Keys to Success: Irasema Del Castillo

Written by Megan Laubershimer, as published in The Daily Herald, B10, 3/25/09

A chance to win a car, what could be a better reason to hope for a key card from Ken Garth? It's called Keys to Success and has been a program running throughout high schools for a few years now.

As a program to promote the students of tomorrow to work hard and dedicate today, it awards only the students who truly take the future into their own hands.

Teachers nominate students, who then receive a fun, little key card. This is a card that not only parallels the lottery for high school students by bringing with it the chance to win a new car, but also gives the opportunity to choose from a variety of prizes, anything from a day pass at renowned ski resorts to free dinners at top notch restaurants.

Timpanogos High School prides itself on housing an eclectic body of students who do what they can to succeed. With only the best of the best students receiving cards, either by maintaining a 4.0 GPA or having perfect attendance, key cards spread around the school like wild fire.

A perfect example of Timpanogos's finest is senior Irasema Del Castillo. As the business liaison for the school newspaper, Irasema deals with irascible businesses and a tight budget to keep the Timberwolf Times running, and she even finds the time to write for the paper as well.

English teacher Mrs. Phippen, who is also the paper's adviser, nominated Irasema after admiring not only her work ethic but her personality as well. She reported, "I gave it to her for raising our advertisements by 1000%. Last year we had $300 in ads. Irasema got $3,000 this year."

With so many students receiving a key card every month, it was difficult to choose just one among the many talented class. Irasema proved to be one of the top choices because she is the perfect example of what future seniors should strive to become. She is endearing, kind, and intelligent, not to mention good with money; and she works hard for what she wants.

Though she admits that the chances for her to actually win the car at the end of the year are not very high, she laughed and said that she'd gladly take it and sell the car she has now. When asked what she thought about being nominated, she said, "I think it was cool. I got $100 to Paul Mitchell [beauty school]."

When asked why she thought she received the nomination, she said, "It was for a 4.0 grade," but we all know it was for so much more than that. From working on PACK, the school's student committee, to taking care of her younger sister, Irasema is a valued student among her teachers and a beloved friend.