Proud parents and other family members filled the Yosemite High School Theatre on Monday night as $138,150 in community awards were presented to graduating seniors.
Deborah Siverly, a member of the school's counseling staff and community awards coordinator, said 98 students received 247 financial awards from 70 community clubs, businesses and individuals.
The cash awards ranged from $100 to $1,250, including 47 $1,000 awards. Many Mountain Area clubs and organizations do a variety of yearlong fundraisers specifically for community awards night.
Erica Grant walked to the podium nine times, more than anyone else, to collect $5,300 in awards.
Grant, who will attend the University of California, Los Angeles, in the fall, majoring in microbiology and molecular genetics, said she appreciated the awards and that the funds will help her during her first year of college.
"The community is awesome," Grant said. "Almost half the graduating class (205) received an award."
Kathryn Voltmer and Kazia Hart collected eight awards each, totaling $5,450 and $4,550 respectively.
Three seniors, Nicholas Greene, Michael Lalev and Hector Teneri-Rivera, received six awards each, and 26 seniors were presented with three to five awards.
"It's my privilege to be involved in the community awards program and work with our great donors," Siverly said. "The program connects the community with our graduating seniors, our next generation of leaders. What was special this year was that every student that applied for a community award received at least one."
Oakhurst dentist Adrian Buca presented four $750 awards to Elizabeth Avina, Grant, Megan Howard and Lily Radonovich. He referred to the movie "Invictus," the story of the 1995 South African rugby team that won the 1995 World Cup.
"The movie stressed moving the ball forward," Buca said. "This community is now passing the ball to you, and it's up to you to move the ball forward by continuing your education and being leaders in your community."
A new award this year was the Cody Minter Memorial Scholarship.
A gifted baseball and basketball player, Minter, at 14, had graduated from Raymond Knowles Elementary School in 2009 and was going to play on Yosemite's varsity basketball team when he died of cardiac arrest during a summer league basketball game in July that year at Fresno Christian High School.
Yosemite basketball coach Mark Siverly said a boys and girls basketball tournament last summer at Fresno Christian helped raise funds for the scholarship.
Minter's father, Mike, presented the award to Caleb Cederblom and Evan Ewert. He said Cederblom and Ewert took his young son under their wings and showed him the ropes.
Multiple scholarships were presented by many organizations, led by the Gerald A. Smith Memorial and the Service Organization of the Sierras, each awarding nine. The Danny Zabicki Memorial and the Yosemite High FFA Ag Boosters each gave eight, and Sierra Tel gave seven.
Four organizations each presented six scholarships: El Capitan Education Foundation, North Fork Faculty Club, Yosemite Youth Basketball Association and Yosemite-Coarsegold CSEA, Chapter 698.
Retired Yosemite teacher and counselor Barry Bartlett said he remembered when the program started in 1977, when 10 awards were presented for $12,000.
Before the presentations, the Yosemite High School Cadet Corps presented the colors, and seniors Lacey Smith and David Carson Lovett sang the national anthem.
Awards/Student Name
49 EARS
A.C.S.A. Charter - Madera/Mariposa
Adrian Buca DDS Academic Achievement Award
- Avina, Elizabeth
- Grant, Erica
- Howard, Megan
- Radonovich, Lily
Aiming High Award
Badger Tennis Future Stars
- Avina, Elizabeth
- Grant, Erica
- Hart, Kazia
- Peredia, Pierrette
- Perkins, Kelly
Barbara Banich Memorial
Barbara Kelly Family Dental
Bass Lake Lions Club
- Ayala, Naila
- Gould, Christopher
- Solomon, Emily
Bill Williams Memorial
Billy Vukovich III Memorial
- Neff, Natalie
- Perkins, Kelly
- Tenorio - Rivera, Hector
- Cornell, Rex
Buddy Cudd Memorial
- Moberly, Daniela
- Solomon, Emily
Cary Simms Memorial Scholarship
- Allsup, Savannah
- Gambril, Clayton
- Goldman, Emily
Danny Zabicki Memorial - Roman & Laura Zabicki
- Friesen, Mitchell
- Grant, Erica
- Hart, Kazia
- Maurer, Corey
- Patterson, Sierra
- Polkenhorn, Jamie
- Ratchford, Alexander
- Schneider, Brooke
- Solomon, Emily
Darin Camarena Health Center
Doctors Dennis Jones, Rodney Peter & Staff
- Davis, Jillian
- Tenorio - Rivera, Hector
Doris Horasanian Memorial
- Solomon, Emily
- Ellis, Jordan
Eakin Peirsol Memorial Award
- Grant, Erica
- Greene, Nicholas
- Ross, Olivia
El Capitan Education Foundation
- Cummins, Brandon
- Dambrino, Logan
- Fuller, Brandon
- Howard, Megan
- Lalev, Michael
- Mudrick, Vanessa
- Nelson, Paul
Eric Seger Memorial
Frank Logar Memorial Music Award
- Hagerman, Chase
- Howard, Megan
Future Veterinarian Award - Thrift Shop
Gerald A. Smith Memorial
- Bohner, Samantha
- Craig, Kelci
- Holcomb, Paulina
- Howell, Kevin
- Kanaley, Patricia
- McCourt, Ryan
- Pascillas, Jessica
- Scott, Aubrianne
- Stutsman, Sadie
- Tovar, Olivia
Golden Chain Theatre
Grant Mercantile
- Friesen, Mitchell
- Rudd, Amanda
H.O.L.I.D.A.Y.S. (Hallmark Ornament Collectors)
Harmelin Family Award
Heart of the Mountains Award
Ibrahim Kabbani Memorial
- Black, Kailash
- McCourt, Ryan
- Smith, Lacey
Indian Lakes Ladies Auxiliary
- Fuller, Brandon
- Pasillas, Jessica
James H. Watkins, Law Office
Jeremy Carter Memorial
- Gould, Christopher
- Grillo, Gian
- Pritchett, Jake
Jill St. Onge Memorial Award
Ladies of the Lakes - YLP
- Avina, Elizabeth
- Ellis, Jordan
- Gutelli - Gomez, Mary
- Hendrickson, Grant
Live Oak Associates Biology - Ecology Award
Madera County Arts Council
Madera County Office of Education Academic Decathlon
Madera County Retired Teachers Assoc.
Madera Republican Women Federated
Marine Corps League Griswold Mtn. Det. #1121
- Greene, Nicholas
- Lalev, Michael
- Mills, Stephanie
- Voltmer, Kathryn
- Williams, Annie
North Fork Faculty Club
- Dambrino, Blake
- Dambrino, Logan
- Grant, Erica
- Hart, Kazia
- Maurer, Corey
- Patterson, Sierra
- Ratchford, Alexander
North Fork Faculty Native American Award
North Fork Faculty Sheryl Fearn Memorial
North Fork Lions Club
North Fork Women's Club
- Grant, Erica
- Hart, Kazia
- Patterson, Sierra
North Fork Women's Club - Robert Stanley Memorial
Oak Creek Intermediate School
- Conley III, Jerry
- Goldman, Emily
- Tenorio - Rivera, Hector
Oakhurst Democratic Club
- Grant, Erica
- Mears, Kelly
Oakhurst Elementary School
Oakhurst Sierra Noon Rotary Club
- Barney, Joanna
- Fruth, Gretchen
- Lovett, David 'Carson'
- Mears, Kelly
- Nobles, Nicole
Oakhurst Sierra Sunrise Rotary Club
- Conley III, Jerry
- Gill, Shivani
- Grossi, Kaiden
- Maurer, Corey
Oakhurst Sierra Sunrise Rotary Club INTERACT
Our Lady of the Sierra Women's Guild
- Grocholski, Tyler
- Peredia, Pierrette
Pines Civic Council
Positive Living Center (Ruth Ross Memorial)
Recycle Award
- Conley III, Jerry
- Lalev, Michael
- Neff, Natalie
River Creek Golf Course
Service Organization of the Sierra
- Avina, Elizabeth
- Ayala, Niala
- Cornell, Rex
- Dambrino, Blake
- DePledge, William (Glacier)
- Gould, Christopher
- Greene, Nicholas
- Hale, Krystina
- Solomon, Emily
- Tenorio - Rivera, Hector
Sierra Ambulance
- Delgado, Steven
- Goldman, Emily
Sierra Lions Club of Oakhurst - Albert Guyett Memorial
Sierra Lions Club of Oakhurst - Devere Williams Memorial
Sierra Lions Club of Oakhurst - Jesse Love Memorial
Sierra Masonic Lodge #788
Sierra Pines Church
Sierra Tel - Baker Memorial
Sierra Tel Business Center
Sierra Tel Business Systems
Sierra Tel Internet
Sierra Tel Long Distance
Sierra Tel Sierra Cellular
Sierra Telephone
Sierra - Oakhurst Kiwanis Club
- Gotelli - Gomez, Mary Christine
- Hart, Kazia
- Prather, Joshua
- Voltmer, Kathryn
Sorich - Tomlinson Award
Soroptimist International of The Sierras
- Ayala, Niala
- Gotelli - Gomez, Mary Christine
- Hart, Kazia
- Nobles, Nicole
- Solomon, Emily
Swortzel Trust
- Alexander, Shonna
- Bennett, Ashley
- Black, Kailash
- Di Tomaso, John
- Krucki, Justin
- Long, Alexandra
- Shea, Caden
- Thacker, Courtney
Tenaya Lodge
- Rudd, Amanda
- Turner, Caitlin
Travis Myers Memorial
Vern & Delores Brooks Educators Award
Veterans of Foreign Wars
- Greene, Nicholas
- Howard, Megan
- Romero, Daniel
Vision Academy of the Arts -
- Barry, Kelsie
- Ewert, Evan
- Hagerman, Chase
- Lalev, Michael
- Radonovich, Lily
- Scott, Aubrianne
- Smith, Lacey
Wasuma Elementary School
- Barney, Joanna
- Peredia, Pierrette
Wild, Wonderful Women
William Beau Bushman Memorial
- Cornell, Rex
- Gould, Christopher
- Lalev, Michael
Willow Bridge Books - Creative Writing Award
Wilma Ely Memorial
- Ellis, Jordan
- Jones, Dillon
- LeForge, Ashley
- Pludow, Hannah
Yosemite Bank
Yosemite Baseball Boosters
- Doering, Joe
- Grocholski, Tyler
- McConnell, Trevor
Yosemite Gateway Association of Realtors
- Ayala, Naila
- Ellis, Jordan
- Gould, Christopher
- Hart, Kazia
- Voltmer, Kathryn
Yosemite High FFA AG Boosters
- Allsup, Savannah
- Delgado, Steven
- Fielding, Haley
- Gambril, Clayton
- Goldman, Emily
- Russell, Paige
- Stanfield, Chelsea
- Starnes, Michael
- Turner, Caitlin
Yosemite High Leadership
Yosemite Youth Basketball Association
- Barney, Joanna
- Cederblom, Caleb
- Ellis, Ashley
- Ewert, Evan
- Grant, Devin
- Jensen, Taylor
- Rudd, Amanda
Yosemite Youth Basketball - Cody Minter Memorial
- Cederblom, Caleb
- Ewert, Evan
Yosemite/Coarsegold CSEA Chapter 698