Congratulations to Chelan High School student Alexandra Vazquez-Rocha, honored Wednesday at the 22nd Annual Innovator Awards Luncheon presented by the NCW Tech Alliance in Wenatchee. Alexandra received the Future Technology Leader of the Year Award.
In a release from the tech alliance following the luncheon, it stated that Alexandra has tackled challenging courses like AP Physics, Geology 101, and Calculus, earning more than 60 college credits while actively engaging in STEM outside the classroom. A top-performing leader, she's the current President of Chelan Med Club and the Vice-President of the National Honor Society. She spearheads monthly STEM sessions for 5th graders, partnering with Columbia Valley Community Health physicians on topics like dissections, optics, and heart studies. Beyond the classroom, she's logged over 50 hours shadowing at Columbia Valley Community Health and is a rotating intern at Heritage Heights, Lake Chelan Hospital, and Columbia Valley Community Health. Alexandra's ultimate goal? Becoming a physician and studying at UW.
A former Chelan High student was also honored, Xitlali Cruz was presented with a STEM College Innovator of the Year Award. Xitlali was the 2021 Valedictorian of Chelan High School; now she is a junior at Stanford University. She recently completed a computer science summer internship at Microsoft. Xitlali's long-term goal is to inspire other Latinas to learn more about STEM careers, as currently, Latinas account for only 3% of the STEM industry.