Pali High Honors Seniors During Awards Ceremony

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

As they wound down the last full week of instruction, Palisades Charter High students were honored for their achievements in the classroom, athletic arena, stage and community at the school’s annual Senior Awards Ceremony on May 29 in Mercer Hall.

Following the pledge of allegiance, the first students to be recognized were valedictorian Matthew S. Lee and salutatorian Jaden Rahmani.

Receiving American Legion Ronald Reagan – Palisades Post 283 Scholarships were Spencer Rodman, Kaylie Haggenmiller, Kellan Ford, Eva Engel and Milo Drake. Then, the Brawerman Fellowship Award was presented to Alexa Raben, and Charter School Foundation Scholarships were given to Jiya Kumar, David Garcia, Noah Simon and Ansar Sherkhanov.

Next, Dick and Debbie Held Ambassador Scholarships were awarded to Camryn Rowles, Talia Aslmand, Alexander Loos, Ashley Molina and Niara Knox, while Leadership Scholarships went to Rustin Kharrazi, Chukwunonso Kojo-Onwaeze, Sydney Meza, Maya Otero and Sophie Szeder.

Szeder and Otero were given certificates from American Red Cross, and Dillon Henry Memorial Scholarships went to Skylar Kane, Jinheon Kim, Heaven Martin, Carter Yean, Kayani Ostojich and Wolfgang Ester.

Adrian White, Natalie Topete and Flynn Messick all received Everett & Nancy McGuire Foundation scholarships, and M.A.T.H. awards went to Gavin Federizio, Jack Hesse and Dominic Zuniga.

Winning the Michele Misetich-Friedlander Memorial Award was Kaela Tagliaferro. Recognized as National Merit Finalists were Olivia Zaidel, Yean, Kai Harting and Zuniga, and acknowledged as semifinalists were Ellery Preven and Adam Sohigian.

Pacific Palisades Optimists Club awards went to Hugo Canseco, Daniel Sanchez-Gomez, Kojo-Onwaeze and Adrian Rincon; Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club Exceptional Young Women Awards for Leadership went to Rowles and Kane; and the Palisades Americanism Parade Association-PAPA Award went to Zaidel.

Booster Club Exceptional Awards for Visual & Performing Arts went to Georgia Jones (Technical Theater Award); Molina and Becker Chaaban (Outstanding Filmmakers); Ostojich (Visual Arts); Federizio (Photography); Casey Chung (Visual Art Award); Axel Mammen (Orchestra Award); Jean Rodriguez (Outstanding Musicianship); Rodman (Theater Award); Sofia Kramer (Ceramics Award); River Tharae (Outstanding Performance); Piper Gooding (Dance); Ja’Liyah Allen (Choir); and Sammy White (Outstanding Writing).

Booster Club DECA Awards were given to Karina Schwartz and Noa Zeidler; Booster Club Envirothon honors went to Shawna Ashley and Jesse Rosen; Booster Justice League Excellence Awards went to Lalo Miali, Drake, Kaitlin Morgan, Knox and Merlot Ghadoushi; Foreign Languages honors went to Abram De Los Santos and Stephanie Estrada; and Yulia Klokova was given the Anita Stephens Memorial Award for Journalism Scholarship.

Booster POSSE Suitcase Award winners were Garcia and Kojo-Onwaeze; PTSA Community Service Scholarships went to Engel, Kumar, Garcia, Canseco, Kane, Rodman and Sophia Bleau.

The Community Service Award was presented to Kim. Six were honored for having perfect attendance in 12th grade: Georgie Barr, Aisha L. Lee, Kaylie Porter, Tyler Roberts, Sorenne Santer and Drake.

Inaugural recipients of the Resilient Palisades Environmental Advocate Award were Ashley, Clementine Causse and Sarah Soroosh Moghadam.

“Resilient Palisades felt it was important to make a deeper connection with the young people in our community because they are the ones that will be most impacted by and left to solve the enormous environmental challenges we all face, especially climate change,” David Rosenstein said on behalf of Resilient Palisades. “The Resilient Palisades Environmental Advocate Award was created to make that connection with youth and to acknowledge, encourage, inspire  and reward exceptional Pali High seniors that have shown a commitment to, and accomplishments in, addressing significant environmental problems.”

Rose Gilbert Memorial Scholarships were given in several categories. Most Inspirational Competitor (ACADEC) honors went to Bleu and Sherkhanov; Academic Excellence honors were given to Lee and Rahmani; Academic Promise recognition went to Brandon Darvish and Stella Simons; Ghadoushi was presented the Courage Award; the “Mama G” Award for Excellence in English Literature went to Luke Schneeman and Parker Field; and Future Educator honors went to Jones and Kane.

See Sports for athletic award winners.