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Dos Pueblos High School senior Isabella “Bella” Darke was tapped as 2014 Goleta Teen of the Year by the Rotary Club of Goleta Noontime on Sunday night.
For nearly 20 years, the community service award has recognized male and female teens for their contributions to the Goleta community. Candidates must be seniors at Bishop Diego, Dos Pueblos, Laguna Blanca or San Marcos high schools (or an accredited home school) and live in the ZIP code areas of 93110, 93111, 93117 or 93118.
Darke, 17, is a co-founder of Teens for Mary’s Meals, a global effort to alleviate child hunger, and is president of the Dos Pueblos High Dream Team, which assists the Dream Foundation.
She runs cross country for the Chargers and is active in National Charity League and the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy.
At the Goleta’s Finest awards dinner last month, Darke was named Student of the Year. The daughter of Debbie and Andrew Darke, she plans to become a biomedical engineer.
Runner-up was Ami Thakrar, 17, a senior at the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, captain of the Dos Pueblos Mock Trial Team and a co-founder of the school’s Writing Center. She is the daughter of Palana and Utpal Thakrar.
The four other finalists were Kimberly Almcrantz, Emma Crusinberry and Sean Strong from Dos Pueblos, and Kayla Simons from San Marcos.
Noozhawk founder and publisher Bill Macfadyen, Santa Barbara Airbus president Eric Onnen and “Mr. Santa Barbara” Larry Crandell shared the podium in making the Goleta Teen of the Year presentations at the Frog Bar & Grill at Glen Annie Golf Club.
Scholarship funds were awarded to the Goleta Teen of the Year and finalists in the program, and a donation is given in each student’s name to nonprofit organizations they selected. Scholarships are provided by the Rotary Club of Goleta Noontime through fundraising efforts from the annual Fourth of July Fireworks Festival at Girsh Park, raffle ticket sales by the candidates and proceeds from the California Lemon Festival, and from donations from the business community.
The Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce provides an annual scholarship to the winner, and Deckers Outdoor Corp. this year donated $5,000 to the finalists in the form of scholarships.
Additional sponsors included Goleta Jewelers, the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce and Luxury Limousine.
From nearly 30 entries, the award judges narrowed the field to the six finalists. Goleta Teen of the Year committee members included Onnen, chairwoman Connie Burns, Bill Banning, Michael Bennett and club president Clara van Meeuwen.
Event committee members included Banning, Burns, van Meeuwen, Sunanda Bhargava, Justin Engelbach, Michael Gartzke, David Gore, Steve Jones, Christine LeBon, Tara Yeto Lietzow, Pat McFarland, Karin Napel and Scott Phillips.
Outgoing 2013 Goleta Teen of the Year Madeline “Maddy” Matthys was also recognized for her year of service by Bennett, on behalf of the City of Goleta, and Second District Supervisor Janet Wolf, on behalf of Santa Barbara County, as well as representatives for Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara; state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara; and Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara.
Because Matthys is currently a freshman at Duke University in Durham, N.C., her older sister, Orianne, graciously accepted the accolades and recognition in her absence.
Other dignitaries in attendance were Banning, superintendent of the Goleta Union School District; Santa Barbara Unified School District assistant superintendent Ben Drati; and new Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte.
Rotary Club of Goleta Noontime is one of 34,000 Rotary clubs worldwide with more than 1.2 million member Rotarians. Click here for more information.
— Noozhawk contributing writer Rochelle Rose can be reached at rrose@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkSociety, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.
