Anonymous
$1000 Scholarship Awards (L to R) Ray Duarte, SB Elks Leading Knight; Tahis Alcantar, Carpinteria High; Emily Fisher, Santa Barbara High; Emilee Escamilla, Bishop Diego High,; Claire Grover, Dos Pueblos High; Amanda Roberts, San Marcos High; Sally Mott, Elks Exalted Ruler
Source: Santa Barbara Elks
Twelve local students from Santa Barbara County schools were recognized for their excellence at the Santa Barbara Elks Lodge #613 Annual Youth Recognition Awards Ceremony. The ceremony included a sit down dinner for the students, their families, and local teachers and principals. In total, the students were awarded $6,700.
Americanism Essay Contest: Held annually by Elk Lodges throughout the United States, this contest is open to students from the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. This year’s participants were asked to write a short essay (300 words or less) on “Why Our Veterans Are American’s Hero’s”? Certificates of Recognition were presented to the First, Second and Third Place winners for this year’s contest in the 5 th and 6 th grade Category. Foothill Grammar School PTA was also awarded a check for $500. The winners were: First Place, Oliver Miller from Foothill Grammar School; Second Place, Katie Sitolini from St Rafael School; and Third Place, Yulia Polunets from Foothill Elementary School.
Student of the Month $1,000 Scholarships: Five Scholarships, in the amount of $1,000 each, were awarded to the outstanding “Student of the Month”, based on the students’ Academics, Community Service, and Leadership abilities. The scholarship winners were chosen from the group of the past school year’s previously recognized Student of the Month.
Out of the pool of recognized Student’s of the Month, (nominated each month by the high school counselors) one scholarship winner was chosen from each of the five high schools. Winners for the “Student of the Month” $1,000 Scholarships are: Amanda Roberts, from San Marcos High School, Tahis Alcantar from Carpentaria High School, Claire Grover from Dos Pueblos High School, Emilee Escamilla, from Bishop Diego High School, and Emily Fisher from Santa Barbara High School.
Drug Awareness Program Essay and Poster Contest: The Elk’s Drug Awareness Program (DAP) works throughout the year to educate young students about Drugs. Jack Carlyle, Chairperson for the Santa Barbara Lodge DAP, coordinated the 2017-2018 School Year DAP Contest with the theme “What Heroes Do”. Santa Barbara Lodge’s winning entries were submitted by two St Rafael School students: The winning Poster was submitted by 3 rd grader Lane Danhauer and the winning Essay was submitted by 6 th grader Olivia Bell. Each student was presented a Certificate of Recognition and a check for $100. San Rafael’s PTA was also presented a check for $1,000. The winning entries will now compete with State and National completion.
Basketball “Hoop Shoot” Free Throw State Winners: Dave Bianchi, “Hoop Shoot” Chairman, awarded two local students the Hoop Shoot Free Throw State Winners for the 2017 year. Gabriel Cornero, age 9, won the California and Hawaii Champion for his age group, winning both in 2017 & 2018. Joseph Talorico, age 8, is the current California and Hawaii champion for his age group, and also won the West Coast Championship and came in 4 th Place for the Elks National Competition.
To win the State Championship, both winners also won the local and district championships for their age group. They also participated in the Regional Hoop Shoot contest, held in February, 2018, in Las Vegas, NV. Cornero won that completion and came in 4 th for the Elks National Hoop Shoot Competition. The Elks Hoop Shoot Free Throw contest has opened up the exciting world of Free Throw
shooting to more than 91 million young boys and girls in the last 30 years. These talented youngsters, ages 8 – 13, are part of the largest coeducational sports activity in the country, and the national championship, is held each year.
