Stellar Students

A Glimpse at Some of Pali High’s Outstanding Graduates

By JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter

There are countless students graduating high school in 2020 who could be recognized for their hard work and contributions to the school and community during their tenure. The Palisadian-Post checked in with three of these students, who were recommended by faculty and staff for their achievements.

The following students have interests ranging from liberal arts, academics, sports and sciences to a future in comedy and dramatic arts. Formerly students at Paul Revere Charter Middle School, these students will all be graduating from Pali High this June.

Palisadian Teddy Suisman, 18, will be attending Stanford University in the fall with acceptance for his academics. During his senior year at Pali High, he excelled in football as the school’s number one wide receiver.

“I got first-team All-League and second team All-City,” Suisman explained to the Post. “I scored 10 receiving touchdowns throughout the season, which was second in the league.

This success came after having a not conventionally successful junior year in football, Suisman shared, which made it even more of an accomplishment.

Suisman credited the improvement to putting in extra work after practice with the quarterbacks during the previous summer. Formerly, Suisman played varsity basketball in ninth and 10th grade before switching to football as a junior.

Suisman also served as chairperson for Artribe this year, with a talent for photography.

He lives with his father, Doug, who contributed many hours of his time helping Pali High with a gateway project focused on improving the pedestrian underpass on campus, and his mother Moye Thompson.

Suisman is known for being a nice human being, a great student and a deserving person. He plans to pursue liberal arts in university.

Ariana “Ari” Olivera will be graduating this June a year early at only 16 years old. Commuting to the Pali High campus from Mid-City, Olivera finished 10th grade, took extra classes over the summer and launched into 12th grade, taking nine classes to manage this feat.

“I want to be an orthopedic surgeon or a trauma surgeon,” she shared with the Post.

During her time at Pali High, she said biology came naturally.

“I really liked my biology class,” Olivera added of her class with Ms. Sharfi.

Her older brother, Andre, 18, graduated from University High School early and was the inspiration for her goal. Andre is already a chef, following in their father Andres’ footsteps.

Olivera’s ambition is to attend Santa Monica College for two years and then transfer to the University of California, Los Angeles, or UC Berkeley.

While at Pali High, Olivera was part of MESA (Math, Engineering, Science and Achievement). After school during seventh period, MESA built robots and attended competitions. Teachers offered help to students if they were having trouble with any difficult subject matter.

For the past two years, Olivera volunteered at Cedars-Sinai Teen Volunteer Program at the nurses’ station in Urgent Care. Pali High staff shared that she is a great student and an awesome person.

Jamie Mazur, 18, is graduating from Pali High with a large contribution to the arts. Considered by his teachers a strong filmmaker and writer, he received an almost full scholarship to the USC School of Cinematic Arts, a private media school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. There, he will major in screenwriting.

In high school, Mazur joined a seventh-period drama class and found his passion for the arts. Mazur participated in musicals and plays at Pali High. He also joined “Friday Night Live,” the comedy sketch show based on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” directed by Nancy Fracchiolla.

Mazur became vice president during his junior year, and then president and head writer for “FNL” in his senior year. He’s considered highly talented and a wonderful student. He’s also done stand-up and written some short films on his own.

Mazur resides in Topanga with his father, composer Ken Mazur, and his mother, Susan Clark.