South Lake Tahoe twins headed to Boys and Girls State

It has always been an amazing accomplishment for a student from South Tahoe High to be selected to go to either Boy's State or Girl's State, programs sponsored by the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary.

For the first time organizers can remember, twins have been selected to represent the community in the unique and exciting government-in-action learning programs which teach youth how to be knowledgeable stewards of freedom, democracy and patriotism.

Rita and Forrest McCann, 16, are current juniors at South Tahoe High School. Rita will be heading to Claremont McKenna College June 24-30 for Girls State while Forrest goes to Cal State Sacramento June 18-23.

They are the children of Paula Jiru and Richard McCann.

It was a coincidence the twins were chosen as the interview process by the two groups is conducted separately. Rita and Sam earned the recognition based on interviews and applications and impressed those tasked with selecting the top boy and the top girl.

Not only do the two excel at academics (Rita currently has a 4.3 GPA fourth in the class, and Forrest is currently at the top of the class with a 4.68), but the two very active teens are community oriented.

Forrest was in the inaugural Rotary Interact Club at South Tahoe High as a freshman, and Rita joined a year later. Together with their club they held a fundraiser for hurricane victims, helped move the SLT Warm Room, helping at the skilled nursing center and working on a sustainable living project with the Hoffer Foundation.

Rita will be in an intern program at Barton Heath this summer. She is leaning towards a career in the medical field or in education. She is on the Dance Team at STHS and teaches hip hop to boys ages 3-11 at Marcia Sarosik Dance Studio.

She recently represented the STHS Interact Club at the District Conference in Reno and accepted an award for the club's efforts.

Forrest is interested in physics and has applied to work this summer at South Tahoe Public Utility District. He is already taking college classes five days a week at Lake Tahoe Community College in Chemistry, Calculus and Physics (and next up, Linear Algebra). He was a cross country runner and skier for the high school, and helps with the nordic team at South Tahoe Middle School. He also has a job at the Rock Shop in South Lake Tahoe.

Forrest started the Hack Club at STHS, part of a global nonprofit network of high school programming clubs that gives them use of software programs not normally available to high school students.

The close twins share their passion for life and learning. Forrest is a year ahead of Rita in Math, so he helps her in that subject while she'll help him in English.

The list of accomplishments so far in their young lives is impressive enough, but so is the list of Advanced Placement (AP) classes the two are finishing at STHS. Both are in AP History, Environmental Science, Language, while Rita has been in AP English and Statistics, Forrest in Calculus.

When they hit the college years it will be the first time the twins won't be together. She would like to be on the west coast, and Forrest on the each coast.

Their older siblings are accomplished STHS graduates. Nicole "Nollie Pierini" Templeton is now a married mother of one and works for an engineering firm in Phoenix, Arizona. She earned her undergrad at UC San Diego, and her Masters and Phd in environmental science at Arizona State University. Brother Sam Pierini is at the University of Wisconsin after getting his undergraduate degree at Arizona State in Biology. He is now in Pharmacy School.

It appears they've paved the way for their younger siblings in the world of higher education, but first things first....a trip to represent the South Lake Tahoe community at Boys State and Girls State.