Pichkeang (Lisa) Ly

Lisa was nominated by her ESL teacher. Lisa moved to the United States from Cambodia in 2016. Her English proficiency was limited and she and her brother were introduced to a brand new country, community and school. All of Lisa's interactions with peer, staff and teachers had to be in English. Despite all of these challenges, Lisa had a wonderful attitude and incredible work ethic. Sadly, later in the school year, Lisa's father became gravely ill and was hospitalized in Philadelphia and put on life support. Lisa traveled back and forth from Philadelphia to Harrisburg each week to be by her father's side. Despite her setbacks, Lisa worked hard at learning English. In less than one year, Lisa improved her Lexile score by over 300 points which is rare growth for such a short period. Lisa maintained over a 90% GPA and was on distinguished honor roll. Lisa's commitment to academic growth and achievement was particularly remarkable as she balanced it with a variety of school service activities including Environmental Club, Red Cross and being a student aide. Lisa's dream is to attend Temple University and pursue a four year degree.