Chase Youth Awards honor community members

The Chase Youth Awards were presented March 27, and several South 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 South Side winners and a brief description of why they were nominated:

Teen awards

TEConnections: TEConnections is a program for students to equip underprivileged youth 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.”

Jeremy Taylor: An active member of Temple Beth Shalom, 17-year-old Jeremy Taylor was the winner of the teen award for courage.

Taylor has a hearing impairment and learning disabilities, but is president of the youth group chapter of United Synagogue Youth and works as a classroom aide for the religious school. He is also the only teenager involved in the Holocaust Commemoration (Yom Hashoah) committee, was president of the Key Club at Lewis and Clark High School last year and is involved with Geo-soph, an environmental club at the school.

“There is an expression in our culture, which describes a person of character and integrity,” wrote nominator Mary Noble. “The term is ‘mensch,’ and Jeremy is truly a mensch.”

Noble also said that she knows Taylor has overcome several challenges over the past year, including his mother’s divorce, the death of a grandmother and the return of his mother’s cancer.

“Some teenagers might have fled, if not literally, then emotionally,” Noble wrote. “But Jeremy has maintained a sense of humor, demonstrated ongoing caring and stability. It is difficult to know if Jeremy is most appropriately nominated for the courage category, the leadership category or the personal achievement category, but suffice it to say, he is a fine young man and one I am proud to know.”

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 a program called “Art For Understanding,” 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.

Kevin E. Johnson: The winner of the teen diversity award, Johnson is an 11th-grader at Contract-based Education in Spokane Valley and an active member of Odyssey Youth Center.

“When Kevin Johnson first came to Odyssey, he slipped quietly in the door, filled out our intake sheet, sat on a couch and never moved the entire five hours he was there,” wrote nominator Ann Marie Floch.

For months Johnson wouldn’t speak to the members and volunteers at the center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth and their allied friends. After being attacked at a park, Johnson decided to take a stand and report the incident. From then on, Floch said, he has been an active and outspoken member of the youth center.

“He volunteers for every community service action we do,” Floch wrote. “He helped us set up, waked with a sign, and helped take down all materials needed for World AIDS Day at City Hall. He recently helped unload large trucks full of produce and other food for the Christmas AIDS meals.”

He also completed the Odyssey Out Loud Leadership Program, an eight-week workshop, where he was required to give three speeches and be involved in discussions.

HYPER-Formance Jazz Dance Club: 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.

Middle school awards

Edward “Alex” Steinmetz: Winner of the middle school community involvement award, Steinmetz, is an eighth-grader at Sacajawea Middle School. He was nominated by his basketball coach, William Turner, who said that during try-outs, Steinmetz was encouraging the other players, even though they were competing for the same spot.

“Alex’s personality and natural leadership skills has been the leading force in unifying his team of 12 very different boys both socially and economically,” Turner said in his nomination letter.

Steinmetz not only displays leadership on the court, but he also plays violin and piano, volunteers with Catholic Charities, cleans out cages and socializes with the animals at SpokAnimal and is a certified baby sitter.

“He is an extraordinary young man and has the skills and techniques to lead those around him that many 20 years older than him don’t have.”

All Saints Catholic School seventh-graders: The seventh-grade class at All Saints Catholic School is the recipient of the middle school group community involvement award. During the last nine years, each seventh-grade class has been involved with the Spokane Relay for Life, which supports the National Cancer Society.

“Class efforts have averaged $2,000 per year,” wrote nominator Joe Staebell, a teacher and adviser at the school. He said the effort includes the Mark Rypien Foundation and has raised $2,000 to support it.

“The seventh-grade class is in the third year of creating books on tape, where class members narrate children’s stories on compact discs for local pediatric oncology patients at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital,” Staebell added. “Seventh-grade students have shown their faith by supporting service to the community and children fighting cancer.”

Chase Middle School eighth-grade string ensemble: The winner of the middle school group creativity award.

“This group of 10 has come together, across social boundaries, outside interests and individual backgrounds to make an amazingly supportive group that resonates with beautiful music,” said Kitty Hennessey, a counselor at the school and the group’s nominator.

The ensemble created a multimedia presentation at the school’s Veterans Day assembly. The presentation included video and music. Even though ensemble director Dawn Smith was unable to attend the assembly, the students pulled together and performed by themselves.

“These 10 students excel not only musically, but stand out academically and in extracurricular activities,” Hennessey wrote. “I am very proud of each of them individually, but even more proud of what they have accomplished as a group.”

Chase Middle School’s High Five Club: The 32-member club was the group recipient of the middle school leadership award.

Nominated by Jacquie Forness, the group has been educating their peers about the dangers of drug and tobacco use. Last November, the students advertised the National Smoke-out Pledge event and encouraged 448 students, more than half the population of the school, to sign a pledge never to smoke.

The group also organized a social that included a dance, ping pong, a cake walk, basketball and a game table. The students collected food for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

“All of these activities required dedication, organization skills, compassion, leadership and hard work,” Forness said in her nomination letter. “The members of High Five volunteer their time and remain devoted to providing drug-free activities for their peers and have demonstrated a commitment to the Spokane Community.”

Sarah Oakes: This seventh-grader won the individual middle school personal achievement award. An outstanding student and athlete, she was nominated by her principal at Cheney Middle School, Mike Stark.

“I have met many students over the years who made me laugh, made me cry, drove me nuts, made my day and hundreds of other cliché descriptions for my interactions with kids,” Stark said in his nomination letter. “However, none in my 15 years of education inspire me more than seventh-grade Cheney Middle School student Sarah Oakes.”

Stark said Oakes has been an inspiration for many of her fellow classmates and athletes and once received an inspirational award from an opposing team. That’s because Oakes has achieved all of this with a prosthetic leg.

“Sarah has always embraced this barrier as a fun challenge to overcome and never as an excuse,” Stark said. “She inspires both the adults and students she sees on a daily basis to overcome obstacles they have in their lives. Her zeal for life is incredibly contagious.”

Youth Awards

Andrew Baker: Eight-year-old Andrew Baker received the youth award for courage. A second-grader at Logan Elementary School, Baker, his mother and siblings left their home due to an abusive father who 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.”

Justin Martin: The winner of the individual youth leadership award, Martin is a fourth-grader at Roosevelt Elementary School.

Nominated by his older brother, Joshua Martin, a sophomore at Lewis and Clark, Justin Martin may be only 53 pounds and 3 feet 9 inches tall, but he stands tall on the basketball court.

“He obviously isn’t the biggest kid, but he has the most heart and tried 110 percent every play on every game,” his brother said in his nomination letter. “He always tries his hardest.”

Not only does Martin play a hard game of basketball, he also plays baseball and football.

“He truly loves sports,” Joshua Martin said. “He begs me everyday to take him outside to the basketball court and do drills with him.”

Peer leaders at Moran Prairie Elementary School: Nominated for the group youth leadership award by teacher Jacquie Johansson, the students are a group of fifth- and sixth-graders working to promote six pillars of character: citizenship, responsibility, respect trustworthiness, fairness and caring.

The students use examples of these ideas during morning announcements and at monthly school assemblies with skits. They also act as mediators when conflicts arise and give up their recess time.

“A new student is met by a peer leader who then takes them on a tour of Moran Prairie along with making sure that the new student understands that all peer leaders are ‘go-to’ people and are there to help them,” Johansson said in her nomination letter. “This is a group that makes a huge difference in our school community and is a true learning ground for all children.”

Lincoln Heights Elementary School ASB: The 65 students involved in the school’s Associated Student Body won the youth Spirit of Jim Chase Award.

Nominated by school counselor Valerie Kjack, the students have been selecting a community service program to focus on every month. They have raised almost $4,000 for an educational trust fund for a village in Sri Lanka by designing and selling a calendar. They planned and delivered the dedication ceremony of the Freedom Wall in the school building, and they held a food drive for Second Harvest Food Bank.

“These students exemplify what is good about youth today and is so often overlooked by media,” Kjack said in her nomination letter. “They work hard and quietly change the world for the better.”

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 convinced the WIAA to allow wheelchair athletes to score along with other athletes at the state meet in track and field, and several local 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.”