Building a community of caring
Published 4:54 pm Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Each year, Mercer Island High School honors its graduates for community service. A total of 92 members of the Class of 2015 earned an award for their work helping in the community.
Based on the hours they work, the students earn gold, silver, or bronze medals with their graduation robes.
Bronze awards are given to students who have completed 125 hours of community service, silver is given to those completing 180, and students with over 260 hours wear gold.
Amongst the diverse areas of service, many volunteer their time within organizations at the high school. They might be found doing a service project for the National Honor Society, Lions Club, Interact Club, Senior Service Club, and VOICE. They might also be a member of the Green Team, PETRI Club, KidsCorps, Sparkle, the radio station, or lead weekly discussions as a BRIDGES leader.
Students also help with after school programs and sports teams. These include music and theater programs, wrestling or water polo, Junior Hoopsters basketball or serving as a Spanish teacher assistant.
Aside from the high school, these Islanders do their part in the greater Mercer Island community. They volunteer at the Farmers Market, Summer Celebration, the Rotary runs, and with the Boys & Girls Club, Youth & Family Services, Kiwanis Club, National Charity League, and Safe Rides. They also assist parent volunteers at the other schools in the district, like at the Preschool Association’s Circus and the West Mercer Elementary School science fair.
Some students accumulate their hours through organizations where they have been involved themselves as youth. They include summer camps and sports coaching, while others volunteer with the Boy and Girl Scouts of America, King County Search and Rescue, and University of Washington Medicine.
Many students have volunteered for awareness organizations like Seattle Amigos, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Relay for Life, and Seattle AIDS Walk. And others volunteer for projects and go on missions through their faith community.
The impact made by these students isn’t just seen around the greater Seattle area but globally as well. These students have volunteered for Global Visionaries, Rustic Pathways, a Costa Rica orphanage, and traveled to Mexico to build houses.
COMMUNITY SERVICE MEDALS FOR THE MIHS CLASS OF 2015
GOLD AWARDS
Ben Elliot
Jonathan Costa
Nelson Hayes
Joseph Shin
Taylan Yuasa
Nick Hanson
Kaya Robertson
Angela Zhu
Brooke Behrbaum
Madison Nimmo
Matt Manner
Chandler Cahill
Kisho Fukuoka-Armitage
Peter Battisti
Kayleigh Dobson
Amy Jradi
Shaarika Kaul
Michael Wang
Trinity Conn
Gabriela Venditti
Shannon Cavanaugh
Leah Fisk
Ben Shanafelt
Christopher Wang
Elizabeth Bellitto
Jessica Li
Kylie Quinn
Luke Mounger
Mitch Stickney
Molly White
Nikki Lim
Sabrina Kavesh
Shea Kelsay
Anne Langston
Elizabeth Larmimer
Jay Rosenstein
Zoe Lewis
Allison Casper
Ashley Sun
Ashlyn Reid
Ben Holen
Brian Hou
Chloe Keller
Daniela Angulo Gomez
Eric Dubofsky
Jack Larkin
Jamie Mounger
Julia Cartwright
Kelly Devine
Lauren Hsue
Megan Diamond
Morgan Peyou
Olivia Snell
Rachel Jewett
Sarah Walters
Vivan Huang
Baily Sheehan
Anthony Pedreira
Candice Lee
Carlos Snellenberg-Fraser
Delaney Clark
Frances Callow
Katherine Hendrickson
Katherine Wold
Melanie Lee
Rhiannon Holmes
Themio Pallis
Tianyi Cao
Trevor Gullstad
Katelyn Fink
SILVER AWARDS
Sungmin Na
Alice MacCormack
Lydia Venditti
Sabrina kavesh
Adrienne Suhm
Norihiro Shiotsu
Jordan Turner
Alexander Hoffman
George Pallis
Julie Baker
Nathan Rosenstein
Steven Duchaine
BRONZE AWARDS
Christina Zhang
Michelle You
Kirbi Phillips
Soloman Szeto
Sofija Raisys
Gina So
Abigail Jemley
Jennifer Fu
Olivia Shen
William Li
