ACSA honors local students for art, fellowship, community service

The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA)’s Region 18 greater San Dieguito chapter recently held its Student Standout Awards. All 50 schools in the region celebrate one student that has excelled in the areas of arts, community service, humanities, courage, fellowship and science.

Students were celebrated in a virtual presentation led by the ASCA Region 18 President Ben Churchill, superintendent of Carlsbad Unified School District, on May 13.

Meet the local students honored from Cardiff, Encinitas and San Dieguito School Districts:

Rachel Tapely, Ada Harris, courage and community service
Rachel balances her academic demands with playing piano, composing music and giving back to the community. She showed courage and bravery when faced with her little sister’s diagnosis of leukemia, serving as a constant rock for her sister providing love, support and strength.

Sophia Gonzales, Cardiff School, courage
When faced with the school shutdowns and lack of in-person learning, this brave and courageous second grader showed incredible perseverance to manage all of her Zooms and multiple classroom expectations. She always has a smile on her face and a great positive attitude.

Susan Sado, Capri, art
Susan has a passion for art, creating a class bulletin board using word art that includes the personality of every student. With optimism, respect and kindness, she inspires others to create.

Aliya Laffler, El Camino Creek, art and community service
Aliya is passionate about drawing, painting, crafting, sewing, embroidering, knitting, writing and dancing. She runs her own Etsy shop, Moon Cheese Inc., where she designs and sells stickers. An outstanding role model, she participates in community service projects with Girl Scouts and Stage Door Dance.

Liliana Olucha, Flora Vista, community service
A natural leader with a passion for making the world a better place, she worked with her peers on a project to increase female representation in children’s TV programs, writing to major networks to ask them to increase the amount and quality of female characters. She also started a sixth grade activism club, raising money for local animal shelters and raising awareness for issues of equality.

Analiese Humphreys, La Costa Heights, fellowship
A friend and a leader, Analiese demonstrates the characteristics of genuine kindness even during the unusual pandemic year. She volunteered to read over Zoom twice a week with students in moderate-severe special day class. She listens and ensures that students know they matter in the world.

Michaela Wheelock, Ocean Knoll, fellowship
Michaela brings so much joy to the classroom though her positive attitude, passion for learning and curiosity about equity around the world. Her compassion, open heart and social awareness inspires and motivates others to work together.

Andy Park, Mission Estancia, humanities
This special student demonstrates tremendous academic abilities in math and language art, excelling in writing with descriptive vocabulary, realistic characters and suspenseful plots. He has been a member of the EUSD Film Guild for three years, showing off great skills in video and filmmaking.

Tyler Blackledge, Olivenhain Pioneer, fellowship
Tyler’s natural leadership instincts inspires his peers. He is kind, respectful, thoughtful and encourages others in and out of the classroom to work together, build trusting relationships and achieve success.

Victoria Duprat, Park Dale Lane fellowship
With her strong leadership skills, Victoria motivates her peers to communicate ideas and cooperate in group settings in a way that everyone feels valued and appreciated. Her positive attitude and kind spirit are a gift to all that she interacts with.

Aiden Fitzsimmons, Paul Ecke Central, fellowship
Aiden is a responsible and conscientious student who has a great reputation for being trustworthy, dependable, nonjudgmental and fair. He takes time to listen to his classmates with his head and his heart, always thinking how what he might say or how he might react will impact the feelings and well-being of others.

Clarissa Macondray, Cloud Campus, arts and humanities
Clarissa is passionate about art, bringing beauty and hard work into everything she does including paintings, recipes, stories and crochet. She has a love of learning and creative expression that inspires her classmates.

Georgia Sporrer, Diegueno, community service
Georgia has shown leadership in the most challenging of times, always leading with enthusiasm and a big smile. As ASB president, she organized activities for students virtually and on campus to keep students engaged and keep school spirit alive.

Carson Robles, La Costa Canyon, fellowship
Teachers describe Carson as a standout leader, a person with great character, positive attitude and a passion for assisting others. As ASB president he showed support and encouragement for others during the pandemic.

Delilah Sonnenshein, Oak Crest, humanities
Delilah is an outstanding student who is always ready and willing to help others. She is someone who looks to find the joy in all activities and always has a big smile on her face. This hardworking, intelligent, compassionate and incredible student makes Oak Crest shine.

Cassie Miller, San Dieguito Academy, community service
As a student board representative to the school board, Cassie brought a compassionate and inclusive student perspective to a forum that dealt with unprecedented issues last school year. Cassie demonstrates excellence, spirit, compassion and commitment to helping others.

Devon Hollingsworth, Sunset, community service
Devon can be counted on when someone needs to step up in the school community, carrying herself with confidence and demonstrating empathy for others. Serving as a student board representative, she provided valuable input that shaped important decisions on behalf of all students.