Chase youth awards winners

Winners of the Chase Youth Awards were announced Thursday evening in the Spokane Opera House. Listed below are the winners for each category:

Individual Youth Recipients

Brianna Pluff, Citizenship

Seven-year-old Pluff has gone door-to-door collecting donations for the Spokane Food Bank, and has helped deliver food for Thanksgiving meals. She also entertains cancer patients at the Spokane Cancer Center.

Kristin Bertsch, Community Service

Bertsch started “Kans for Kids” and has donated more than 129 pounds of food to needy families.

Chance Adcox, Courage

Adcox is a fourth-grader at Otis Orchards Elementary, where he mentors peers with social and discipline problems.

Madison Holling, Creativity

Holling is a dancer and singer who has overcome many health problems.

Luke Nalder, Leadership

Nalder is president of his fifth-grade class at Otis Orchards Elementary. He’s rallied his peers to gather food both for the food bank and for animals at Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service.

Victoria Harding,

Personal Achievement

Harding was born with hypotonic cerebral palsy and must speak through a communication device. She’s had numerous treatments, therapy sessions and personal challenges, yet strives to live an unrestricted life.

Youth Group Recipients

Otis Orchards Elementary ASB,

Citizenship

Students sent Christmas cards to nursing homes, organized food drives for food banks and the Humane Society. They created “Care Kids,” striving to make recess safer by helping students and bullies talk out problems.

Progress Elementary ASB, Community Service

Progress students embraced the P.R.O. Team (Progress Reaches Out) and worked to sign up people for outreach events.

Lemonade Girls, Individual Group

Four girls organized a fund drive for a friend who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Maria Everett, Shea Hennessey, Maya Earler and Megan Davis sold lemonade and brownies on the sidewalk to raise $100 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Their work, including a diabetes walk, helped raise awareness of the illness.

Bryce and Quinton Colvin, Courage

The brothers, grades 2 and 6, raised $618 for tsunami relief efforts in one day, and donated it all to the American Red Cross

Josh and Alicia Pavlish, Creativity

The siblings mentored a teen.

Room 209, Mullan Road Elementary, Leadership

This fourth-grade class of 22 students helped tsunami victims and disadvantaged children who wanted books.

Kayley and Chloe Dugger, Personal Achievement

Chloe Dugger committed herself to more family chores to allow more carefree time for her sister, who uses a wheelchair.

Regal student leaders, Spirit of Jim Chase

These students gave their personal time to oversee Playground Caretakers, Paper Technicians, Bus Buddies and High Rise Engineers.

Individual Tween Recipients (Middle School)

Tyler Eglet, Citizenship

Eglet turned in $50 that had been lost by a Sacajawea Middle School student who intended to use the money for a special project.

Cara Myers, Community Service

Since the age of 2, Myers has volunteered to eat dinner with the elderly, homeless and ill.

Nick Baker, Courage

Baker has had multiple surgeries on his foot but is still able to laugh about missing the bus and having to walk to school in the snow.

Shelby Allison, Creativity

Thirteen-year-old Allison has emerged as an art trend-setter. She has ambitions of becoming a fashion designer.

Steven Zeller, Leadership

Zeller is an eighth-grader who volunteered more than 700 hours for the downtown YMCA summer camp.

Cam Acosta, Personal Achievement

Acosta has no short-term memory. The eighth-grader uses humor to show his fellow students that he is more than his limitations.

Tween Group Recipients

Garry Middle School’s WDFY group, Community Service

Students in this group pledge to be drug, alcohol and tobacco free. They are working to give presentations to local elementary students.

Garry Middle School PEAK group, Courage

Students in PEAK, which stands for Promoting Everyday Acts of Kindness, work to stop school bullying and harassment.

Chase Middle School Creative Kids, Creativity

These eighth-graders recruited others to put on a musical that promotes positive choices based on the six pillars of Character Counts.

Shaw Middle School Alternative Program, Diversity

Every Thursday these students serve lunch at the Hillyard Senior Center and then sit for conversations with the residents.

Shaw Middle School Leadership Class, Leadership

These students collected the largest number of coats from any North Side school in Spokane for the Coats for Kids drive.

Shaw Claws, Personal Achievement

These students tackled a neighborhood beautification project for Earth Day and made gift bags for the Single Mothers Program at Spokane Community College.

Mountain View Middle School Road to Success program, Spirit of Jim Chase

This program strives to improve student academic performance along with organization and study skills.

Individual Teen Recipients

Josh Covington, Citizenship

Covington “will stop at nothing to make others feel good,” said the person who nominated him.

Michael Lundy, Community Service

Lundy gave 876 hours as an Eagle Scout in 2004 while earning football and scholastic awards.

Bridgett Reilly, Courage

Reilly suffered a brain injury when she hit a tree while snowboarding. After several months she recovered, resumed her life and was injured again in a basketball game, which led to two more years of therapy. Now she has a nearly perfect grade-point average and is pursuing a goal of an Ivy League college and a career in law.

Ben Stuart, Creativity

Stuart has performed in more than 20 plays since he was 9. He works with the Garfield Elementary drama program for his senior project.

Jordan Clark, Diversity

Clark has experienced racism and has made a personal decision to change the world through action.

Whitney Mathison, Leadership

Mathison, an Eagle Scout, obtained a grant from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to complete a care compound for hooved animals at a local veterinarian hospital.

Julie Whiteheart,

Personal Achievement

Whiteheart has overcome life obstacles, including family drug abuse and the loss of her father before she was born, to become a high-achiever.

Teen Group Recipients

PICI, Citizenship

The Practicum in Community Involvement project at Lewis and Clark High School bridges student learning and service.

Lilac City Young Marines,

Community Service.

Members provide color guard for special events and help with the Hillyard Fest and Toys-for-Tots.

SADD at North Central High School, Community Service

The Students Against Destructive Decisions club stages mock crashes to bring awareness to the horrors of drunken driving.

Cheney Art Club, Creativity

Students raised money for tsunami relief through art shows and held a Pledge for Peace campaign.

Lewis and Clark High School Racial and Cultural Equality (RACE) club,

Diversity

The group brought awareness of a variety of cultures by planning a monthly diversity project.

Bosco House, Personal Achievement

Four seniors at Ferris High School live in a supervised environment run by Morning Star Boys Ranch. They defy the statistical odds that show foster children often drop out of school. Each must give 20 hours of community service each month.

Los Hermanos y Hermanas,

Spirit of Jim Chase

This group raised money for a science lab and computer training for a high school in a small village in El Salvador. Now they e-mail regularly.

Spokane Valley Police Chief Cal Walker, Jim Chase Asset Builder Adult Award

Walker fulfilled one family’s dream by securing a house, living costs for a year and a large Christmas party. The family has a 3-year-old with cancer.

Spokane’s Promise Recognition

Cooper Elementary won for a coat drive, food drive of 4,000 food items and $700 for tsunami victims.

Chester Elementary won for sending supplies and letters to local Marines stationed in Iraq.

University High School won for participating in a food drive for the community.