His won the Gold Award in Business Law and the Santa Clara County High School Chess Championship, and is listed in Who’s Who Among High School Students. He will begin undergraduate studies this fall at U.C. Berkeley, with plans to become a lawyer.
Tatyana A. Shevnina of San Francisco, emigrated from Odessa, Ukraine, in 1996. She graduated from George Washington High School with a 4.0 average. She has received the President’s Education Award, the Golden State Academic Excellence Award and the Honor Roll Award, among others, and has been a member of the Outdoor Club. She will attend U.C. Davis in the fall.
Katerina Abdilova of San Francisco emigrated from Gomel, Belarus, in 1995. She graduated from San Francisco’s Hebrew Academy. A National Merit Commendee, she has received certificates of excellence in Judaic studies, geometry and Hebrew.
She was also honored for her skills as a counselor by the Ben Akiva Youth Groups. She has been a peer tutor in geometry and English, co-captain in her high school’s Debate Club and a volunteer at the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services. Abdilova plans to become a lawyer and currently works as a clerk and paralegal in a law office. She will enter Stanford University in the fall.
Stella Gelman of San Francisco emigrated from Ukraine in 1991. She has been accepted for fall entry to the Optometry School at U.C. Berkeley.
She graduated summa cum laude from San Francisco State University and received the Biology Scholarship Award and the Rabedeau Memorial Scholarship for academic achievement as well as the Hillel International Leadership Assembly Certificate.
Gelman helped to organize an AIDS awareness program for Hillel students and assisted in organizing a Tay-Sachs outreach project for ex-USSR emigres. She has already begun work in her chosen field of optometry, holding a job in a doctor’s office.
Ilya Klets of San Francisco emigrated from Russia in 1996. He graduated from Hebrew Academy, where he was a member of the math, chemistry and physics tutoring teams and the Hebrew Club. He dedicates much of his time to volunteering at the S.F.-based JFCS. This fall he enters U.C. Berkeley.
“By granting these highly competitive awards, we hope to encourage these exceptional students to continue their pursuit of higher education and personal dreams,” said Donald J. Fleishaker, chairman of the HIAS scholarship committee.
This year, United States recipients are from 22 states. Roughly 45 percent are high school seniors, 50 percent are university students and 5 percent are in graduate school.
In addition to the American program, HIAS also gives scholarships to immigrants in Israel.
HIAS also awarded $850 scholarships to 54 immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. In 1999, HIAS granted a record amount of $216,900 for scholarships — more than a 43 percent increase over last year’s awards.