The Spokane Scholars banquet is back in person; and here are the 158 students nominated for awards

Jim Allen, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.
·5 min read

Apr. 13—The Spokane Scholars Foundation banquet is set to return in person this year.

After two years of relying on a virtual ceremony to honor the area's best and brightest high school students, the event will return to the Spokane Convention Center on Monday night.

Organizers are expecting a full house, with about 900 attendees, who will hear from three former Spokane Scholars drawn from three different decades.

They are Christopher Douthitt, a 2002 graduate of Lewis & Clark High School and a member of the music faculty at Washington University in St. Louis; Spokane City Council member Zack Zappone, a 2009 North Central graduate who teaches there; and Holland Pratt, a 2018 graduate of Central Valley who went to become the First Captain of the Corps of Cadets at West Point and earned a Rhodes Scholarship.

This year, schools have nominated 158 students who will receive the Spokane Scholars Foundation Medal of Academic Achievement.

Each scholar has been selected based on accomplishments in one of six areas: English, social studies, mathematics, science, world languages and fine arts.

The foundation will award $60,000 ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 each to 24 of the scholars, four per content area. Some regional colleges and universities will match the monetary awards for recipients who attend those institutions.

Since its founding in 1992, the foundation has awarded more than $1.35 million to more than 550 students.

The banquet will begin at 6:30 p.m. with awards presentations to begin at about 8:15 p.m.

Also on tap is the Chase Youth Awards ceremony, which begins Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Fox Theater.

Winners will be announced in elementary school, middle school and teen divisions in the following categories: arts and creativity; compassion; cultural awareness; innovation, personal achievement and social advocacy.

Here are this year's Spokane Scholars:

English

Sophia Avery, Lewis & Clark; Haley Bedell, Innovation; Connor Bly, East Valley; Ursula Delgado, Medical Lake; Talia Durbin, Upper Columbia; Christian Estlund, Ferris; Sophie Hare, Riverside; Gabrielle Harkness, Rogers; Christiana Heaton, St. Michael's; Suzanna Hill, Valley Christian; Celista Horton, Newport; Teresa Johnson, The Community School; Marissa Jones, West Valley; Martin Liu, University; Marie Loroz, Gonzaga Prep; Colton Marsh, Liberty; Kate Maxey, Mead; Olivia Moore, Deer Park; Nicole Nemeth, Shadle Park; Ahtum O'Neill, North Central; Jenae Potter, Cheney; Madeleine Roberts, Saint George's; Tryston Schmitt, Lakeside; Jenna Sharp, Freeman; Olivia Snyder, Mt. Spokane; Katherine Stenfors, Central Valley; Estella Tasche, The Oaks; Abigail Veenstra, Northwest Christian

Fine Arts

Kaley Anderson, Mt. Spokane; Alexander Bowman, Cheney; Kyra Conrath, West Valley; Chase Foster, Saint George's; Isaac Gessele, Upper Columbia; Kali Helm, Deer Park; Karenna Holland, Lewis & Clark; Clarissa Karben, Rogers; Lydia Lauzon, Shadle Park; Isabelle Leonard, University; Anne Mack, Central Valley; Nathaniel Moody, Medical Lake; Eli Mounts, Freeman; Matise Mulch, Lakeside; Rachel Peterson, On Track; Desiree Potter, Riverside; Phoenix Reeves, The Community School; Camille Richardson, Ferris; Andrew Steinhart, North Central; Olivia Stewart, Gonzaga Prep; Dakota Terhaar, Mead; Elizabeth VanLengen, Innovation; Hannah Vetter, East Valley; Victoria Hyewon Woo, Northwest Christian

Mathematics

Kathryn Arleth, Deer Park; Garrett Casey, Mead; Sean Caviness, Ferris; James Choo, Shadle Park; Tayshawn Colvin, Liberty; Evan Craciun, Valley Christian; Peyton Distad, Riverside; Ty Friedman, Lakeside; Kenneth Ha, Rogers; Paul Hartman, Upper Columbia; Jace Henderson, University; Aaron House, Northwest Christian; Lillian Hughes, Newport; Aaron Johnson, Central Valley; Faythe Lloyd, West Valley; Robert Lochmiller, Freeman; Marcos Marroquin, East Valley; Ezekiel Miller, Mt. Spokane; Allison Payne, Medical Lake; John Quigley, Lewis & Clark; Alexis Schallock, North Central; Audrey Schnell, The Oaks; Aidan Scott, STEM Academy; Tyler Sonntag, Gonzaga Prep; Joshua Whiteley, Cheney; Ivy Williams, Community School; Alyssa Zihan Zhao, Saint George's

Science

Abigail Bryant, Freeman; Aaron Cook, The Oaks; Isabela Cook, Ferris; Velerie-Rose Dancel, Medical Lake; Hunter Danielson, University; Jacob Gannon, North Central; Thi Tuong Van Giang, Rogers; Logan Grumbly, Liberty; Davis Hacker, Community School; Kevin Hill, West Valley; Annie Huang, Newport; Sarang Ju, Northwest Christian; Gabriella Kolodrub, Mead; Ansel LaPier, Central Valley; Gabrielle Lee, STEM Academy; Timothy Manuel, East Valley; Andrew Nicks, Mt. Spokane; Sky Haneul Seong, Upper Columbia; Cameron Simonds, Valley Christian; Alyssa Smith, Shadle Park; Ilee Stone, Deer Park; Samantha Symmes, Gonzaga Prep; Dylan Thornburg, Cheney; Anthony Todd, Riverside; Colten Vincent, Lakeside; Ethan Wu, Saint George's; Alan Zeng, Lewis & Clark

Social Studies

Ana Sophia Arnold, Central Valley; Isabella Avery, University; Nikko Brovick, STEM Academy; Matthew Buck, West Valley; Parker Cagle, Cheney; Rachael Day, Community School; Oscar Eagle, Riverside; Monroe Gott, Innovation; Oliver Hammond, Mead; Carmen Kiewert, Deer Park; Jeremy LaSalle, Ferris; Sydney McLean, Freeman; Max Molgard, Mt. Spokane; Chloe Noller, Northwest Christian; Milani Ornelas, Medical Lake; Ivy Pete, North Central; Thanhvy Pham, Rogers; Karrah Pope, Valley Christian; Mirella Profir, Upper Columbia; Tariq Ravasia, Saint George's; Siena Roberts, Lewis & Clark; Eva Sheffler, East Valley; Connor Stitt, Liberty; Lily Stone, OnTrack; Megan Tallman, The Oaks; Sierra Valdez, Gonzaga Prep; Reyer Van De Bogert, Lakeside; Conor Weber, Shadle Park

World Languages

Eleanor Adams, OnTrack; Abbigail Amend, Freeman; Rhiann Batson, East Valley; Olivia Bell, Rogers; Stella Brown, Saint George's; Sofia Garcia-Isabelli, Mead; Joshua Hall, University; Brenna Houk, North Central; Rachel Johnston, Upper Columbia; William Logan, West Valley; Jenna Mansfield, Cheney; Rebecca McDaniel, Lakeside; Uma Mitchell, Lewis & Clark; Edee Morse, Innovation; Hailey Nelson, The Oaks; Kara Nelson, Medical Lake; Cierra Parkin, Shadle Park; Madeleine Saint James, Gonzaga Prep; Amelia Suksdorf, Liberty; Kenny Tran, Mt. Spokane; Sophia Wheatfall, Ferris; Olivia Wiseman, Central Valley; Lily Wright, Northwest Christian; Samantha Yingst, Deer Park.