South Side Kids Receive Chase Youth Awards

If it’s Monday, eighth-grader Adrienne Isgrigg is going to 4-H Club after school.

On Tuesday, it’s Camp Fire.

The rest of the week, there’s basketball, church activities and maybe some studying.

“I love doing things,” said Isgrigg, one of the winners of the Chase Youth Awards handed out last week.

Isgrigg won the citizenship award in the teen division for grades seven through 12. The awards, given out in 18 categories to teens and youth, are in memory of Spokane Mayor Jim Chase, who was well known for his support of young people.

For the first time, an adult award was given as well. Ken Jernberg won the Jim Chase Memorial Award for his work with at-risk kids at Crosswalk School.

More than 400 children and teens from throughout Spokane County were nominated.

Isgrigg was among nine Chase award recipients on the South Side of Spokane.

Her list of activities is a long one. She works on Bloomsday training clinics, helps on A Family Affair projects, serves as an aide at Camp Dartlo and greets worshipers at Easter Sunday services at the Opera House.

At Liberty School, she’s enrolled in high school algebra, works as a teacher’s aide in the first grade and plays in the middle school band.

One of her more provocative projects was an exhibit she put together on sexually transmitted diseases for the school’s science fair in 1995.

She researched the subject and gave students straightforward information that she said was intended to provide facts beyond what students learn in health classes.

“It was something I thought needed to be told,” she said.

Adrienne is a member of the Unity Church on the South Side, another source for her many service projects.

The other Chase award winners from the South Side are as follows:

Five sixth-grade girls at Mullan Road Elementary School won the group award in the youth division for grades one through six.

They are Sarah Brogden, Valorie Darling, Sara DeCristoforo, Sara Richardson and Arielle Ring.

They are now widely known as The Helping Hearts, a group that raised nearly $4,000 for orphans in Romania. They did this by making and selling more than 700 beeswax candles.

It took them two months, and they put in more than 300 hours apiece. The money went to the Northwest Medical Team for supplies, food, clothing and appliances.

Joanna Repsold, a sixth-grader at Pratt Elementary School, won the youth award for leadership.

Repsold was elected president by the other sixth-graders and has served on the student cabinet. She volunteers for fund-raisers and evening reading programs.

The principal at Pratt has put her to work on a variety of projects in the office.

At school, she is a peacemaker, helping iron out conflicts during lunch or recess. She is also active in her church.

Alyssa Jordan, another student at Pratt Elementary School, won the youth division award for creativity.

She was recognized for her abilities in dancing. She shares her talents at school and last fall performed a mime she dedicated to her father, Wayne Jordan, a Vietnam veteran.

Alyssa is involved in a multitude of community activities such as A Family Affair, Bloomsday and Festival of Trees. She is on the student cabinet and student council. She also serves as a peacemaker at school and is active in her church.

Holly Arsenault, a senior at Ferris High School, won the leadership award in the teen division.

Holly was recognized for her efforts to promote diversity and her commitment to respecting the rights of all persons. She was instrumental in forming a youth club called Spectrum at the high school.

She campaigned to start an alliance among gay and straight students at Ferris.

Lloyd Fulton, a Medical Lake Elementary School student was honored with the courage award for youths.

Fulton was at one time put into protective custody and then grew up in foster homes and temporary homes.

He survived what had been a tumultuous early childhood to become a positive influence at school and in his activities like Cub Scouts. Fulton now has an adoptive home, and is growing both intellectually and socially, according to Deanna Groke, who nominated him.

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