MAPSStudents plan for life

after high school Pages 8-11M IRADA

THE

Rio Americano High School • Sacramento, CAVolume 48, Senior Issue Graduating June 10, 2010

Graduation Countdown (7 more days)SENIOR CHECKOUT

June 9Assigned times

SENIOR BRUNCH

June 9Unitarian Church

2425 Sierra Boulevard

GRADUATION

June 10Memorial AuditoriumRehearsal 11am-1pmCeremony 3pm-5pm

GRAD NIGHT

June 10-118:45pm-4:30amStrikes Family Entertainment

Seniors “thrilled” to graduate as fashion show leads way to end of school

Senior IssueHuzzah!

RIOAMERICANOCLASS of 2010

seni

ors

2 Seniors 2010

4

6

8

10

12

14

Senior Class20

22

23Senior Index

Sponsors

SeniorMoments

Profiles

Senior Ball

Party in the USA

CaliforniaBound

Fashion Show

Seniors celebrate their upcoming graduation plans together

Models strut their stuff during a “Good Good Night”

Where will everyone in CA be next year?

Students venture beyond sunny CA

Seniors get their groove on at their last high school dance

Six seniors share their ambitious plans for the future

Favorite memories of Rio and more

Support those who support The Mirada

The year in review, by the numbers

Seniors 2010 3

The MiradaRIO AMERICANO

HIGH SCHOOL4540 American River Dr.Sacramento, CA 95864(916) 971-8921 ext. 80

www.riomirada.comthemirada2010@gmail.com

Editors-in-ChiefAlex ReinnoldtMolly IngramAlexis ShenAlex McFall

News EditorAbbie Jennings

Features EditorChristian Oldham

Photo EditorAlex McFall

Staff WritersRiva Ballis

Jesse BartelsThomas Hemington

Eugene KwonScott McDonald

Elise Marsh

Business ManagerMolly Ingram

AdviserMichael Mahoney

mmahoney@sanjuan.edu

The Mirada is the indepen-dent voice of the students and a forum for diverse ideas pub-lished by Rio Americano’s news-paper class.

The Mirada welcomes story ideas, comics, letters to the edi-tor and opinion pieces. Submit articles and letters to the box in A3 or the main office. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Mirada editorial board.

Opinion articles and let-ters to the editor are the views of the individual writer and not necessarily the views of the Mirada or Rio Americano High School.

We welcome advertising, but reserve the right to refuse any ad.

Letter from the editors

Dear Class of 2010,Our final days at Rio are almost over! We’ve enjoyed writing and reporting on your successes

in issues past, whether it be in theater, sports or music. Thank you to everyone who has ever sent in a letter or voiced their opinion by writing for the paper; we greatly appreciated your input. Also, thank you to our friends on the Tesoro staff for sharing photos with us and making the back room a more harmonious place for everyone!

Looking at everyone’s plans for after graduation, we wish you the best of luck, and happiness in all your endeavors!

Thanks for the memories,Alex Reinnoldt Alex McFall

Molly Ingram Alexis Shen

4 Seniors 2010

the class ofWe are...

RIO

Seniors 2010 5

Seniors

A Good, Good NightFASHION SHOW 2010

6 Seniors 2010

Top to bottom: Toni Smiley dances with Alan Eyster in the Phantom of the Oper-etta scene. Rhisa Muse and Fawn Press-Dawson strike a pose in the Finale lineup. Brittney Cracciolo and Eugene Kwon mambo cha-cha in the Commotion at Catwalk Cabaret scene. IIlisa Weinberg and Lauren Hotell strut around Harris Levin in the scene Night Fever in Disco Heaven.

A Good, Good NightShow Scenes

Scene 1: Midnight Thriller music: “Thriller” and

“Gotta Be Starting Something”

Scene 2: Evacuate the Dance Floor music: “Evacuate the

Dance Floor” and “I Gotta Feeling”

Scene 3: Cloudy with a Chance of Meteor Showers

music: “Umbrella”Scene 4: Mystery on the Orient

Express music: “You Don’t Know”Scene 5: Night Fever in Disco

Heaven music: “Night Fever” and

“Disco Heaven”Scene 6: Commotion at Catwalk

Cabaret music: “The Boys are Too

Refined” and “Break Your Heart”

Scene 7: Here Comes Good-Bye music: “Time of My Life”Scene 8: Phantom of the Operetta music: “Phantom of the

Opera” and “I Belong to You”

Finale: Raiders... It’s Your Night! music: “United State of

Pop 2009”

May 22, 2010

Seniors 2010 7

By ALEXIS SHENEditor-in- Chief

It was a “good good night” as the senior class worked together to complete Rio’s 27th annual Senior Fashion Show.

In an eight-scene event, seniors show-cased their talents from dancing and mod-eling to acting and acrobatics. The show covered a wide genre of dance styles, in-cluding disco, Thriller, mambo and tango.The event was brought to an end with a finale that involved all participating seniors.

“Even though I had the flu, fashion show was amazing,” senior Andrea Ott said. “Everybody just had a lot of fun and it was definitely a highlight from my years at Rio.”

The show was pulled off by a number of volunteers, including Beth Ruyak and Cin-dy Nolan, the event co-chairs; Lisa Schwan, the choreographer; and Linda Bender, the model coordinator.

The show provided both entertainment and PTSA funds with the support of stu-dents, families, alumni, faculty, local cloth-ing boutiques and department stores.

Top to bottom: Katie Montgomery poses with partner Brian Lee to the song “Break Your Heart.” Sheldon Freeman does an aerial flip in the Finale. Abe Leibovitz, Sherene Thompson, Jessica Dyatlov, Andy Bis-sel, Felicia Parra, and Kayloni Medina disco dance to the music “Disco Heaven.” Jorden Litchfield, Andrea Ott and Eden Young dance around Sheldon Freeman, Kyle McGill and John Butterfield.

8 Seniors 2010

California 1. AI Art Institute

of CaliforniaAndrew Bell

2. American River College

Rabtseva AlinaAlyssa Aragon

Ramish BahramandKatelyn Barrino

Jesse BartelsNick BaumbachJessica BehrensAmber Bibby

Christopher Booth-Hall

Joseph BraggWilliam Britt

Ashley BroddrickClark BrookoverRandy BrosharCassie BrownNicole Brown

Alicia BudreauxBrittany Budreaux

Kevin BushBrendan Cabe

Tyler CampbellMegan Carr

Nicholas CohmanschiBrie Conway

Ryan CreminsSommer Deboer-

MarinLindsay Dehm

Domenico De LucaMatthew Deterding

Sarah DevotoDaniele DowningDelanie Downing

Jens DrillerJessica DyatlovChris EdwardsMatt Fanfelle

Lyndsay Farley

Adam FeltonJoe Fox

Melissa FreitasOmid Ganji

Lydia Garcia-PotterKyle Goodman

Tanner GrafMatt Granroth

Tyler HannaClaudia Hernandez

Vinh HoNick Johnson

Cailin JopeAlice Joska

Mahyar KamalinafarGavin KinderEvan KubickiDanny Lacayo

Young LeeDylan Lemos

Jesse LeyvaJorden Litchfield

Preston LoganAntonio Lorta

Kirill LukinskiyRiley Matranga

Matt MartireRocker McCarter-

RibakoffJarrett McClain

Glynnis MorrisonMatt MouserMario Najera

Zachary NajjarLisa Neal

college bound

Seniors 2010 9

Gaelan O’NeillBrandon Odom

Kristian Olsen MockDavid Pacheco

Kathryn PalmerChase PattersonRahgeen PopeAlina RabtsevaAbra Ramirez

Jared Riffle-YokoiAshley Roberts

Marissa RodriguezJason Rucker

Patricia SalinasZoe SamborskiAlex Sanchez

Michelle SperaNick Stone

Nick ThompsonSuzan Velichko

Angelica VillegasHouston Vinci

McCallister WadeKevin Williams

Mayra Yaya3. Art Institute of

San Francisco Culinary School

Kristina Zmuda4. Biola University

Hanna Spano5. Butte College

Alix MedlinMasson Prowse

6. Cabrillo CollegeThomas Hemington

7. Cal Poly PomonaNick Storelli8. Cal Poly

San Luis ObispoLaura Martis9. Chapman University

Zach Nathanson10. Consumnes River CollegeMark Daniels

11. CSU ChicoChris BeattyTess CalneroKen Carter

Scott LedbetterScott MacDonald

Kara MorisonRhisa Muse

12. CSU FullertonShannon Morse

13. CSU HumboldtTaylor Hilton

Kaitlyn Werling14. CSU Monterey

BayAmy Abatemarco

Alex KeyserSherene Thompson

15. CSU Northridge

Brian Lee16. CSU

SacramentoMeghan Cohan

Brittney CracchioloDann Do

Ashley FerkoJacob Hall

Damon HeatonJongmin Kim

Marina KuznetsovEric Lambing

Lauren MugnainiRosa Ramos

17. CSU San Francisco

Adrian BaccelliSheila Emami

Anita FaridMolly Flanigan

Sheldon FreemanNatalie KassisAbe LeibovitzVera McBride

Whitney RandazzoKamila Saidova

Julia SchaberSteven Scordakis

Allison ThompsonRachel Tochterman

Maggie Voet18. CSU San JoseKristen CampbellAlexander Koumis

Eric LaviAustin Takechi

19. CSU SonomaAlan Eyster

Will HagedornIan Hutchison

Katie MontgomeryGarrett MunterEmily Norgaard

Andrea OttMayaan Shenhar

20. Cuesta CollegeMeg LewisZev MinowTyler Rood

21. Epic Bible College

Francesca Hulog22. FIDM

San FranciscoToni Smiley

Ashleigh Stevens23. Folsom Lake

Community College

Paula BartolomeVictoria BeyerKorrin BrooksAlex Bungay

Elyzza CarridoSpencer Curry

Fawn Press-DawsonJasmine Gonzalez

Chelsea GrecoShelby Hawkins

Bryan JonesAlexis Mendoza

Leslie MesschaertJeein Shin

Christina Tayeh24. Foothills Community

CollegeLouis Murray

25. Holy Names University

Rachel Vartanian26. Lake Tahoe

Community College

Gavin Marsh27. Laurel Ruff Center School

Stephanie Fonseca28. Los Angeles Valley College

Halie Crom29. Loyola Marymont University

Brian Eiselman30. Marymount

CollegeTori Viebrock

31. Occidental University

Devin Grubb32. Pacific Union

CollegeElizabeth Vaughn

33. Paul Mitchell Beauty CollegeCourtney Gove

Chanel Andrews

34. Pomona CollegeHarris Levin

35. Sacramento City CollegeAndy Bissell

Dylan DonnellyBrian Fernandez

Jenna ForsteTyler FowlerAlex Ibarria

Brandon KeithArlent Wisser

36. San Diego Mesa Community

CollegeAlyssa Plaat

37. San Francisco City College

Leah Chen38. Santa Barbara

City CollegeCaitlin Archibald

Jarett EvansLillian HicksJenner Long

Keyanna RaihaniMichael Whiting

Joey Woolston39. Santa Clara

UniversityMichael McClure

Alicia ShullHilary Stewart

40. Santa Monica Community

CollegeZara Sulzen

41. Santa Rosa Junior College

Nauzi MemarEden Young42. Sierra

Community College

Sean HaleyTaylor McGregorMako Uyekawa

Jocelyn Zidar43. Stanford University

John Butterfield44. UC BerkeleyPriyanka DadlaniDavid Kaufman

Elise MarshGreer Uu

45. UC DavisRiva Ballis

Aneil DhillonAaron Goodrich

Molly IngramJonathan KingEugene KwonAlex McFallAvi Mehari

Katelyn PetersonSeychelle Steiner46. UC Irvine

Nora AlajouDevika Nair

47. UC RiversideBrandon LiuIsrael Tamiru

48. UC San DiegoLaura Anderson

Govind RaghavanMarissa Ruxin

Alexis ShenBrian Wong

49. UC Santa Barbara

Katie CannonEmily ChildEj Fernandes

Vincent Hirtzel50. UC Santa Cruz

Jacob BlockZac Gunter

Joe HazelrothAbbie JenningsAllie Jennings

Dara Rouholiman51. Universal

Technical InstituteNathan JamesKevin JencoTyler Quilty

52. University of the Pacific

Teddi Triphon53. University of

RedlandsTed Burchett

54. University of Southern California

Grace ChediakGavin Moler

Alex ReinnoldtTristan Vincent

55. WhittierCollege

Cameron Santo

10 Seniors 2010

Collegeand beyond

1

2

3

4

567

8

911

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

2627

28

Seniors 2010 11

1. Arizona State University

Grant JohnsonAri Lightman

2. Berklee College of Music

Zach Giberson

3. Carnegie Mellon UniversityJohn Brieger

4. Clark Community College

Chase Traud

5. Colorado CollegeJackson Wagner

6. Colorado School of Mines

Nicolas Jimenez

7. Colorado University of Boulder

Micah MadorBrady Rosengard

8. Duke UniversitySam Friedman

9. Iowa State UniversityKara Langan

10. Johns Hopkins Uni-versity

Kyle McGill

11. London Community College

CeCe Al-Romaihi

12. Mesa State College of Colorado

Michelle Baker

13. Middle Tennessee State University

Erika Ose

14. Oberlin CollegeNathan Swedlow

15. Portland State UniversityAdam Foster

16. Seattle UniversityElena Townsend

17. Syracuse UniversityAaron Soskin

(year off in Israel)

18. Sweet Briar CollegeIlisa Weinberg

19. Texas Christian University

Michael Franz

20. Tulane UniversityMolly Heiligman

21. University of ArizonaKayloni MedinaLindsay Peabody

22. University of British Columbia

Mikaela Gregory

23. University of Nevada, Reno

Haley Val

24. University of OregonCarly Ashen

Zach DarfBen Egan

Lauren GrippiKirk Gylling

Lauren HotellSteven Katz

Ashley TaylorShelby Ostwald

25. University of Pennsylvania

Austin KinnTyler Kinn

26. Vassar CollegeAlison Burns

27. Willamette University

Elliot BartlettBriana Ezray

Christian OldhamDerek Sup

Andrew Spittler

28. Whitworth University

Aimee Eshoff

29. AustraliaTyler Silvia

30. BelgiumLinda Tilkin

31. BrazilTravis Ambrose

(Rotary Exchange)Guiherme Machado

32. GermanyCesar Perez

33. SpainKyle Eszlinger

WorkRolando Alvaredo

Robert DobreAlexio Mesica

Savannah ScottMichael Venturino

MarinesJavar Johnson

US Air Force AcademyRyan McKone

Natalie Mouzooni

US ArmyCasey HolgateRobert Avecilla

US NavyFelicia Parra

Patrick Heater

Year OffJessica CookDaniel Hong

12 Seniors 2010

A night in the cityDANCE

A night in the city

1

Skyscrapers, bright lights and good music surrounded this year’s senior ball, a “Night in the City” to remember. The graduating class arrived in their best attire to pass the night in a whirlwind of dining, dancing and laughing.

The last dance, that final night signifying the end of an era, is what the class has dreamt of for months. At last, an end to AP tests, homework and the stress of college decision-making.

A carefree attitude pervaded the room that Saturday night as the class came together under flashing lights and good music to dance one final time.

“It was a great night,” Brian Wong said. “But it made me realize how close to the end of the year we really are, and how much people have changed over the last four years.”

The music was generally well-received; the DJ offered simple but likable remixes of current chart toppers from art-ists like Taio Cruz, the Black Eyed Peas and Ke$ha, but also surprised the audience with a few throwback tracks from Journey and Michael Jackson.

“There were some really great songs throughout the night,” senior Mahyar Kamalinafar said. “There was an awe-some rave song towards the end that was fun. All in all, it was a great night.”

And, of course, the Cha-Cha Slide made the night com-plete. At that point, some of the teachers even joined in.

That, along with a fantastic graduating class, made this year’s senior ball a great “Night in the City.”

By ALEX MCFALLEditor-in- Chief

Seniors 2010 13

1. Jenna Forste slow dances with her fiancé Joey Young. 2. Senior Ball Queen Greer Uu and her date Prince Michael Franz enjoy the music. 3. Alyssa Plaat rocks out to the DJ’s remixes. Overall, the music was well-received by students. 4. Caitlin Archibald dances with her Jesuit date, DJ Fugina. 5. Amy Abatemarco en-joys the company of her date Cesar Perez while junior Elizabeth Eggert tries to join in on the fun.

2

3

4

5

14 Seniors 2010

Flying, especially my first solo in my

Cessna 172, was surreal,” senior

Ryan McKone said of his first expe-

rience as a licensed private pilot.Because McKone “loved every

second” of his first solo last February, he was

influenced by his flying experience to attend the

Air Force Academy.Therefore this June, McKone will be flying

off to Colorado Springs, Colorado to begin his

new life as a fourth class cadet at the United

States Air Force Academy.As opposed to enlisting in the Air Force,

McKone was accepted into the Academy after

submitting an application during his junior year.

After going through the lengthy process, McK-

one finally obtained a nomination from Con-

gressman Dan Lungren after an interview with

Lungren’s review board.“(It was) the most intense situation I’ve ever

been in,” McKone said.However, McKone’s hard work finally paid

off.In just four years, McKone will become a

Second Lieutenant Officer in the Air Force.

“The Air Force Academy takes you from

bottom-of-the-bucket scum when you enter as

a freshman and builds you into a strong, char-

ismatic machine as a senior, on your way to Of-

ficership in the Air Force,”McKone said.

McKone decided on the Air Force Academy

rather than a typical four-year university because

of the benefits it will provide him with in the fu-

ture.“It’s a world class education supposedly on

par with Ivy Leagues, and it’s entirely paid for by

the US Government,” McKone said. “And, you

have an ensured career in a path of your choos-

ing upon graduation.”Although the Academy has a wide array of

different majors, including Aeronautical/Aero-

space Engineering which McKone plans to pur-

sue, he realizes that the Academy does have its

disadvantages.“I’d have to say the biggest con is the lack of

freedom and intense regulations expected of ca-

dets throughout their tenure,” McKone said. “I

will forever wonder about all the fun and free-

dom I’ll miss at a normal university.”However, McKone won’t be alone.

Fellow senior Natalie Mouzooni will also be

attending the Air Force Academy in August.

“Having two acceptances to a military acad-

emy from the same city is rare, not to mention

from the same school and same class,” McKone

said.McKone and Mouzooni, both CIVITAS se-

niors, are among the 150 recipients of the Let-

ters of Assurance, which guarantee acceptance

into the Academy.“We both attribute CIVITAS as having

helped us tremendously,” McKone said.

- Molly Ingram

McKone pilots path to soaring future

“

“The Air Force Academy takes you from bottom-of-the-bucket scum

when you enter as a freshman and builds you

into a strong, charismatic machine as a senior.”

Seniors 2010 15

Elbows out, she moves her arms in time with her feet, one after the other. The feel of the all-weather track beneath her spikes is familiar as she circles it lap after lap. With a determined look upon her face, senior Lauren Mugnaini defies expectations and blasts records.In her final running seasons at Rio, she qualified for the CIF Cross Country State Championships and took first place in the Track Section Finals two-mile event with a school-record breaking time of 10:59.08. She will contin-ue the success streak she created throughout cross country and track this year as she moves on to her next phase of running at the elite college level. Mugnaini has signed with the NCAA Division I track team of CSU Sacramento.“I chose Sac State because of their track program and I wasn’t really ready to leave Sacramento just yet,”Mugnaini said. “It was a hard decision because I was debating whether I’d regret staying here and miss out on other stuff. But, I think I made the right one. I don’t see myself any-where else.”One of the experiences Mugnaini is looking forward to is using the hyperbolic chamber in the Kinesiology build-ing. Since the team travels a lot for league meets, going as far as North Dakota and Montana, the athletes experience

a range of altitudes. The chamber mimics the oxygen de-privation in the mountains and allows the runners to train for those conditions.“I’m really excited to try it out,” she said. “It’s going to be weird because it’ll feel like I’m in the mountains, but I’m really just in a room. That will be cool.”Even though she has shown promise in both cross country and track, Mugnaini will only be running one or the other, at least for her freshman year.“The coach said that the first year I might do either cross country or outdoor track to start out because it’s a lot of work,” she said. “I’ll probably do outdoor track as a freshman and stick with the long distance races.”Running is a passion for Mugnaini, but it hasn’t always been easy for her. During cross country sophomore year, she struggled with shin splints. “I remember thinking I’m going to get through this,” she said. “It made me want to work harder because I ap-preciated it so much more once the pain was gone.”Practices with the team will start in July and she will push forward to improve and succeed at the college level.“I just like to run: that’s my motivation,” she said. “I just want to improve on my times and keep getting better.”

- Alex Reinnoldt

Mugnaini receives running scholarship

16 Seniors 2010

Aaron Soskin isn’t just another success-ful senior. His adolescent life has been marked by academic achievement. But his life is about to change.

On Aug. 31, his academic and sur-vival skills will be put to the test. Soskin will travel to Israel, a country he’s already visited twice. But this time he’s not going for vacation. Soskin was ac-cepted this year to attend Hebrew University in Je-rusalem with 100 other students the same age as he from around the nation. For four-and-a-half months, Soskin will study, speak Hebrew and learn about the politics of the Middle East first-hand.

For the next four-and-a-half months, Soskin will embark on another unique opportunity. He will live on a kibbutz.

“(A kibbutz) is a socialist society where every-thing done is for the good of the kibbutz,” Soskin said. “Everyone has their own job. I’ll find out what my job is when I get there. You can plant seeds, milk cows, etc.”

Soskin first became intrigued by the idea through his Jewish youth group as a freshman, but didn’t really consider it until this last year.

“I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I didn’t want to miss it,” Soskin said. “I’m going to have an amazing experience with 100 other teenag-ers, (unlike) other programs that only have (about) 50 people. I get to make my own community in Is-rael.”

Soskin is thrilled to embark on this adventure and feels no anxiety.

“I’ve never felt safer (than in Jerusalem),” Soskin said. “I love all of Israel’s culture, the food, the people and the atmosphere.”

After nine months in Israel, Soskin will return to the states to attend Syracuse University, where he has been awared an $8,000 Merit Scholarship. He’s not sure what his career plans are, but he thinks that he will eventually be in business in the non-profit sector.

Soskin definitely knows a good opportunity when he sees one.

- Abbie Jennings

Soskin to live on a kibbutz in Jerusalem

“I’ve never felt safer.

I love all of Israel’s

culture, the food,

the people and the

atmosphere.”

Seniors 2010 17

Senior Travis Ambrose has signed up to repeat his senior year with a new twist. He will be leaving the United States this summer to spend a year in Brazil as a high school student.

Ambrose applied to be a foreign exchange student through a program called Rotary Youth Exchange which will send about seven thousand United States students abroad.

“This is the perfect transition year to do something like this because once I come back I am going to college and then a career,” he said. “There is not going to be another year to do this so stress free, until retirement.”

As one of these traveling individuals, Am-brose will venture to Brazil and stay with three host families over the course of the school year.

“I am there to learn a new culture, see a dif-ferent part of the world and teach them a little about our culture,” Ambrose said.

Ambrose first heard about the Rotary Youth Exchange in his French class last year.

“At the time I didn’t have any interest be-cause it sounded like too much of a commit-ment, but over the course of the next year I mentally matured and was more prepared,” he said. “By September of senior year, I decided it sounded awesome and applied.”

To apply to be an “ambassador for the United States,” Ambrose underwent an initial interview, filled out a written application and had a final interview.

As a student enrolled in French classes, he listed his top three locations as France, Swit-zerland and Italy but was given Brazil.

“I told them I didn’t really care where I went, I just wanted to travel somewhere,” he said.

Now Ambrose is really enthused about this opportunity.

“I think I am more excited to go to Brazil than France now,” he said. “I can’t think of a single downside.”

With so much excitement, Ambrose also is

a little nervous for what is to come.“I don’t know any Portuguese and appar-

ently they don’t speak a lot of English, so the first two months I am going to be really frus-trated because I won’t be able to communicate that well.”

But even with this language barrier, Am-brose also finds a positive side.

“I’m excited to be fluent in Portuguese and I’m really looking forward to when I start thinking in Portuguese instead of English,” he said.

After this new and thrilling experience, Ambrose is planning to attend college. He is currently considering either Sonoma State or San Francisco State but knows that a year out of the country may change his mind.

While Ambrose knows that he will have to reapply for college during his stay in Brazil, right now he is focused on fully immersing himself in a foreign culture.

- Elise Marsh

“I am there to learn a new culture,

see a different part of

the world and teach

them a little about our

culture.”

Ambrose to repeat

senior year in Brazil

18 Seniors 2010

Life often changes unexpectedly, as it did for Govind Raghavan. He had set his sights high, determined to study at Stanford University, and was admitted. With his mind

made up, he had only to send in his S.I.R. to claim his spot at what had long been his dream school. That was when everything changed.

He had applied to one of the most presti-gious programs in the nation, the UCSD Med Scholar Program. Of the thousands that ap-ply every year, only a handful are admitted. Twelve were chosen this year, and Raghavan

was among them.Therefore, he had a tough choice to make.“(UCSD) is a great medical school with a

great science program,” Raghavan said. “But it was a very difficult decision.”

After researching the various opportunities offered by each school, he finally chose to at-tend San Diego in the fall.

“While it was difficult to choose, I believe that I made the right choice in choosing the Med Scholar Program,” he said. “It will allow me to pursue a vast amount of research abilities throughout both undergraduate and graduate

school.”According to Raghavan, while Stanford

may be one of the nation’s best schools, school rigor, competition and costs were detrimen-tal. Through his research he discovered that UCSD was a better fit.

Regardless of where he attends school, one thing is certain: Raghavan’s outstanding work ethic and desire for learning will carry him far in the years to come.

- Alex McFall and Eugene Kwon

Raghavan acceptedinto top med school

Seniors 2010 19

With only ten incoming freshman accepted to the University of Oregon School of Music each year, senior Zach Darf is

proud to say that he is going to be an Oregon Duck.

“Music is the only thing in school that I enjoy working hard on,” Darf said.

While academic classes were always something that he felt obligated to do, music never felt like a requirement to him.

Through concert band, jazz ensemble and small ensemble, Darf has received a lot of creative in-struction from teachers Josh Murray and Max Kiesner on how to improve. In addition to advice from teachers, Darf has be-come more indepen-dent with his music by

taking part in student bands such as Spaghett!.

“Just by playing in two or three bands every day, music became more than just a hobby to me,” Darf said.

As the AM Jazz Ensemble prepared to go to the Essentially Ellington Jazz Fes-tival in New York this past month, Loren Schoenberg arrived to assist them with the pieces they had selected to play in the fes-tival. Schoenberg is the curator of the Jazz Museum in Harlem, New York and is also a prominent educator in New York teaching at schools including Julliard.

“He talked to Julliard for me but it was so late in the year that there were no spots left,” Darf said. “I had also already accepted my of-fer to the University of Oregon at that point.”

Although Darf will not be attending Jul-liard in the fall, Schoenberg gave a very high recommendation for Darf to the Julliard fac-ulty. If anyone were to drop out, Darf would be high on the list of candidates to take the spot.

“I’m on Julliard’s radar,” Darf said. “I’m planning on going there for grad school.”

With Schoenberg’s seal of approval, Darf has a much higher chance than other appli-cants of getting into Julliard in the future.

In addition to Julliard, Darf also has plans to go to a conservatory on the east coast after he completes his undergraduate degree.

- Riva Ballis

Darf’s talents strike achord at Oregon

20 Seniors 2010

Senior

4

"The Jesuit vs. Rio games!" Antonio Lorta

"During volleyball practice, the coach had us sing 'I'm a Little Teapot' to the waterpolo boys during their practice while running around the pool."

Paula Bartolome1

5"Dancing in the parking lot for warm-ups before a softball game, usually to N*sync!"

Alyssa Aragon

"When Willie and I wrestled in Sumo outfits."

Tristan Vincent

3"Getting a Kings Royal Court dancer put on my lap by Slamson at the Kings Rally in front of the whole school."

Brandon Keith

2

Seniors 2010 21

6

10"Rapping the children's book 'Ten Little Dinosaurs' as the rest of the class read Shakespeare."

Michael Whiting

"Black Light Rally."

Caitlin Archibald

8"Teaching Louis Murray how to jerk in the hallways."

Melissa Freitas

7"When Changiz smashed into the bench by the flagpole, hit and run style."

Kevin Williams

"Mahoney getting hit in the face with a piñata was the highlight of his birthday party. There were four pounds of candy in the piñata too."

Jens Driller

9

Moments

22 Seniors 2010

Sponsors

Thanks for supporting us this year!

Seniors 2010 23

Number of CAL All League players for Rio fall sports: 24Number of yearbooks produced: 1,100

Cost of a Tesoro: $75Cost of an iPhone: $199

Number of goals scored by Austin Kinn in the boys varsity soccer season: 15Percentage of seniors from Rio attending a UC in the fall: 11%

Number of seniors going to college in California: 262Number of seniors going out of state for college: 45Number of Academy awards “Hurt Locker” won: 6

Revenue of Avatar worldwide: $2,721,006,645Number of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico: At least 6 million

Cost of the oil spill so far: $760 millionNumber of bikers that finished stage 1 of the Tour of California: 127

Number of bikers who finished stage 8 (the final stage) of the Tour of California: 63Number of stitches in Lance Armstrong’s face: 7

Number of seniors that ran in the CIM: 5Number of hours spent in each class period over the year: 180.65

Number of national awards won by Mirada staffers for the 2009-2010 year: 6Number of YouTube video hits Molly Ingram’s Aloha Rally varsity song routine video received: 26,128

Number of Facebook fans of The Mirada: 417Number of visits riomirada.com received: 3,267

Number of different songs Christian Oldham played from his iPod during newspaper: 1704Maximum number of miles economics/psychology teacher Curt Casazza has run in one day: 60

Number of days it took Principal Brian T. Ginter to travel from Pennsylvania to California: 3Number of weeks “I Gotta Feeling” was on the Billboard 200 : 49

Number of students on campus: 1658Number of teachers on campus: 85

Place of Mock Trial team in the Sacramento County competition: 1stPlace of boys varsity basketball team in the Jack Scott Tournament: 3rd

Place of Science Olympiad Team in Regionals: 5thNumber of members in the band Spaghett!: 6

Number of goals Cailin Jope scored throughout varsity girls water polo season: 103Number of years in a row varsity girls have won the section championships: 8

Number of games varisty boys volleyball team won this year: 11Number of games varsity boys volleyball won in the last four years combined: 4

Number of senior girls who transferred from Loretto: 4Number of models in the senior fashion show: 99

Number of years math teacher Tom Kossack has taught at Rio: 31Number of years science teacher Stephen Ruggiero has taught at Rio: 39

Number of themed Funny Thursdays: 20

Data from: Mirada and Tesoro staff, maxpreps.com, youtube.com, facebook.com, apple.com, billboard.com, sacbee.com, Nicolas Jimenez

Rio Index

24 Seniors 2010

Amy Abatemarco. Kapil Adhikari. Asayel Al-Romaihi. Nora Alajou. Rolando Alvarado. Brenda Alvarez. Travis Ambrose. Laura Anderson. Chanel Andrews. Mary Androvich. Alyssa Aragon. Caitlin Archibald.

Carly Ashen. Robert Avecilla. Adrian Baccelli. Ramish Bahramand. Michelle Baker. Riva Ballis. Katelyn Barrino. Jesse Bartels. Elliot Bartlett. Paula Bartolome. Nicholas Baumbach.

Chris Beatty. Jessica Behrens. Andrew Bell. Victoria Beyer. Amber Bibby. Andrew Bissell. Nicholas Blaine. Jacob Block. Michael Bockover. Christopher Booth-Hall. Joseph Bragg. Dalton Brewster.

John Brieger. William Britt. Ashley Broddrick. Clark Brookover. Korrin Brooks. Randy Broshar. Cassandra Brown. Nicole Brown. Scott Buchanan. Alicia Budreaux. Brittany

Budreaux. Alexandra Bungay. Ted Burchett. Kassia Burger. Alison Burns. Kevin Bush. John Butterfield. Brendan Cabe. Tess Calnero. Kristin Campbell. Tyler Campbell.

Katelin Cannon. Megan Carr. Elyzza Carrido. Ken Carter. Grace Chediak. Leah Chen. Emily Child. Meghan Cohan. Nicholas Cohmanschi. Briana Conway. Jessica Cook. Brittney Cracchiolo. Ryan Cremins. Halie Crom. Spencer Curry. Priyanka

Dadlani. Mark Daniels. Zach Darf. Domenico De Luca. Sommer Deboer-Marin. Lindsay Dehm. Matthew Deterding. Sarah Devoto. Aneil Dhillon. Danh Do. Robert Dobre.

Dylan Donnelly. Daniele Downing. Delanie Downing. Jens Driller. Jessica Dyatlov. Christopher Edwards. Ben Egan. Brian Eiselman. Harold Elledge. Sheila Emami. Aimee Eshoff. Kyle Eszlinger. Jerrett Evans. Alan Eyster. Briana Ezray. Matthew Fanfelle. Anita Farid. Lyndsay Farley. Elisa Favero. Adam Felton. Ashley Ferko. EJ Fernandes. Brian Fernandez-Oquendo.

Molly Flanigan. Melissa Fletcher. Stephanie Fonseca. Jenna Forste. Adam Foster. Tyler Fowler. Joseph Fox. Michael Franz. Sheldon Freeman.

Melissa Freitas. Sam Friedman. Ian Gallinger. Omid Ganji. Lydia Garcia-Potter. Zach Giberson. Jasmine Gonzalez. Kyle Goodman.

Aaron Goodrich. Courtney Gove. Tanner Graf. Matthew Granroth. Chelsea Greco. Mikaela Gregory. Lauren Grippi. Devin Grubb. Adriana

Guajardo. Pedro Gerrero De La Cruz. Zach Gunter. Kirk Gylling. Will Hagedorn. Sean Haley. Jacob Hall. Tyler Hanna. Shelby Hawkins. Joseph

Hazelroth. Patrick Heater. Damon Heaton. Molly Heiligman. Thomas Hemington. Claudia Hernandez. Lillian Hicks. Taylor Hilton. Vincent Hirtzel. Vinh Ho. Casey Holgate. Daniel Hong. Lauren Hotell.

Francesca Hulog. Ian Hutchison. Alexandria Ibarria. Molly Ingram. Nathan James. Kevin Jenco. Abbie Jennings. Allison Jennings. Eyan Jensen. Nicolas Jimenez. Grant Johnson. Javar Johnson.

Nicholas Johnson. Bryan Jones. Cailin Jope. Alice Joska. Albion Kaleo. Mahyar Kamalinafar. Natalie Kassis. Steven

Katz. David Kaufman. Brandon Keith. Alexandra Keyser. Jongmin Kim. Gavin Kinder. Jonathan King. Austin Kinn. Tyler Kinn. Alexander Koumis.

Evan Kubicki. Marina Kuznetsov. Eugene Kwon. Danilo Lacayo. Eric Lambing. Kara-Lyn Langan. Megan Larson. Eric Lavi. Scott Ledbetter. Brian Lee. Young Lee. Abe Leibovitz. Dylan Lemos. Harris Levin. Meg Lewis. Jesse Leyva. Ari

Lightman. Jorden Litchfield. Brandon Liu. Preston Logan. Jenner Long. Antonio Lorta. Kirill Lukinskiy. Scott MacDonald. Guilherme Machado. Paul Mack. Micah

Mador. Elise Marsh. Gavin Marsh. Mathew Martire. Riley Matranga. Vera McBride. Rocker McCarter-Ribakoff. Jarrett McClain. Michael McClure. Alex McFall. Kyle McGill. Taylor

McGregor. Ryan McKone. Kayloni Medina. Alix Medlin. Avi Mehari. Nauzi Memar. Alexis Mendoza. Alexio Mesica. Leslie Messchaert. Molly Millan. Zev Minow. Gabriel Miranda-Gonzalez. Jonathan Mohrsaz. Gavin Moler. Katherine Montgomery. Kara Morison. Glynnis Morrison. Shannon Morse. Matthew Mouser. Natalie Mouzooni. Lauren Mugniani. Garrett Munter. Louis Murray. Rhisa Muse. Devika Nair. Mario Najera. Zachary Najjar. Zach Nathanson. Lisa Neal. Emily Norgaard. Gaelan O’Neill. Brandon Odom. Christian Oldham. Kristian Olsen Mock. Erika Ose. Shelby

Ostwald. Andrea Ott. David Pacheco. Kathryn Palmer. Felicia Parra. Lindsay Peabody. Stephanie Pena. Cesar Perez. Katelyn Peterson. Alyssa Plaat. Rahgeen Pope. Fawn Press-Dawson. Masson Prowse. Tyler Quilty. Alina Rabtseva. Govind Raghavan. Keyanna Raihani. Abra Ramirez. Rosa Ramos. Whitney Randazzo. Alex Reinnoldt. Jared Riffle-

Yokoi. Ashley Roberts. Marissa Rodriguez. Tyler Rood. Bradon Rosengard. Dara Rouholiman. Jason Rucker. Marissa Ruxin. Kamila Saidova. Patricia Salinas. Zoe Samborski. Alexander Sanchez. Cameron Santo. Julia Schaber. Joseph Schwarz. Steven Scordakis. Savannah Scott. Alexis Shen. Maayan Shenhar. Jeein Shin. Alicia Shull. Tyler Silvia. Gichul Sin. Toni Smiley. Robert Smith. Wyatt Smith. Alexander Sodeman-Quiroz. Jessica Solis. Aaron Soskin. Hanna

Spano. Michelle Spera. Andrew Spittler. Seychelle Steiner. Ashleigh Stevens. Hilary Stewart. Nicholas Storelli. Zara Sulzen. Derek Sup. Nathan Swedlow. Austin Takechi. Israel Tamiru. Ruben Tavares. Christina Tayeh. Ashley Taylor. Allison Thompson. Nicholas Thompson. Sherene Thompson. Linda Tilkin. Tachel Tochterman. Elena Townsend. Chase Traud. Nichlas Trimble. Teddi Triphon. Greer Uu. Mako Uyekawa. Haley Val. Rachel Vartanian. Elizabeth Vaughn. Suzan Velichko. Michael Venturino. Victoria Viebrock. Angelica Villegas. Muguel Villegas. Tristan Vincent. Houston Vinci. Maggy Voet. Callie Wade. Jackson Wagner. Nick Warner. Ilisa Weinberg. Kaitlyn Werling. Michael Whiting. Kevin Williams. Arlent Wisser. Brian Wong. Joseph Woolston. Mayra Yaya. Chase Yepez-Patterson. Eden

Young. Jocelyn Zidar. Kristina Zmuda.

Congratulations Class of