YWCA to honor CVHS senior for wide range of achievments

Alex Moore, 17, has a broad spectrum of interests.

The senior at Central Valley High School been the president of Spokane Engineering Post, a group of students who pursue their interests in engineering. She’s in the French club, Math is Cool, the school cross country and track teams, and she volunteers with Explorer Search and Rescue through the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Next week, she will be honored for her academic achievements and community service.

Moore will receive the Young Woman of Achievement Award at the 30th annual YWCA Women of Achievement Benefit Luncheon on Oct. 25.

She learned about this award during the last school year, when counselor Larry Bernbaum asked a group of girls in her grade to submit résumés for the award. Bernbaum selected Moore from this group.

“I didn’t really think I was going to win it when I applied,” she said.

She’s looking forward to the luncheon and meeting other women who make a difference in the community.

Dennis McGuire, her AP physics teacher and coach in track and cross country, said in all of his years in teaching, Moore is probably in the 1 percent of his top students.

“I think it’s very deserved,” he said. “She’s multifaceted, multitalented.”

She carries a 3.99 GPA in school and earned a 2,350 out of 2,400 on her SAT.

Moore said math and science appeal to her because she likes to learn how things work. This summer, she visited the University of Florida for a summer program where she got to work in an optics lab that creates cables for telescopes so they can look farther into space. She said because of the way light travels, scientists are actually looking back in time when they look that far, finding early star formations.

She has been volunteering with the Explorer Search and Rescue team since she was a sophomore. She has been trained to search rural areas. Sometimes, they ask her group to perform a grid search of crime scenes to look for evidence.

While growing up, her parents, Sandy and George Moore, often took the family scuba diving. She has been certified in open water since 2007.

Moore said she chose to go to CV as a freshman because of its Advanced Placement programs and other academic opportunities. As a new student at the school, she joined the cross country team to meet other students.

She said she enjoys the team aspect of the sport, supporting each other while they work to get better.

“I like to be proud of what everyone is doing,” she said.

Although busy, Moore said she often makes free time to spend with her friends.

Along with the award, Moore will receive a $500 scholarship for college. She hasn’t decided where she will go, but she would like to study electrical engineering.

Wherever she goes to school next year, McGuire said, she will succeed.

“It will be interesting to see where she ends up (in life),” he said.