What’s New

It’s a five-way tie! For the first time in our 30-year history, The Sequoia Awards awarded five students its prestigious Outstanding Student Award.  The award carries a scholarship of $16,000 per student.

The 2021 Outstanding Student Award winners are:

• Ashley Barraza-Cazares, Sequoia High School (sponsored by Nintendo of America)
• Janet Lara Alvarez, Sequoia High School (sponsored by the Pete & Paula Uccelli Foundation and the Welch-Everett Family Trust)
• Nataly Manzanero, Sequoia High School (sponsored by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)
• Rohan Patel, Carlmont High School (sponsored by the Danford Fisher Hannig Foundation)
• Itzel Ramos, Everest Public High School (sponsored by the San Mateo Credit Union and Oracle USA, Inc.)

We also chose community volunteer and Redwood City Planning Commissioner Nancy Radcliffe as the Outstanding Individual for 2021.

“This was an unusual year to say the least,” said Sequoia Awards Board Chair Ellen Haas. “These students managed to find a way to make a significant positive impact on our community through volunteerism during a pandemic when the need for their service was never more critical, and the challenges of volunteering were never greater. These five students stepped up in a way that was truly extraordinary, and we simply could not recognize only one of them as our outstanding student of the year.”

A total of $214,000 was awarded to 24 students. The amounts ranged from $6,000 to $16,000.  In addition to the five Outstanding Student Award winners, our 2021 scholarship winners are:

Hudson Acreman
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by the Redwood City Firefighters Association & the Redwood City Police Officers’ Association

Emilio Barajas-Navarrete
Everest Public High School

Sponsored by Hannig Law LLP

Asher Becker
Summit Preparatory High School

Sponsored by W.L. Butler

Simone Beilin
Carlmont High School

Sponsored by Merrill Lynch: A Bank of America Company & Stanford University

Noah Camerino
Carlmont High School

Sponsored by Greystar

Alejandra Cortez
Woodside High School

Sponsored by The Sobrato Organization

Alexa Gomez
Sacred Heart Preparatory

Sponsored by Sares Regis Group

Vanessa Gonzales
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by the Crittenden Family

Sonia Herrera Barriga
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by Black Mountain Properties, LLC

Kobe Ly
Woodside High School

Sponsored by Richard & Judith Imperiale (in memory of Jill Imperiale)

Gabrielle Melamed
Woodside High School

Sponsored by Lyngso Garden Materials & Recology of San Mateo County

Kimberly Miranda
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by Dostart Development

Chad Morrison
Junipero Serra High School

Sponsored by San Mateo County Sheriff’s Activities League (in memory of Pete Liebengood)

Mia Palacios
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by Facebook

Stephanie Robles Angel
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by Sequoia Hospital Dignity Health & the Franceschini Family

Melanie Sarmiento
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by DPR Construction & Kaiser Permanente

Sharon Song
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by Heritage Bank of Commerce & Windy Hill Property Ventures

Bianca Vail
Sequoia High School

Sponsored by BKF Engineers

Oscar Villa Cornejo

Sequoia High School

Alice W. Coghlan R.N. Scholarship
Sponsored by  Frank and Liza Bizzarro & Steve and Diane Howard

Thanks to our sponsors and the many volunteers who make The Sequoia Awards possible!