Celebrating Recent Student Achievements

Anjali Pante ‘17 won the Princeton Prize in Race Relations Certificate of Accomplishment. This award recognizes Anjali’s impressive and invaluable work in improving race relations in our community. The Princeton Prize in Race Relations was created to identify and commend young people who are working to promote harmony, understanding, and respect among people of different races. Pictures from the award ceremony are below.

Rich Qian ‘21 performed a solo with University City Orchestra as one of their 2016 Schatzkamer Young Artist Competition Winners on April 24, 2016. He received a proclamation from the University City mayor’s office.

Olivia Martin ‘16 has been honored for her exemplary volunteer service with a Certificate of Excellence from The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Presented annually by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards honors young people across America for outstanding volunteer service. “Prudential is honored to celebrate the contributions of these remarkable young volunteers,” said Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangefeld. “By shining a spotlight on the difference they’ve made in their communities, we hope others are inspired to volunteer, too.”

Olivia Martin ‘16 has also recently completed her Girl Scout Gold Award project, which required at least 80 hours of service and had a sustainable impact on her community. She created a community garden at St. Louis Community College’s Florissant Valley Campus to share her love of gardening, the environment and science. After learning about the population decline of bee species in America and around the globe, Martin decided to try to help repopulate them. She planted a variety of herbs, plants, sunflowers, and sweet potatoes in the “What’s the BUZZ Community Garden”, after researching the best varieties of plants for attracting bees. Bees naturally rid the soil of toxins, allowing plants to continually replenish themselves without chemicals.
The garden also served as an outdoor classroom, where Martin taught 25 local children about urban gardening and its relation to STEM. The discussion continued with a panel of students and faculty representing local colleges and universities as a way to encourage the children in the community to pursue careers in STEM.
“We are proud of Olivia and her work teaching children about gardening and STEM,” said Bonnie Barczykowski, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri CEO. “It is amazing to see projects like this help not only the community, but the girls that create and implement them. By completing the Gold Award, Girl Scouts learn so many great skills like time management, organization and interpersonal communication.”