Virtual ceremony honors top PVUSD students
>> It is getting close to the end of the academic year. The weather is warming up, kids are planning their summer activities and the top students at each Pajaro Valley Unified School District site were honored in a virtual ceremony Wednesday.
The school board hosted its annual student recognition ceremony, sponsored by The Pajaronian and McDonald's, in which one student from each of Pajaro Valley's schools is honored for achieving academic excellence.
Alicia Jimenez, the district's public information officer, said the event always makes for her favorite meeting of the year.
“The site leaders and staff go through a very difficult process selecting their students, and it's a very thoughtful and caring process,” she said.
Martin Guerrero, who coowns the three McDonald's restaurants in Watsonville, also shared some welcoming remarks.
“It's our honor and pleasure to be a part of this program, even if it's virtually,” he said. “We are very honored and proud to have a little bit of recognition for each of the students and recognize all their accomplishments.”
From there, the principals of each school delivered short remarks on the students being honored. They praised students for their resilience, active engagement, activism, love of literature, extracurricular activities, academic excellence and more. For K-8 or K-12 schools, students were honored at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
The top students from each school were:
Alianza Charter School: Lirio Llamas Mendez (Elementary), Victoria Perez (Secondary).
Amesti Elementary School: Sofia Urbina Gutierrez.
Ann Soldo Elementary School: Marybell Escobedo Bautista.
Aptos High School: Iman Moshari.
Aptos Junior High School: Josephine Otto.
Bradley Elementary School: Charlotte Silveira.
Calabasas Elementary School: Joaquin Sands.
Cesar Chavez Middle School: Karina Aguilar-Esquivel.
Diamond Technology Institute: Orion Duran.
E.A. Hall Elementary School: Zachary William Kinsella.
Freedom Elementary School: Darnelis Diaz Medina.
H.A. Hyde Elementary School: Cynthia Escutia.
Hall District Elementary School: Samantha Fernandez.
Lakeview Middle School: Alan Soto.
Landmark Elementary School: Jatzibe Lopez Lopez.
MacQuiddy Elementary School: Jazmaya “Jazzy” Cohen-Banks.
Mar Vista Elementary School: Adelia Pursley.
Mintie White Elementary School: Mila Garcia.
New School: Erik VargasZaragoza.
Ohlone Elementary School: Aaron Cardenas.
Pacific Coast Charter School: Jenny Perez Romero.
Pajaro Middle School: Axel Ramirez-Renteria.
Pajaro Valley High School: Ruby Romero Maya.
Radcliff Elementary School: Ana Victoria Maldonado Leyva.
Renaissance High School: Aidan Nieto-Padilla.
Rio Del Mar Elementary School: Clark Christensen.
Rolling Hills Middle School: Antonella Losoya-Priego.
Starlight Elementary School: Karissa Rocha-Garcia.
Valencia Elementary School: Jack Tamblyn.
Virtual Academy: Sophie Kennedy (Middle school), Maria Suarez-Rocha (High school).
WASC Adult Education: Angelica Carmargo Hernandez.
Watsonville Charter School of the Arts: Zulema Molina-Martinez (Elementary), Layla Romero (Secondary).
Watsonville High School: Yaretzi Arias-Luna.
Trustee Olivia Flores congratulated all of the students.
“Keep up the good work, and good luck in your next journey whether it be junior high, high school or trade school, university, college, whatever it may be, just wishing you the best of luck,” she said.
Several trustees echoed those sentiments while also calling for a similar ceremony to be held to recognize teachers and administrators.
“It's super important that we recognize all of our adults who support our kids,” said Trustee Adam Bolaños Scow.
The full ceremony can be viewed at Youtube.com/@PVUSDStreaming.