Awards for Students Taking Academic Responsibility

St Johns County School District Director of Community Relations, Christina Langston, and St Johns County Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Operations, Isabelle Rodriguez, updated Historic City News in St Augustine on the Students Taking Academic Responsibility Awards Banquet.

Eighty-two of St Johns County Schools’ best and brightest were honored by the Chamber and School Board at the annual event that was held Tuesday, March 27 at the World Golf Village Renaissance Resort.

The awards recognize the top three percent of all graduating seniors in the county. Eleven students from Bartram Trail High School, one from Beacon of Hope Christian School, 15 from Creekside High School, 12 from Pedro Menendez High School, 10 from Nease High School, 14 from Ponte Vedra High School, 16 from St. Augustine High School, and three from St. Joseph Academy received commendation for their outstanding academic performance.

During the recognition ceremony, school principals introduced each student and then a special mentor selected by the student. Students explained to the audience why they chose to honor their selected teacher and gave some insight into their plans for the future. In addition to making top grades, these students are involved in athletics, performing groups, school clubs and community service.

The Students Taking Academic Responsibility and their mentors are as follows:

Bartram Trail High School – Matthew Arnwine with Coach Sutherland; Jared Freitas with Ramona Deese; David Frick, Jr. with Lt. Col. Antone LeFevre; Erin Grey with Christopher Patterson; Madelynn Kay with Glenn Cole; Nicholas Leininger with Geoff Stephens; Erin McDonald with David Frank; Christopher Popiel with Jayne Popiel; Alex Ruehling with Robert Bruns; Sarah Wiegreffe with Marion Wood; and Mitchell Zhang with Andrew Lloyd.

Beacon of Hope Christian School – Joshua Pavilando with Reverend LaVoy Newton

Creekside High School – Rachel Buff with Joseph Herskovitz; Cody Chasteen with Troy Keefe; Meagan Collins with Dolly Lucas; Katelyn Davis with Cathy Apolinario; Kendall Hale with Laura Alder; Dylan Klee with Linda Villadoniga; Lauren McCarthy with Linda Villadoniga; Brendan McLaughlin with Richard Marabell; Emily McNeill with Linda Villadoniga; Jennifer Neal with Shelby Rogerson; Virginia Pedigo with Aletha Dresback; Monica Resto with Alicia Pressel, Jessica Walker with Glenn Cole; and Camille Wright with Dolly Lucas.

Pedro Menendez High School – Heather Arnold with Vicki Clements; Courtney Bodor with Becci Smith; Arin Burns with Beth Morucci; Charles Caines with Steve Melgard; Austin Folger with Gail Needham; Nathaniel Litvintchouk with Kai Long; Morgan Musselwhite with Cindy Morrison; Michael Parham with Rick Ryan; Milan Patel with Anneliese Weiss; Tanya Saikaly with Joan LeBoss; Sarah Taylor with Shelley Ferrari; and Maxine Weiss with Shara Holt who represented her husband Jeff Holt posthumously.

Nease High School – Kathryn Hill with Cecilia Feliciano; Blake Insel with Jodi Rivers; Anthony Janocko with Nancy Williams; Esther Lee with Michael Johnson; Lindsey Mitchell with Glenn Cole; Liam Rawson with Kim Hollis; Steven Schwartz with Brad Segal; Wenli Shao with Kim Collier; Dhiraj Sikaria with Michael Rivera; and Logan Stern with Margaret Byrns.

Ponte Vedra High School – Kimberly Carlson with Martin Hillier; Jeffrey Chapa with Kathryn Kehoe; Megan Connors with Arleen Chiciana; Carson Drain with Alina Mar; Peter Elvaz with James Johnson; Anna Greene with Lisa Malvarez; Michael Knuth with James Johnson; MacKenzie LaPorte with Steve Lyons; Jack McSwain with James Johnson; Whitney Meyers with Sara Walsh; Katelyn Norton with Jennifer Heinz; Taylor Pyle with Elizabeth Kasting; Laura Roettges with Selena Fryer; and Lindsey Snow with Randall Blake.

St. Augustine High School – Megan Arthur with John English; Slater Canan with Melanie Forsythe; Andrew Clukey with PJ Grall; Mauricio Coloma with Cheryl Bartz; Hannah Davis with Carla Isicoff; Nicholas Dupoux with Jane Sherlock; Pheobe Fleming with Robert Hall; Olivia Hutcherson with John English; Johanna McCracken with Brian Braddock; Mallory Morse with Chip Johnston; Orion Morton with Lola Hartford; Skyler Morton with Lynn Gibson; Kerry O’Brien with Ryan Davenport; Lisa Paper with Sandra Oja-Dunaway; Christopher Pritchard with Jeff Dodd; and Anastasia VanDyke with Ken Maass.

St. Joseph Academy – Alex Carames with Michael Arnold; Loren Humphrey with Brian Larkin; and Heather Volk with Cathy Windish.

Kirk Wendland, president of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, served as emcee. Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Joseph Joyner, as well as local School Board members attended.
The annual event is produced by the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the St. Johns County School Board and its Students Taking Academic Responsibility committee members. The event was sponsored by Flagler Hospital, Terrell-Hogan, St. Augustine Sunrise Rotary Club, VIP Presentation Products, Crescent Beach Baptist Church, St. Johns Celtic-Kevin VanDyke, Kuhn Florist and Cady & Cady Studios.

Photo credits: © 2012 Historic City News contributed photograph by St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce