Public Defender’s Office seeks nominations for county’s ’25 most remarkable teens’

A cancer survivor from Chula Vista’s Hilltop High School, a nationally awarded opera singer from north San Diego’s Del Norte High School and a transgender student body president at an Escondido high school for foster youth were among the young people chosen in 2021 as San Diego’s “25 Most Remarkable Teens.”

Who will be selected in 2022?

Nominations are now open for the fourth annual installment of the program, run by San Diego County Public Defender Randy Mize’s Office.

Nominees should be county residents between 13 and 19 years old who excel in “non-traditional” categories like humanitarianism, leadership, entrepreneurship, citizenship and the arts.

“Community members are urged to nominate a young person who is motivated, committed to their community, inspiring in their talents/skills, or who has shown the courage to confront and overcome adversity,” said Connie Howard, a spokesperson for the Public Defender’s Office.

Howard said she has sent nomination information to 151 high schools across the county, though teens attending college are also eligible. More than 200 teens have been nominated each year since the program began in 2019.

Nominations are due by Sept. 12. Finalists will be honored at a Nov. 10 ceremony in the Shiley Special Event Suite atop the San Diego Central Library.

Nomination forms, which include a list of the suggested categories, are available on the San Diego County Public Defender website and can be sent to Connie Howard at connie.howard@sdcounty.ca.gov or 451 A St., Suite 1480, San Diego, CA 92101.