University High

4771 Campus Drive

Irvine 92612-3298

(949) 936-7600

* Enrollment: 2,401

* Established: 1970

* Team name: Trojans

* Principal: Diana Schmelzer

* Student president: Blake Clayton

* Summa cum laude: 20 students with 4.4 grade-point average or higher

* Famous alumni: Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha and Tim Bob; former major league all-star Tim Wallach; actor Will Ferrell of “Saturday Night Live”; soap opera actor Diego Serrano; Pittsburgh Steeler Shar Pourdanesh

* Winning moments: Newsweek magazine’s top state school; girls’ cross-country championships; football playoffs; girls’ golf playoffs; girls’ tennis playoffs; girls’ volleyball playoffs; boys’ and girls’ water polo playoffs; boys’ and girls’ basketball playoffs; girls’ soccer playoffs; postseason wrestling tournament

* In the works: New TV/video production class

* Graduation: 5 p.m. June 20 at Irvine High stadium

SENIOR STANDOUT

Katherine Chiu of Irvine

* Achievements: Earned a 4.23 weighted grade-point average; passed YMAHA Grade 4 piano and electrone exams; received National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts recognition; sixth place in national talent search in instrumental composition; American Assn. of Teachers of German level II, III and IV award; Academic Achievement awards; Golden State exams high honors in chemistry and biology, and honors in mathematics; Disneyland Creativity Challenge overall trophy in solo piano; American Guild of Organists scholarship recipient; named USA Today’s All-USA high school academic team honorable mention; Sunrise Exchange Club of Irvine’s Youth of the Year; Advance Placement scholar with honor; Music Teachers’ National Assn.’s and UCSB College of Creative Studies composition competitions winner; national German exams winner; National Merit scholar; California Scholarship Federation; German club president and historian; American Field Service German representative; SITE council student representative; AIDS week head of public relations; organized and hosted international Youth Music Festival; Play for Seniors concert; speaks Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakanese and German

* Connections: Member of community youth orchestra; state Music Teacher’s Assn. Young Composers’ Guild; Red Cross volunteer educator; interned at UCI Rehabilitation pain control center; Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian; worked at Oncotech

* Ambitions: Attend USC, major in biomedical engineering with minor in business, music and German to work in the music industry and become a published composer

* Family: Father is Austin; mother is Su-Shing; brothers are David and Alex

* Claim to fame: “I have performed across the United States, from Boston to Hawaii, as well as in Japan, China and Taiwan”

THE SENIOR CLASS: 562