STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD GRADUATING SENIORS TAKE THEIR LIVES, SCHOOLING IN STRIDE.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

This year's graduating seniors include many high-achieving, talented teens who have overcome great odds in life.

They stand out for their perseverance, their passion for life and their academic prowess. The Daily News is profiling four to highlight their achievements.

SIMON YOO 

At age 15, when most teenagers still rely on their parents to take care of them, Simon Yoo became head of the household in charge of his younger sister and elderly grandmother.

Divorced, his mother works in Monterey running a Laundromat and dry- cleaning business to support the family.

But despite the difficult circumstances, Yoo, a graduating senior at Hillcrest Christian School in Granada Hills, excelled and is in the running to be the class valedictorian.

Hillcrest guidance counselor Berti Huffschmidt said Yoo shines because of his congeniality, high moral values, leadership and involvement in campus activities. He leads a prayer group, but also manages a soccer and basketball team and plays varsity golf.

Yoo, who has a 4.02 grade-point average, also has participated in Christmas toy drives, blood donations and a missionary trip to Chile.

``He is taking calculus, physics and AP English. He is tremendous. You never meet a kid like Simon Yoo,'' Huffschmidt said.

Yoo attributes his success to his faith in God.

``I know if I didn't have him or devote my time to him, I would be really screwed up right now with the circumstances I am living,'' he said.

This fall, Yoo will attend the University of California, San Diego, to major in science or engineering. He aspires to follow in the footsteps of astronomer and physicist Hugh Ross, whose ministry aims to show the relationship between faith in Jesus Christ and science.

``I don't know if God calls me into that field, but I really like the big questions,'' Yoo said.

JOSHUA HARDEMAN

Joshua Hardeman might not have the highest grade-point average or the most impressive resume at Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga, but his strength of character has made him a shining star in his graduating class.

Hardeman, who said he was abandoned by his father at an early age and later by his mother who has a drug addiction, could have turned out to be an angst-ridden angry young man prone to trouble.

But those who know him say he's not only an able student with a good heart, but also someone who has the potential to make something of himself.

``He is a great kid,'' said Diane DeBoer, a guidance counselor at Verdugo Hills. ``We are just really proud of how he has maintained his strength of character and has taken everything in stride and come out stronger for it.''

Hardeman has a 3.6 GPA, plays the guitar, loves to draw, paint and design computer graphics. He also is actively involved with a Christian youth group and has gone on a missionary trip to Mexico. This fall, Hardeman will attend Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar to explore a career in computer animation.

Hardeman, who has been raised intermittently by his grandparents since he was 2, is modest about his accomplishments.

``I just do what the teachers tell me to do. It's not too hard to figure out that if you do your work, you get a good grade. People always say you are so smart ... but I just do my work.''

Despite his parents' shortcomings, Hardeman said, he still loves them and has come to accept them for who they are, noting ``God has a big influence'' in his life.

``I don't feel too harshly toward my parents for doing what they did. I love my entire family.''

KRISTLE McCRACKEN

``Just go after your interest. That's where you find fulfillment in life.'' That's Kristle McCracken's mantra in life.

Guided by that philosophy, the graduating senior at Sylmar High School has come out at the top of her class - one of three valedictorians - boasting impressive achievements in science.

McCracken was among a select group of students to attend the California Institute of Technology's Young Engineering and Science Scholars program, an intense three-week course that exposed participants to everything from genetically engineered bacteria to how to launch a biotech company.

McCracken, who has a 4.3 grade-point average, also has spent a summer at the University of California, Davis, taking college preparatory courses. This fall, she will attend Stanford University, the first in her family to go to a four-year college.

``Kristle is probably one of the most grounded persons I have known in high school,'' said Sylmar college counselor Judy Jackson. ``She does way above and beyond what is required.''

McCracken volunteers as a college career counselor at Sylmar and also gives her time to a host of community service projects, ranging from packaging food for the Children's Hunger Fund to painting school bleachers and lockers.

``I love doing community service. I like the responsibility of designing my own service projects, going out and finding something I am interested in and getting other people involved in community activities.''

CALLIE BLAKE

Ever since Callie Blake began attending Highland Hall Waldorf School in the fifth grade, she has headlined all the musicals and plays at the Northridge private school.

Blake, a graduating senior with a 3.95 grade-point average, also plays the flute and piano, sings, paints, composes music and writes poetry.

``I have written songs on the guitar and piano. I write a lot of poetry. It's easier for me to let the words sing. I've done a lot of painting as well,'' said Blake, who will attend Smith College in Massachusetts this fall.

She is trying to choose from among music, psychology and theater, with the latter tugging at her heart the most.

``I definitely love the stage. It's my home away from home. It's something that is such a part of me, I can't live without it.''

Those who know her believe her talents will take her far.

``No doubt she will definitely be singing and acting in a Broadway show,'' said Highland Hall teacher Lynn Rappaport, who knows Blake well. ``She is a very multitalented person.''

Rappaport said Blake also is driven to better the world through her talents. ``Her thinking is connected to her heart, grounded by a sense of humanity.''

In addition to the arts, Blake is involved in school sports, playing volleyball, softball and basketball. In her seven years at Highland Hall, Blake said she's taken as many opportunities to learn as she could and is ready for more challenges.

``I am ready to go. I am really ready to experience new things - get out of L.A. and experience the seasons.''

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Hillcrest Christian senior Simon Yoo attributes his success, both in and out of school, to his faith in God.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

(2 -- 3 -- color) Despite family drama, Verdugo Hills senior Joshua Hardeman has made the most out of following the rules in school. Kristle McCracken, one of three valedictorians at Sylmar High, goes ``above and beyond what is required.''

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(4) Callie Blake, a graduating senior at Highland Hall Waldorf School, has headlined all the musicals and plays at the Northridge private school since she began attending in the fifth grade.