Chase Awards honors area residents

The Chase Youth Awards were presented March 27, and several North Side students received awards for citizenship, community service, courage, creativity, diversity, leadership, personal achievement and the Spirit of Jim Chase. There were four groups of nominations, youth, middle school, teens and adults.

Here is a listing of the North Side winners and a brief description of why they were nominated:

Teen awards

TEConnections: TEConnections is a program for students to equip underprivileged youths with computers to use for homework assignments, received the Teen Group Award for Community Involvement. The group was nominated by Yvonne Johnson of the Instructional Technology Support Center of Spokane Public Schools.

“TEConnections students from Havermale, Lewis and Clark, North Central and Rogers High Schools host orientation technical assistance workshops where they conduct one-on-one basic computer training with the student/family recipients,” Johnson said in her nomination letter. “The TEConnections team exhibits a passion and a drive that will have a positive and widespread impact on Spokane’s community.”

Spokane’s Youth ‘N Action: Half of the group’s members are or have been homeless, some have been involved in the juvenile justice system, and many have been affected by a mental illness, either themselves or someone close to them. The group won the Teen Group Award for Courage.

Last year, the teens met with members of the Spokane Police Department to discuss improving relationships with the officers and youths, stuffed Christmas stockings for homeless peers, planned and organized a youth summit for high school students to come together and work as a group, created a logo for Youth ‘N Action, and launched the Art For Understanding program, which used pictures, poems and other artwork to illustrate their perspective.

“Simply the fact that these youth have continued to survive given the sometimes monstrous odds stacked against them is amazing,” said nominator and director of the program Ryan Oelrich.

Melissa Acten: Melissa Acten of the Mead Education Partnership Program and Running Start, won the Teen Creativity Award.

Nominated by her former elementary music teacher at Evergreen Elementary, Kathy Meredith, Acten has been playing the harp throughout the area and volunteers for two hours in Meredith’s class.

“Playing the harp is a unique and dedicated endeavor – transporting it, driving to Idaho for lessons once a week and the many hours of practice make her a ‘one of a kind’ creative Spokane student,” Meredith said in her nomination letter.

Rogers High School Dance Team: The winner of the Teen Group Creativity Award, the team not only performs at school functions, football games and basketball games, but also choreographs and sets to music all of their routines. The group also works hard to maintain their grades while they are doing so much extracurricular work.

“The Rogers Dance Team dares to dream and dances like no one is watching them, and their hard work reflects their commitment and creativity to dancing,” said nominator Pam Holling.

HYPER-Formance Jazz Dance Club: The winner of the Teen Group Diversity Award. Thirty-one percent of HYPER-Formance Jazz Dance Club members are minority students, 13 percent are male, and they represent a range of physical abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“We have worked with deaf, blind, club-footed, developmentally disabled and perfectly healthy, without any rancor or particular notice paid,” said Cynthia Hamilton, the group’s nominator. “This project has the potential of maturing into an extremely beneficial and symbiotic relationship between a multitude of community members on several levels.”

The group works hard to promote and increase student involvement in dance and drama, and encourages diversity. The classes meet at the Northeast Community Center, the West Central neighborhood, the WSU Co-op Extension and the Libby Teen Center.

Laurel Fish: Nominated unanimously by her teachers at St. George’s Upper School, Fish is the recipient of the Teen Leadership Award.

“Laurel has been actively involved in the following organizations: Los Hermanos, Scare Away Hunger, Chase Youth Commission, Community Focus Disaster Relief and Spokane’s Promise,” wrote Deena Barber, the teacher selected from St. George’s to write her nomination letter.

Along with outside efforts, Fish is the leader of the school’s Community Service Club, speaks to middle-school students about her experiences in community service, and founded the school’s Valentines Sale, which she started when she was in the eighth grade and donated the proceeds to the village of Komari in Sri Lanka.

Christina Connors: A junior at Shadle Park High School, Connors won the Teen Personal Achievement Award. A member of the Washington Drug Free Youth Club at her school, she has been working hard to educate her peers about the destructive nature of meth.

“When Christina was an elementary school student,” wrote her nominator, Sherri Hopkins, “her mother was using meth and Christina lived through the instability and chaos of this lifestyle until her mother was sentenced to serve time in prison as a consequence. Christina could easily be a teenager who repeats the substance use choices she lived with when she was a child, Christina instead uses her experience to tell others about the dangers of drug involvement and to encourage drug-free choices in our school and in the community.”

Along with her involvement in WDFY, Christina is also the vice president of the science club, a member of the Science Olympiad and Science Bowl teams and participates in the MESA program.

RedWing: A trio made up of Amanda Ward, Beth Perry and Ashley Ward, won the Spirit of Jim Chase Teen Group Award. The three have been playing the fiddle in the group for the last three years and play in nursing homes, charity organizations and even played for the opening day of Congress and for Digital Learning Day in Olympia.

“The girls have taken lessons from some of the greatest fiddlers in the nation and have learned to play many styles of music,” wrote Heather Ward, the group’s nominator and Ashley and Amanda’s mother.

Heather Ward also explained that through their performances, the girls raised enough money to record their first CD. “They have learned to budget, save and have even put money aside from the sale of every CD in a fund for their next CD project,” she wrote.

Middle school awards

Joshua Creager: An eighth-grader at Shaw Middle School, Creager received the Middle School Courage Award for saving his father’s life.

Last December, the 14-year-old found his dad on the floor of the bathroom in their home with no heartbeat and he wasn’t breathing. While his cousin, Ayla, got directions on how to give CPR on the phone with 911 dispatchers, Joshua administered CPR for six to seven minutes on his father, Spirit Creager, before the paramedics arrived.

“During the initial time in the hospital, the doctors and nurses, especially Dr. Elmer, told Josh and all the family that without Josh’s help, and Ayla’s as well, Spirit would not be alive,” wrote nominator Kathryn Whiteaker. “It took courage, quick thinking and actions by Josh,” she wrote.

Youth awards

Amadi Alegria: This sixth-grader has turned her love of dogs into a cause. For her efforts to raise money to buy pet food, blankets, toys and treats for shelter animals, Amadi was recognized with the Youth Award for Community Involvement.

“This year, Amadi continues with her commitment to helping the Spokane Humane Society by spearheading a pet food drive here at Trinity Catholic School,” wrote her nominator, Kathi Cook. “Her pet food drive will begin April 7 and extend through April 18.”

Along with organizing fundraisers, Amadi participates in the annual Parade of Paws, a fundraiser to walk your dog or a shelter dog for 4 miles. Her family has adopted five shelter animals over the years.

Longfellow sixth-graders: Beth O’Regan’s sixth-grade class at Longfellow Elementary School was the winner of the Youth Group Community Involvement Award.

The students heard about the Invisible Children, students who are on the run to hide from the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group in Sudan. “Upon hearing this story, my students became interested in this cause, speaking almost daily about the problem and their responsibility to help,” O’Regan wrote in her nomination letter.

The students organized Pencil Planet, a pencil-selling business at Longfellow where the students give up their recess time and sell pencils to their fellow students. The class raised $200 for Invisible Children and $74 for World Vision.

Andrew Baker: Eight-year-old Andrew Baker received the Youth Award for Courage. A second-grader at Logan Elementary School, Baker, his mother and brothers and sisters left the family home due to an abusive father, one that verbally abused Andrew on a regular basis.

Now that he is living in a safer home, he is making sure his classmates are getting what they need at school.

“Since we have left, Andrew has been able to move forward with his life,” said his sister and nominator, Caty Baker, a senior at Lewis and Clark. “He now helps kids in his class if they need help. If he finishes his homework in class, he goes around the classroom asking other kids if they need help. Everybody knows Andrew and likes Andrew. Andrew puts a lot of work into the stuff he does.”

Nicholas Lindsey: A sixth-grader at Meadow Ridge Elementary School, Lindsey won the Youth Award for Creativity. A musician and actor, the 12-year-old has played the roles of Willy Wonka in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and Baloo in “The Jungle Book.”

Not only does he also play the saxophone in the school band, he also spends time with his five younger cousins to teach them letters, numbers, colors and more.

“On the day his grandmother died in November 2007, Nicholas forged ahead and played his saxophone at the school concert to honor her,” wrote his great-aunt and nominator, Kim Richardson. “It is an honor to know him and I have never been more proud of anyone in our extended family.”

Manuel McKinney: Eight-year-old McKinney was the recipient of the Youth Award for Personal Achievement.

A member of the Starlight club at the West Central Community Center, McKinney was discovered crying in a corner by nominator Cassidy Caldwell because the other children wouldn’t let him help with a project. Caldwell said he was locked tight in his shell and afraid to participate in activities.

“Since November, Manuel has really started to grow as an individual,” Caldwell wrote in her nomination letter. “Manuel has also become more involved with helping others in the group. He is always the one to speak up if someone has been skipped in a rotation or offer help if someone asks.”

Caldwell said he has also become more polite, completes tasks in a timely manner and pays attention if someone else is talking.

“Manuel McKinney has overcome an obstacle that many children struggle with: his self-esteem,” Caldwell said.

Adult awards

Teresa Skinner: The winner of the Individual Jim Chase Asset Builder Adult Award. The founding figure of Team St. Luke’s, Skinner has worked to provide opportunities for the disabled to participate in adaptive sports.

Nominated by William Kemp of Riverside High School, Skinner has helped St. Luke’s to build an adaptive sports program. Now, nine different sports teams have been offered.

“When I was first approached by a wheelchair athlete who wanted to do high school cross country, I knew nothing about adaptive sports,” Kemp said in his nomination letter. “Teresa went the extra mile, again and again, as I learned to coach these wonderful athletes.”

Last year, Riverside High School won the state track and field combined championship.

Skinner also persuaded the WIAA to allow wheelchair athletes to score along with other athletes at the state meet in track and field, and several area schools: Riverside, Newport, North Central, Central Valley and Tekoa have earned state trophies with the new system.

The Next Generation Zone: The winner of the Group Jim Chase Asset Builder Adult Award, this program works to help 16- to 21-year-olds gain skills and experience to get jobs. The staff provides opportunities for paid internships, on-the-job training, career exploration, resume and application assistance, on-site high school re-entry, GED preparation classes and college planning.

“The Next Generation Zone takes unemployable young adults, lifts them out of poverty and transforms them into productive citizens, increasing the labor force to support local businesses and the region’s economic development,” wrote nominator Donna Dalzell. “So far this program year, 1,369 young adults accessed services. At the Next Generation Zone, all employees do whatever it takes to help their clients become self-sufficient.”