JCB Scholarship recipient Karl Valdez

We are pleased to announce the recipient of the Julia C Bulette Chapter 1864 Protector of the Orphan Scholarship, valedictorian Karl Valdez. He will receive a check for $1,864.00. Congratulations!

Karl Raphael Valdez has attended Virginia City schools since Kindergarten and is the middle child of 3. He loves skiing, robotics, chess and Formula 1 racing. Karl currently takes dual credit classes at Western Nevada College and plans to attend the University of Nevada Reno in Fall 2023, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

Karl has been involved in robotics for 7 years with hundreds of hours in design, build and outreach efforts. Karl is a founding member of the FIRST Lego League (FLL) VC Silver Bricks and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) VC Silver Circuits teams winning multiple spots to the FIRST World Championship in Houston.  He has served in many roles over the years such as co-captain, lead builder, CAD designer and robot drive team member.  He also participates in mentoring activities with his teammates for several teams in FLL and FTC.  

As a self-taught CAD designer, he used his skills as the lead designer for the CANstruction Reno event benefitting the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. The design won Best Original Design and People’s Choice Award in 2022.

For many years, Karl has also been involved with the Sky Tavern Junior Ski Program starting as a novice and competing with the Sky Tavern Junior Race Team. Karl also competed in Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) 5A skiing, representing Virginia City High School for 2 years. Karl is still an avid skier enjoying this sport during his free time. In addition, Karl also works at Sky Tavern as a lift operator during the ski season and maintenance assistant in the summer. 

Karl is a bright, compassionate, intelligent and helpful young man. He is very kind to his grandmother.