Sierra Smith, a senior at Yosemite High School, has been honored as the McDonald’s -KSEE (Channel 24) Student of the Week. This honor entitles her to take 25 friends to breakfast at McDonalds and to a trip for four to Disneyland.

She was nominated by YHS Head Counselor Valinda Clevenger and Counseling Technician Jeanne Ratchford.

Mrs. Clevenger wrote that "Sierra Sunshine Smith is not your typical senior. She is an exemplary student, thoughtful friend and tireless worker."

Sierra maintains a 4.15 grade point average while earning the title of "events coordinator" at YHS. "From proms to student rallies, you know that if Sierra is in charge, the event will be flawless," Mrs. Clevenger wrote.

The list of extra-curricular activities and honors for Sierra is extensive. One of her most recent honors was being named the noon Rotary Club’s Student of the Month. She has also been asked to participate in a Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation team visit later this year.

She is the student member of the Yosemite Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees and she sits on the Superintendent’s Council.

She was the Rotary Club’s representative to the Camp Royal Leadership program and she was school’s representative to the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference.

Sierra has been on the high school’s county-winning Mock Trial Team throughout her high school career. She was chairman of the Junior Prom last year.

"An illustration of Sierra’s heart is that two weeks prior to the junior/senior prom, when most girls are worried about what to do with their hair, Sierra donated 10 inches of her gorgeous, long, black hair to Locks of Love, an organization that donates wigs to needy children going through cancer chemotherapy," Mrs. Clevenger wrote.

Besides the numerous activities in which Sierra participates at YHS, she is also active in the community. She assists at blood drives for the Central California Blood Bank, she was a team captain for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life last year, she has been in community drama productions, is a student docent at the Children’s Museum and at Fresno Flats Historical Park.

She assists with the Eastern Madera County Chamber of Commerce Education Committee’s Showcase of Schools and she volunteers to help clean and maintain the Oakhurst River Parkway.

She is a member of the Mountain Bear Fan Club, she helps at the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk, and she helps collect items for Manna House.

Sierra helps out at community events sponsored by the Rotary Club and Kiwanis Club, she helps at the Triathlons, and she assists with the clean-up after Peddlers’ Fairs.

She also has worked on projects for the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, the Oakhurst Boys and Girls Club, Service Organization of the Sierra, Oakhurst Senior Center, Earth Day, Mountain Area Youth Organization, and the Central Valley Wellness Council.

"Few adults have the ability to carry off the huge undertakings that Sierra routinely organizes and delivers to the students and faculty of YHS," according to Mrs. Clevenger.

With her busy schedule, Sierra still finds time to work part-time at the family business, Greenside Up Growers, and also at Sierra Telephone.

"More significant than all of Sierra’s accomplishments and activities," Mrs. Clevenger writes, "are the personality traits that make her such an extraordinary individual. Her gentle, non-judgmental ways make people of all types feel at ease. She is humble but confident, a combination that is rare for a teenager, yet she accomplishes it with grace."