Young Palisadians

Compiled by ELAINE CHOI Palisadian-Post Intern TOM SHAPIRO, a graduate of Loyola High, graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis this past month. Graduating within the top 100 of the almost 1,000 graduates, he was commissioned as an Ensign and will be serving his first year at UC Berkeley earning a graduate degree in oceanic engineering. He will then be stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Tom, the son of Diane and Dr. Alan Shapiro, is an Eagle Scout from Palisades Troop 223, a Silver Medal recipient in Crew 223 and has served as president for the coed crew of 25 high school students. o o o JAMES WRUBEL, son of Sharon Wrubel and the late John Wrubel, graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College on June 13, with a double major in music and in psychological and brain sciences. He graduated with high honors in music, having received the Dean of the Faculty Richter Research Grant for his senior thesis and performance work and McDonald-Smith Music Prize for performance. He played extensively in New England throughout his college years and studied music at London?s Royal College of Music as part of Dartmouth?s 2003 foreign study program. He is a graduate of Crossroads School, where he began studying jazz piano after having studied classical piano for many years with Nancy Arnold. James starts work this month in management for McMaster-Carr and will continue to pursue his interest in jazz piano. His sister Suzanne, who graduated from Dartmouth in 2001, attends Harvard Law School. o o o LYDIA SLEEPER, 9, an entering fifth grader at Canyon Charter School, is one of only 16 girls in the Los Angeles Girl Scout Council (approx. 10,000 girls) that sold over 1,000 boxes of cookies in this years annual Girl Scout cookie sales. Girl Scout Troop 551 sold over 4,000 boxes total through individual order taking and booth sales at locations including the Santa Monica Main Street Farmers Market. Lydia was top seller in her troop, but will be quick to tell you that the best part of cookie sales are the results. The troop votes on how all funds will be spent. Their ultimate goal is to visit China some day, but recent trips have included overnights in the local Santa Monica Girl Scout House and their first camping trip at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area. o o o Navy Seaman Recruit CALVIN H. GOMEZ, a 2000 graduate of Palisades High School, recently completed U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. During the eight-week program, Gomez completed a variety of training which included classroom study and practical instruction on naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and survival, and shipboard and aircraft safety. An emphasis was also placed on physical fitness.