Students honored for character

For the past few years the Newport-Mesa school district has been looking to honor students who stand out in areas beyond the classroom or the sports field.

To this end, Supt. Fred Navarro has worked with teachers, counselors and administrators since 2013 to choose six students to receive the Superintendent Character Trait Awards based on their contributions to the school, involvement in the community, interaction with their peers and preservation of high moral standards.

The students are recognized for one of six traits derived by the Six Pillars of Character, a concept created by the Josephson Institute, a nonprofit that supports ethics in all areas of life.

Navarro paid a visit to Costa Mesa, Early College, Back Bay, Estancia and Corona Del Mar high schools on Monday and Newport Harbor high on Thursday to personally deliver the news. The students will also have a banner designed for them that will display a portrait of them along with their honored trait.

This year, Back Bay student Jacob Switzer was awarded for trustworthiness, Costa Mesa student Anuare Magana was awarded for respect, Newport Harbor student Jose Avonce was awarded for responsibility, Corona del Mar student Paige Hardy was awarded for fairness, Estancia student Morgan Miller was awarded for caring, and Early College student Celia Quijivix was awarded for citizenship.

The 5-foot long banners will drape the lobby walls at the district offices all year.

“We are always looking for ways to recognize students, so we decided to do that with these banners and have them updated every year,” Navarro said. “They’re a symbol of the great kids we have in the district.”

The district opened nominations for the awards about a month ago and teachers, counselors and administrators wrote letters about the students who they believe best exemplify the six pillars.

Each school nominated six students, one for each character. Navarro and his associated then selected one student from the six schools.

During this week’s visits, Navarro invited the students to the district’s board meeting on June 9 at the district center. Their banners will be hung and they will be recognized at the meeting.

The district also extended board meeting invitations to the six students who were awarded last year in hopes they will attend to receive their banners that hung this past year.