Resolution Honoring the 2022 Student Heroes

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS the State Board of Education’s Student Heroes Award, created in 2015, recognizes Texas public school students who engage in unselfish acts of kindness and service that benefit their fellow students or communities; and

WHEREAS State Board of Education members reviewed nominations and selected fifteen outstanding students across the state as recipients of the 2022 Student Heroes Award; and

WHEREAS Ashley Manquero, a senior at Odessa Career and Technical Early College High School in Ector County Independent School District (ISD), organized a pad drive and collected hygiene packages for homeless and abused women, and visited hospitalized children as a superhero character to brighten their day; and  

WHEREAS Genevieve Vallejo, a sophomore at Mercedes High School in Mercedes ISD, is an advocate for community service. She raised funds for several causes, coordinated meal deliveries for the homeless, and hopes that someday hunger in society is eliminated; and

WHEREAS Michael Valdez, a senior at Edgewood Fine Arts Academy in Edgewood ISD, dedicated countless hours volunteering in his hometown of San Antonio, as a council member for the city mayor’s Youth Council for Climate Initiatives; and

WHEREAS Anvi Garyali, a junior at Dulles High School Math and Science Academy in Fort Bend ISD, founded Rhythm of Life, a nonprofit organization to spread awareness about mental health and to provide resources about substance abuse and mindfulness activities; and

WHEREAS Natalie Veech, a junior at San Marcos High School in San Marcos Consolidated ISD, is actively involved in her community. She volunteered her time serving as a GEAR UP Ambassador at several family and student events; and

WHEREAS Nitya Kodali, a junior at Langham Creek High School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, founded the nonprofit organization, Letters & Love. Her organization reached more than 2,000 volunteers and has sent over 50,000 letters of gratitude to healthcare workers in several countries; and

WHEREAS Royal Cumby, a senior at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe ISD, overcame the challenge of fluency disorder. He attended Camp Dream Speak Live where he learned to focus less on speech, and more on other gifts and talents; and  

WHEREAS Brady Wilson, a senior at New Waverly High School in New Waverly ISD, demonstrated the desire to serve others by collecting disaster relief supplies and delivering them to areas hit by tornadoes in Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee; and

WHEREAS Brandon James, a senior at Ford High School in Quinlan ISD, demonstrated compassion through the school’s #BeTheSpark campaign by encouraging his teammates to involve a fellow student on the football field and in other activities; and

WHEREAS Karter Linscott, a fifth-grade student at Parkside Elementary School in Leander ISD, is a cancer survivor who gives to other cancer patients and their families through the Karter Bradley Foundation; contributions include gift cards to local restaurants, a collapsible wagon to help tow personal items back and forth to the hospital, and a crew of volunteers; and

WHEREAS Zane Sheffield, a junior at Birdville High School in Birdville ISD, started the Back-the-Homeless project by distributing backpacks to the homeless. He teamed up with Tarrant to the World, a local nonprofit to raise over $6,000 and distribute two hundred backpacks to the homeless; and

WHEREAS Bryn Taylor, a third-grade student at Wally Watkins Elementary in Wylie ISD exemplifies responsibility and humility by her acts of kindness to students with learning needs; and

WHEREAS Adamari Acosta, a fifth-grade student at Uplift Mighty Primary in Fort Worth, has a heart for serving her community. She led a canned food drive for the community food bank and a pajama drive that collected fifty pairs of pajamas to donate to a children’s home; and

WHEREAS Kayla McFail, a senior at Harmony Science Academy in Carrollton, founded the Dictation for Depression Chapter, a safe space to help students who are impacted by depression, and she co-founded the Help for Humanity Organization, to raise awareness about exploitation matters that affect people of color; and

WHEREAS Skyla Ramsay, a senior at Canyon High School in Canyon ISD, is an ambassador of the Student Crime Stopper program. She received the 2021 Crime Stoppers Student Board Member of the Year award and introduced her classmates to the Safe2save app with the goal of preventing crime from occurring at her school; and

WHEREAS these amazing students have modeled caring and compassion in their communities; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the State Board of Education extends its heartfelt thanks to each of these kindhearted students and commends them for their unselfish volunteerism, good character, and integrity; and be it further

RESOLVED, that this resolution be presented to each of them and that a copy be included in the permanent records of the State Board of Education.

WITNESS our signatures this seventeenth day of June, two thousand and twenty-two, in Austin, Texas.

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Keven Ellis, Chair       

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Georgina Pérez, Secretary