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Jim Elliot Christian High School honors co-valedictorians

By Ripley Howe
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Sometimes it's hard to pick just one.

At Jim Elliot Christian High School this year, two students topped the list with nearly identical grade point averages, so both received the title of "co-valedictorian."

Derek Nuss

Sheehan Tejamo, of Stockton, and Derek Nuss, of Lodi, both achieved 4.06 GPAs this year. While there were differences when carried out to the thousandths, the school decided to overlook it and awarded the two students equal honors.

Tejamo, 17, plans to attend the University of California, Berkeley and major in biochemistry. She plans to be a pediatrician, a goal she has had since she was a child, she said.

Her mother is a nurse, so she knows what a career in the medical profession requires. She said that in addition to a career in medicine, she would like to raise a family.

Tejamo said she credits the support of her parents and the teachers at school for her academic success. She also said her faith has motivated her to be a good student.

"God is excellent, so be excellent," she said.

Sheehan Tejamo

The instructors at Jim Elliot were also very helpful, she said. "The teachers treat you like a peer, and you want to emulate them," she said. "You could go to them about anything."

Tejano also credits her friends.

"I stress so much, and they helped me to be not so serious," she said.

She said it will be a stretch for her to move from the small Christian high school to a dormitory in Berkeley. She has visited the campus there and found people to be very friendly.

"It's so big that I can make it mine," she said.

In her four years at Jim Elliot, Tejano was involved in cheerleading, Silent Sounds, softball, and the Interact Club. She also volunteered with the American Red Cross Youth Services, at St. Joseph's Hospital as a student volunteer, an was a church youth group leader.

Nuss, 18, plans to attend Wheaton College, in Wheaton, Ill.

He said he will possibly pursue a graduate degree in theology and continue on to a career either as a seminary professor or in farming.

Nuss carries with him a long tradition of farming, going back to his great grandfather -- currently his parents grows asparagus and alfalfa on their farm. Though he does not consider himself to be a farmer, he spent a lot of time in the fields, and worked the farm every summer.

"Farming was hard work, and it gave me a good work ethic," he said. "I come from a good, hard-working family."

During high school, Nuss participated in the Interact Club, and was a member of the Temple Baptist Church. He is also a member of the Lodi Chapter of the Historical Society of Germans from Russia.

He has received several awards and scholarships, including recognition as a National Merit Scholar. He received the Wheaton College President's Award, the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship, the Vaccarezza-Murdaca Scholarship, and the Wal-Mart Scholarship. Nuss is also the recipient of the Bank of America Achievement Award, the Distinguished Student Award, and an Achievement Award from the Stockton Record.

Although the move to Illinois will be a big change from Lodi, he is confident that he will handle it without a problem, Nuss said.

"I will be able to make the adjustment," he said. "I know that a lot of people there will have a lot in common with me."

As his most memorable high school experience, Nuss said it was when he heard President Bush speak at a political rally in Stockton in 2002.