24 Mar Antioch High Salutatorian Turns Passion Into Purpose

Senior and class salutatorian Grace Fung has taken part in advocacy work right from the start of her four-year tenure at Antioch High.

By Joe Porrello

When Grace Fung started her freshman year at Antioch High, all the remote learning of the pandemic had her ready to get involved on campus. Her two older siblings who graduated from the school told her about CARE — a Club for Animal Respect and Education — because of her affection for animals, especially her own cats.

Now a senior, Fung is in her fourth year as president of CARE, while also serving as an officer in three other campus organizations. Academically, she is the salutatorian as the student with the second-best grades in her graduating class and a recipient of the AP Scholar Award for her exceptional performance on multiple Advanced Placement exams. Along the way, she’s also made time for internships centered on her goal of doing environmental justice work.

Her involvement with advocacy and multiple extracurriculars partly stems from the drive she developed being raised by two deaf parents, Fung says.

“My unique experience growing up as a CODA — child of deaf adults — has taught me a lot about responsibility, maturity and providing access to marginalized communities,” she said.

When Fung joined CARE, membership and activity were down because of the pandemic. So after being elected president in her first year, she encouraged other students to engage with the club and got to work getting educational and volunteer events going again. But she wanted to do more.

After reaching out to multiple animal organizations via email, she connected CARE with Herpaderp, an Antioch exotic animal rescue nonprofit that provides care for “turtles, lizards, snakes and other animals that are not native to the area or are not commonly kept as pets,” according to its website, and helps them get adopted.

“It’s really fulfilling to see neglected animals become healthy and loved again,” said Fung.

>>>Commentary: Animals Deserve Our Love and Our Patience<<<

Then — after more than three years of trying — Fung restored the club’s partnership with the Antioch Animal Services shelter. “We had lost access to walking dogs at the shelter, which was basically what CARE club was known for prior to COVID,” she said.

Next, she set her focus for the club on Antioch High’s annual Warm for the Holidays event, where the school gives groceries, clothes, books and games to the local community.

With CARE already giving away food at the December event, Fung thought handing out animal beds would be a great addition. A teacher helped her come up with the idea to use old car tires as the foundation. “We already do a lot of upcycling work, like turning old T-shirts into dog toys,” she said. “We reached out to Big O Tires, and they were very willing to give us small tires.”

The club cleaned and painted the tires, then called upon people through social media to donate material for cushioning, like old pillows. “We were able to give all of them away for the event so that was really awesome,” said Fung.

She has also done volunteer work — like hosting monthly school hot dog giveaways — for her four years at Antioch High with the Key Club, of which she is now the secretary.

Additionally, Fung is the treasurer of the school’s California Scholarship Federation and social media manager of the Psychology Club. Also an athlete, she competed in cross country and track as a sophomore.

Fung hopes to major in environmental science and study environmental justice or engineering at one of the private California colleges she has applied to. Her work at two environmental advocacy and education internships with the Richmond-based Earth Team and the Outdoor Leaders Program showed her how the ecosystem impacts our daily lives and what can be done to preserve it.

“Those kinds of experiences and my club work at school made me want to go into a career where I can still help people but all around the world because climate change is a big problem in our society,” said Fung. She says her goal is to make environmental education accessible to those now unable to attain it and to promote environmental justice.

But while Fung has her career in mind, her advocacy work is not just for her resume; she does it because she enjoys it.

“I don’t really see it as work. I honestly think the stuff I do is very fun,” she said. “People should seek out things that interest them or try to make something out of it because it could amplify your interest into a passion.”

When Fung isn’t busy trying to make a difference, she enjoys reading, watching movies, spending time with family and friends, eating good food, and, of course, hanging out with her cats.