Two Highline students have been selected by the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce as Students of the Month - Joslynn Vasques (left) of Highline High School and Bryanna Sloan (right) of Big Picture High School. See their stories as published in The Business Advocate. Students selected for this honor have the opportunity to apply for scholarships offered each spring by the Chamber's Education Committee.

Joslynn is a hard-working student not afraid to try new things. She joined DECA in her sophomore year and has competed every year since. In her senior year, she took the role as president and even qualified for state in her events Retail Merchandising and the Chapter Awards Project.

In her last year of high school, she has maintained a spot in the top 50 of her class and has busied herself with many extracurricular activities; Joslynn is editor-in-chief and reporter for The Helm, a student-run newspaper, an active member in the Drama Club, a director in the One-Act Play Festival, and a playwright whose play will be featured in the Young Playwrights Festival, hosted by ACT Theatre.

Joslynn plans to attend Western Washington University, and although she isn't sure in what she plans to major, she knows it will incorporate the skills learned from the three years of business she has taken.

Congratulations, Joslynn!

Bryanna chose to attend Highline Big Picture High School because she wanted the opportunity to step out of the classroom and gain hands-on experience in the "Learning Through Internships Program."

Her journey began in a Career Choices class, where she discovered an interest in business and graphic design. Her challenge was to find an internship that would allow her to engage in these fields at a professional level. After many informational interviews and shadow days, she finally found her opportunity this year as a junior in an internship with Cutter Construction in Seattle.

At this internship, Bryanna's outstanding accomplishment was taking the lead in organizing all the paperwork for a state audit required for the company's work with King County. Thanks in part to her efforts, Cutter passed the audit with flying colors. Bryanna also improved her graphic design skills by creating business cards and stationery for the company.

Throughout this internship, Bryanna was steadily increasing her desire to use her developing business skills to help others and promote social justice. The issue she is particularly passionate about is removing barriers to employment for people with felony convictions on their records. Bryanna has chosen this as her senior thesis topic and is currently taking classes in business and social services at South Seattle Community College through the Running Start program. Bryanna is working hard to make a difference!

Congratulations, Bryanna!