Calendar & News
School News

Maranatha Recognizes Top Student Achievements

The Maranatha community recognized their top achieving students at the Annual Maranatha Awards Program which was broadcast online by Academic Dean Tim Fenderson.
On Thursday, May 21, Maranatha High School’s high-performing students were honored by Academic Dean Tim Fenderson on Minutemen TV. Mr. Fenderson commented, “We can’t duplicate a live audience. We can’t duplicate the Ambassador Auditorium, the art, the music, the long walk up to the stage, and the pictures. But we still want to recognize all of the students. A Maranatha education is about gaining what is best in our culture, in our faith, and in our character. Congratulations on persevering.”

For the 2019-2020 school year, students were honored in the following categories:

AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE:

Athletic Awards
Senior Female Athlete of the Year - Madison Kane
Senior Male Athlete of the Year - Isaac Fields
Senior Female Scholar-Athlete - Rachel Kwan
Senior Male Scholar-Athletes - Brian Althouse and Jerry Zhang
Iron Man Award (Completed 3 sports per year each of their 4 years) - Brian Althouse and Jacob Kefalas

Performing Arts Awards
Excellence in Theatre - Prescott Johnson
Best in Dance - Madeline Kahn
Filmmaker of the Year - Joshua “JP” Pitney
Best All-Around Musician - Joshua Yee
Best Instrumental Musicians - Samantha Wu and Sara Wu

Visual Arts Awards
The Master Artist Award - Marian Seo
Visual Storyteller Award - Jiajun “Jamie” Fu
Best New Visual Artist - Maria Kefalas
Excellence in Digital Arts - Sia Ao
Excellence in Photography - Hans Xing

Theology Awards
Budding Theologian Award (Possessing passion, excellence, and promise in Theological studies) - Phoebe Lim
John 17 Award (Working diligently to foster authentic fellowship in our community in a way that exhibits Christ’s majesty in the world) - Madison Kane
Theologian of the Year (Possessing a distinguished character and demonstrating academic excellence of the highest caliber in Theological studies) - Peter Otoshi

English Awards
Orwellian Award for Social Justice (Written and spoken excellence, sensitive to social justice over their Maranatha career) - Karen Garnica
The Shakespearean Wordsmith Award (Eloquent writing and speaking over their Maranatha career) - Justin Purnomo
Maya Angelou Award for Creative Expression - Zachary Kriebs
The Bildungsroman (Excellence in writing and thinking, especially in the art of reflection) - Maya Bonk and Mikayla Murphy

Math Awards
Mathlete of the Year (Excellence in AB Calculus, BC Calculus, and Statistics) - Samantha Wu
Archimedes’ Award (Excellence in AB Calculus and BC Calculus) - Mikaya Kim
Hypatia’s Award (Excellence in AB Calculus and Statistics) - Justin Purnomo
Stupendous Statistician - Michelle Lin
American Math Contest Winner 10A - Jiyuin “Michael” Zhang
American Math Contest Winner 12A - Peter Otoshi

Science Awards
Budding Scientist - Nathan Peng
Outstanding Environmentalist - Sarah Summitt
Outstanding Physical Scientist - Ethan Coe-Renner
Outstanding Life Scientist - Isaac Lee
Future Surgeon - Mia Chang
Outstanding Overall Scientist (Excellence in both life and physical sciences) - Samantha Wu

Social Science Awards
The Winston Churchill Leadership Award (Committed to Maranatha’s mission, showing excellence in thinking, risk-taking, communicating, leading, and articulating a positive sense of direction) - Joshua Yee
The Thomas Jefferson Writing Award (Excellence in critical thinking skills applied to history) - Samantha Wu and Jerry Zhang
The Martin Luther Award (Christian role model who possesses faith, loyalty, and strength during difficult times and is not influenced by public opinions) - Jacob Kefalas

Elective Awards
Outstanding TILE Lab Award - Abigail Scheidler
TILE Lab: Excellence in Architecture, Building and Structuring Design - Samuel Li, Joshua Im, and Peter Otoshi
TILE Lab: Excellence in Idea Design - Phillip Callihan, Jillian Geib, Jackie Horan, Kaitlyn Nguyen
Outstanding Computer Science Award - Jonah Molina
Overcoming Challenges Award (Perseverance and success amidst challenges) - Hannah Boalt and Ethan Firestone

Speech and Debate Awards
The Orator of the Year - Victoria Luo
Public Relations Speaker of the Year - Michael Wilkins
Impromptu Speaker of the Year - Joel Turk
Interpretive Speaker of the Year - Samantha Santoro

Modern Languages Awards
American Sign Language Award - Rachel Molina
French Fleur De Lis Award (Outstanding work ethic in the study of French) - Michelle Lin
Hispanic Heritage Award - Enrique Garza
Spanish Excellence Award - Sarah Summitt

Other Awards
NHS Blue Service Award (3 Years of Service and Innovative Tutoring) - Bella Medina
NHS Steward Award (3 Years of Service and service beyond Maranatha) - Ethan Coe-Renner
NHS Emergent Leadership Award - Ethan Coe-Renner

Gordon College Faithful Leadership Book Award - Alisha Kita

National Merit Scholarship Commended Students - Brian Althouse, Ethan Coe-Renner, and Mikaya Kim

National Merit Scholarship Finalists (Top 7,500 in the nation out 1.5 million students) - Justin Purnomo, Samantha Wu, and Sara Wu

Awards for Academic Excellence
  • Freshmen 
  1. Jasmine Purnomo (4.77)
  2. Bethany Ang (4.71)
  3. Aaron Chang (4.57)
  • Sophomores 
  1. George Kefalas (4.76)
  2. Marcus Morehead (4.71)
  3. Three-way tie for Third:  Elena Yeh (4.69), Trent Reimers (4.69), and Youngyen Lin (4.69)
  • Juniors 
  1. Allison Chang (4.76)
  2. Joan Choi (4.69)
  3. Sarah Summitt (4.67)
  • Seniors 
  1. Sara Wu (4.74 and the 2020 Valedictorian)
  2. Samantha Wu (4.73 and the 2020 Salutatorian)
  3. Mikaya Kim (4.69)

Others recognized during the Annual Maranatha Awards Program included members of the Ambassador Club, Associated Student Body (ASB), California Scholarship Federation, Ministry Team, National Honor Society, Oliver Honors Institute, and Honor Roll recipients (Gold 3.9-4.0, Silver 3.75-3.89, and Bronze 3.6-3.74 levels based on GPA for each grade level).
 
Congratulations to each of these individuals for living out the mission and vision of our school!
Back