By Pamela Dozois
Altrusa International Inc. of Santa Maria awarded 10 students from different schools throughout the county with the Altrusa International Junior High Award, one of whom was 13-year-old Nicole Ante of Olga Reed School in Los Alamos.
In keeping with the 103-year-old organization’s name, which is derived from the word altruism, the students were chosen for this award for their own altruism. The awards program was started by Sally Czarnecki, who gleaned the idea from an Altrusa conference in New Zealand 28 years ago and it has been going strong ever since.
“Every year for the past 28 years Altrusa Inc. of Santa Maria has partnered with Santa Maria junior high schools to honor students that have achieved outstanding citizenship, excelled at being involved with their school and community, or they are just doing amazing things on a daily basis,” said Betty Baxter, Altrusa Service Committee chairperson, past president of the Altrusa Club and a member for the past 48 years. “Students are nominated by their school principal and Altrusa has historically hosted an annual dinner to celebrate these young achievers.”
“We usually had a dinner at the Santa Maria Inn honoring these students but because the schools were closed, we still wanted the students to know they were very special,” Baxter said. “So Sandi Frazier, event co-chair, and I organized an award caravan of cars, which included the mayor of Santa Maria, Alice Patino, Channel 3 TV, the police, sheriff and fire departments along with members and friends of Altrusa International Inc. We visited each of the students and awarded them with a medal and a certificate for their altruism.”
Nicole was surprised to hear the fire department sound its horn in front of her home and a large group of attendees along with Joe Dana, principal of Olga Reed School, gathered in her driveway. Barbara Wilson played a pocket trumpet as the program began. Nicole was awarded a program with her name on it as a formal acknowledgement of the award, along with an Award of Excellence Certificate and a golden medal with a red, white and blue ribbon, which was placed around her neck. The inscription on the medal read “Altrusa Int. Jr. High Award, March 25, 2020.” She also received a $25 gift card to Walmart, all of which was done in the presence of her parents and siblings. Dana then gave a short speech honoring her.
“Ante is one of those people who will one day rule the world,” Dana said. “She is really smart, dedicated, works well with others, has a lot of drive and does the right thing by the whole world. A big success is in the future for Nicole Ante. And hats off to the Altrusa Club for making this happen.”
At Olga Reed, Nicole is student body president, carries a 4.0 grade point average and is this year’s valedictorian. She has two older brothers and two younger brothers.
“This was a really cool happening,” said Nicole. “I would like to thank Altrusa for this honor and Mr. Dana for selecting me. I’m not sure what profession I want to go into yet, but I definitely want to go to college. I want to be successful, so everything I do I always put my best into it.”
Next year Nicole will be attending Orcutt Academy High School.
Other winners of the award were Valeria Nunez, Delanie Singh, Sebastian Callis, Carter Allen Stewart, Mekenna Balcita, Emily Guzman, Rossy Tinoco-Cortes, Juliana Rodriguez and Nirvana Humbert.
