Escondido High teen to be honored at state dinner

By: SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer
Student scholar to have dinner with governor, wife | Sunday, March 9, 2008 11:01 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- What 18-year-old Tyler Arant has been limited in doing physically because of a genetic heart disorder he has made up for in the classroom, where he has outscored his peers academically and claimed noticeable honors, like the ear of the governor.

"I've always sort of been driven in that way," the Escondido High School senior said last week about his scholastic accomplishments, which recently earned him a visit to Sacramento. "I've come from a family where college was always understood to be in the future."

Arant was diagnosed when he was 10 with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition where one part of the heart muscle can be thicker than others, making it harder for it to pump blood. His medical condition hasn't stopped him from succeeding in school. On Tuesday, the teen will visit Sacramento for the first Governor's Academic Recognition and All-State Academic Team dinner.

The event, which will be hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, will be held next week in honor of 177 of the state's top academic high school students. The dinner is designed to recognize students with superior academic records who have demonstrated leadership and a commitment to their schools and communities.

Of the students attending the dinner, seven, including Arant and two other North County seniors, Carlsbad High's Kaylee Weil and Ramona High's Maxwell Mansolf, will be from San Diego County.

"I'm very excited to see the governor and hear him speak," Arant said, adding that he has a keen interest in politics. "If I have the opportunity to (talk to him directly), I'm sure I will have a lot of questions for him."

Arant, who is interested in teaching politics at the university or high school level and participating in government himself, hopes to major in the field in college next year.

He was nominated for this week's honor, teachers and school officials said, because of his exceptional grades ---- he is expected to finish the year as the top or second student in his graduating class with a grade point average of about 4.6 ---- and his involvement on campus and in the community.

The youngest of three high-achieving boys, Arant is the captain of the academic league, a senior officer for the school's National Honor Society and the California Scholarship Foundation.

During his four years of high school, Arant has also been nominated as the school's Boys State conference representative ---- an event where boys learn about their responsibilities and obligations in running good government ---- and named the winner of a local Rotary Youth Leadership Award.

"Tyler is just overall a fabulous young man," Escondido High Principal Sue Emerson said. "He is a student who has really taken as many challenging courses on our campus as is possible. ... It's great that he gets to go up there."

Arant's dad, Gary Arant, agreed, saying that it's a nice "reward for a lot of hard work."

"He studies every Sunday afternoon," he said. "He disappears about noon and reappears about 5 or 6 p.m. He is also probably one of the most politically savvy people I know, no age factor included."

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.

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