Central Valley Students Win Chase Youth Awards
The Liberty Lake Elementary K-Kids Club and Central Valley High School students Samuel Brubaker and Emily Juhre were among area students to receive Chase Youth Awards.
Liberty Lake Elementary principal Linda Uphus nominated the K-Kids Club for their dedication to community service. The student-led group of 24 fifth graders has raised more than $2,000 in donations and volunteered more than 500 hours for the elderly, children with disabilities, children with cancer, low-income families, homeless women, children, teens and others in the Spokane area. They were honored with the youth Community Involvement Award.
Liberty Lake Elementary K-Kids, 2008-2009
Matt Arlt
Jillian Bell
Brent Bixby
Sydney Bruce
Micah Cunningham
Deidra Dunbar
Victoria Finley
Brianna Foreman
Nathan Grinalds
Kailee Guerdette
Brooke Hagerty
Kyra Harames
Max Mallinen
Brenden Millikan
Tara Morgan
Kieran Natarajan
Mason Radmaker
Tyler Rizzo
Devon Sandford
Mallory Sarner
Sam Scott
Allison Termath
Ryan VanLiew
Janie Warnock
Central Valley High School student Samuel Brubaker won the Teen Leadership Award for his volunteer work. Brubaker is as a Life Scout in the Boy Scouts, church volunteer and athlete and he was nominated by his parents Tom and Nancy Brubaker. In addition to his work as a counselor at Camp Cowles and Camp Easton, he builds drama sets at school, coaches basketball at the Valley HUB, teaches Sunday school classes and helps his church pastor with youth group.
In their nomination, his parents said, “We have observed that many teens are overly focused about themselves. What sets Sam apart is his drive to teach, help, encourage and lead others to success in sports, outdoor skills and citizenship.”
Emily Juhre won the Teen Diversity Award for staying true to herself despite pressure from peers. Her leadership and volunteer work and her efforts to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at Central Valley High School also were honored.
Ann Marie Floch, Odyssey Youth Center program coordinator nominated Juhre for the award. In her nomination, Floch said Juhre's mother called the center to find a place of support after Juhre told her mom she was gay.
At first, Juhre was very different that the other kids at the center, Floch said. She was a straight-A student, a wrestler for Central Valley High School. She ate right and had never tried cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. Although other kids tried to change her, Juhre stayed true to her healthy eating and studying goals. She's inspired others at the center to watch what they eat, decrease their sugar and caffeine intake and spend more time studying.
"Emily has found her own voice without giving up her values and beliefs," Floch wrote. "She has learned to give and receive. She has continued her dream of being a doctor and has taken the first steps of the enrollment process in the fall as she enters college to pursue that dream."
The Chase Youth Awards were presented March 26 by the Chase Youth Commission, which is dedicated to empowering communities to value youth and youth to value their communities. They are named for former Spokane Mayor James E. Chase, known as a champion for Spokane youth, who helped establish the commission in 1985.
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