Students honored at Academic Excellence Awards
First through 12th graders receive $500
Twelve students from public, private and charter schools in Southern Nevada were honored Wednesday night for their academic achievements and community involvement.
The Las Vegas Review-journal’s Academic Excellence Awards dinner recognized students from first through 12th grade, with each of them receiving a $500 scholarship and $500 to go toward a school program of their choice.
The awards were held at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts for its fourth annual ceremony, after two years of being virtual during the pandemic.
Nominations were open to all students in Southern Nevada who demonstrated academic excellence, responsibility, leadership and involvement in extracurriculars. Students could be nominated by a teacher, coach or family member, and winners were chosen by an independent panel of judges.
This year’s judges included stakeholders from educational organizations like the Public Education Foundation and UNLV. More than 100 students were nominated for this year’s awards.
“This is so much more than a dean’s list or an honor roll,” Review-journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said at Wednesday’s awards.
“We are recognizing outstanding students who, foremost, are outstanding people.”
This year’s winners were:
■ Booker Fralick, first grade, Jacobson Elementary School.
■ Leila Rene Burris, second grade, Priest Elementary School.
■ Christian Engleman, third grade, Doral Academy Red Rock Elementary School.
■ Alan Powell, fourth grade, Wasden Elementary School.
■ Lindsay Udeh, fifth grade, Pinecrest Academy Cadence.
■ Sophia Villatoro, sixth grade, Cram Middle School.
■ Aiyana Castro, seventh grade, Somerset Academy Sky Pointe.
■ Camilla Srinarayana, eighth grade, Hyde Park Middle School.
■ Mischa Abad, ninth grade, Green Valley High School.
■ Devika Bhatnagar, 10th grade, Liberty High School.
■ Amy Choi, 11th grade, The Meadows School.
■ Sofia Kelemen, 12th grade, Las Vegas Academy of the Arts.