Dallas Teo is the youngest of nine children and will be the first person in his family to finish high school and attend college. When he’s not studying, he is helping fellow classmates. Dallas is determined to go to college and give back to his community.

Dallas Teo is usually the first student to arrive at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto. He arrives by 7 a.m. to tutor his fellow classmates and prepare for his classes. As editor of the school newspaper, Dallas often stays on campus late into the evening. His teachers describe him as the backbone of student government. And he seems to spend every extra moment that he’s not doing his own work, helping other students. He even created a campus book club to help his friends at Eastside prepare for college.

The youngest of nine children, Dallas is the first person in his family to finish high school and attend college. They live in a small apartment where Dallas shares the living room floor with four family members. As for what motivates Dallas to work so hard, it’s the memory of his father. Dallas and his father were very close, and just months before Dallas gave his speech as valedictorian of his 8th grade class, his father died of a heart attack. Dallas’s father taught him the importance of helping others.

Dallas is determined to succeed and to live by the lessons his father taught him—to give back to community. Dallas is attending Stanford University in the fall.

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