By Jason King
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Twenty-three Round Lake High School students have 20,000 reasons to study hard over the next three years.

The students on Monday were named the first-ever Schuler Family Foundation Scholars for the high school. This is the first year the program, which previously existed only at Waukegan High School and St. Martin de Porres High School in Waukegan, has expanded into Round Lake.

High school Principal Jeff Brierton said the group carries not only the expectations of the Schuler Family Foundation, but those of the school they’re representing.

“You are the pathfinders. You’ve got even more responsibility. You are leading the way for hopefully many others to follow, and model,” Brierton said. “You’re part of something different at this high school.”

Started in 2002 by former Abbott executive Jack Schuler and his wife, Renate, the program provides a $5,000-per-year scholarship for students enrolled in a four-year college who meet certain criteria and continue to meet them throughout high school and college.

In following years, students in each freshman class will be identified toward the end of that year, encouraged to apply for the scholar program and a new group of scholars will be chosen.

This year’s class of sophomores are: Natalie Aguilar, Timothy Bates, Thomas Birren, Kylee Butler, Steven Cimarusti, Priya Dhingra, Dustin Driscoll, Lethicia Figueiredo, Jaclyn Fortney, Stefanie Fuentes, Elizabeth Gonzalez, Branden Hidalgo, Austin Kohlmeyer, Grecia Lira, Annliz Macharia, Brenda Manon, Kara Maplethorpe, Viviana Martinez, Lindon Martinez, Yesenia Real, Gustavo Ruiz, Raven Tiem and Susan Tith.

Jack Schuler told the students and their parents the road ahead of them will be difficult, but their efforts will pay off. He noted that as unfair as it may seem, people who attend and graduate from acclaimed four-year colleges often get farther in life than those who don’t.

“In this world, our society already does a sort of a ranking, of which school you got into,” said Schuler, a Stanford graduate. “Maybe that’s unfair, but the fact is, if you graduate from one of the top schools in this country, you’re going to have more doors opened for you.”

Students later shared pizza and a roundtable discussion with Schuler while their parents learned about the expectations placed on their students, as well as themselves.

The 23 students will go to the foundation’s wilderness leadership camp this weekend in Wisconsin as their first official foundation event.