Social Studies Department), Katie Gatto (Emily Nishimura Herod), Faith Todd (Science Department), Shelbianne Figgins (McEachern Family Fine Art), Cassidi Young (Roger & Linda Walsh), Diana Algomeda-Villada  (Dr. Alan Gunsul), and Adanech Makey (Mavis Lukson).

In the front row are Jonathan Soledad (Dick Dahlgard Photography), Kodie Frankele (Patti Burgess Future Teacher), Kyle Pitz (Music Department) and Kelvin Herbruger (Nancy Tully Memorial Business Department).

Not pictured: Tajinique Ruffin (The Turnaround) and Alexiz Gomez (The Turnaround).

Photo by Eric Mathison/Highline Times

Winners of the 2014 Highline High School Alumni Association scholarships were honored at a reception on June 8.

In the back row, from left, are Andrea Mandt, Harry Schwendemann, Jonathan Mantello, Disney Vorng, Patricia Ruelas-Tejeda, Daisy Cortez-Arevalo, Ben Myers and Kamal DeCampos.

In the front row are Langh Mang, Hanbit Kim, Ashleen Kumar, Alyxis Burks, Thais Pedro-Trujillo and Hoda Ibrahim.

Not pictured are Dario Castellon, Khaliq Shahzaad, Dominique Thomas-McCollum and Elizama Aguilar.

The Alumni Foundation wishes to thank Michael Walsh again for contributing in 2016 to retain each scholarship at $3,000. This comes on the back of an unprecedented matching donation from the Highline grad in excess of $20,000.

After having a great business year and long lasting memory of how his parents helped fund their children's college studies, Michael was interested in providing others the same opportunity to begin their college, professional, or vocational training. This was a tremendous opportunity for the Alumni Foundation to double the amount of donations given by our Alumni and friends! 

Michael's generosity along with your contributions allowed the Foundation to increase our scholarships  from $2,500 to $3,000.  In addition to this increase, we opened up new scholarships in honor of Mike's parents, Roger and Linda Walsh, both HHS graduates themselves. This enabled the HHS Foundation to award 20 scholarships for a total of $60,000!