Brookline Youth Awards to Honor 61 Students on April 27

The 6th Brookline Youth Awards will be held April 27 from 7-9 pm at the Coolidge Corner Theater. The event’s Principal Sponsors are BrooklineHub.com and the Town of Brookline. Thanks to the generosity of the Coolidge Corner Theater, admission is free.

The evening focuses on the special contributions of young people, and features video interviews of Youth Award recipients and student performances. Rene Feuerman of the Brookline Food Pantry and Dana Brigham of Brookline Booksmith will also be honored and have their video interviews shown on the big screen.

Senator Elizabeth Warren will address the audience by video, congratulating the recipients and mentioning their accomplishments. Senator Warren will also introduce the 2016 Brookline Youth of the Year.

One of this year’s 21 Youth Award recipients will be chosen 2016 Brookline Youth of the Year. The recipient will be announced at the theater.

Nine students will be receiving their second Brookline Youth Award at the Coolidge. In alphabetical order by last name they are:

You can view their video interviews at https://www.youtube.com/user/CoolidgeCornerHub/featured

Joining these students will be 12 new Youth Award recipients, whose videos will be shown for the first time on the big screen at the Coolidge.

Daniel Attia is a student at the Winthrop House. He runs all the computers, sound systems and Internet technology for the Brookline Teen Center, a state-of-the-art facility. Daniel is BTC’s Go-To Guy.

Donnaya Brown is a METCO student with adopted siblings who takes advantage of the diversity within her home to be a catalyst for change and social activism. Donnaya is also the Captain of the BHS Women’s Softball Team and member of African American & Latino Scholars Program (AALSP).

Caroline Cutlip is the Director of the Tutoring Program at the student-initiated club Brookline Literacy Partnership, which provides tutoring services and books for the Mather School in Dorchester. Upon learning that the James P. Timilty School in Roxbury had no library, she personally initiated a campaign to create the one that exists at the school today.

Ethan Kahn is a member and leader of the Gay Trans Straight Alliance (GTSA) at BHS. Ethan also is the sitting student representative on the Brookline School Committee and important contributor to BHS’s Day of Dialogue.

Michee Mande is the youngest of a family of 12 who migrated here from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Michee painted a mural at the Brookline Teen Center and is a dynamic presence at Steps to Success and many other student organizations.

Stefano Micali is a post-graduate student in the Bridge Program at BHS. Stefano competes in Spartan Races with the Teen Center, is the lead singer in a band in the MUSE program, rides a unicycle, works for Boston Duck Tours and can tell you the day you were born if you tell him your birth date. Stefano is universally respected and admired by his family, teachers, friends and classmates.

Grace Murphy is a student in the Alternative Choices in Education (ACE) program at BHS. She is a master of finding creative solutions and never backs down from a challenge. Grace is a leader of the BHS Environmental Action Club and a dedicated employee at The Clayroom.

Antel Rogers’s father was in a devastating car accident, which left him paralyzed. Antel succeeds with quiet determination, raising her grades from poor her freshmen year to A’s now, serves on the Student Leadership Council and speaks at the BHS’s Courageous Voices events.

Hannah Timmerman is a student activist who expresses herself through slam poetry. She’s also a determined and passionate volunteer at a Suicide Hotline. Hannah performed an important poem she wrote at the Town of Brookline’s MLK Day event titled “How to Tell Your Racist Stepfather You Held the Hand of a Black Boy”.

Sofia Tong is a straight A student who values learning over grades She plays viola in the Boston Youth Symphony and New England Chamber, while teaching younger people how to play. Sofia is the Editor and Chief of the Sagamore newspaper.

Kerimal Suriel Guerrero came to our community with her family from the Dominican Republic at the age of 5. She is a leader and voice of social justice in Brookline, and a respected member of MCAN, Steps to Success, French Exchange and the African American Latino Scholars Program.

Maya Vesneske overcame back surgery, which called for 13 of her vertebrae to be fused together to be the Student Activist Coordinator for Amnesty International. Maya has received the Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony Award in Humanities and Social Sciences.

Also being honored at the Coolidge on April 27 with 2016 Brookline Recognition Awards in alphabetical order by last name are:

Email us at publisher@brooklinehub.com for more information on sponsoring the 6th Brookline Youth Awards.

Come to the Coolidge on April 27 and get ready to be inspired!

By R. Harvey Bravman, Publisher