Alachua County school district officials, parents and students turned out Wednesday to celebrate 24 elementary students who earned 2023-24 Citizen of the Year honors.
The ceremony took place at Alachua County Library District (ACLD) headquarters downtown and featured remarks from Shaney Livingston, the ACLD director, Shane Andrew, superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS), and Lee Pinkoson, chair of the Children’s Trust of Alachua County (CTAC).
Dr. Sarah Rockwell, a school board member, delivered keynote remarks focused on themes from the television show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, including helpfulness, kindness and responsibility.
“In this room we have truly great citizens,” she said. “Thank you so much for being our heroes.”
The Citizen of the Month is a long-running program organized by ACPS and the Kiwanis Club of Gainesville. Other sponsors include CTAC and Mainstreet Daily News.
The monthly awards, chosen by teachers and students, are based upon scholastic standing, attitude, conduct, contribution to the community and extracurricular activities. At the end of the school year, each school picks a Citizen of the Year.
Each winner received a bag of prizes provided by local sponsors.
The 2023-24 Citizens of the Year are as follows:
Alachua Elementary—Makenzie Simmons
Archer Elementary—Marshall Rodriguez
Chiles Elementary—Alexa Stern
Foster Elementary—Shreeya Narasimhan
Glen Springs Elementary—Mark Hickman Jr.
Hidden Oak Elementary—Finley Powell
High Springs Community School—Brooklyn Ashraf
Idylwild Elementary—Hadeel Dagher
Irby Elementary—Avery Graham
Lake Forest Elementary—Olympia Bryant
Littlewood Elementary—Brayden Russell
Meadowbrook Elementary—Wanying Yu
Metcalfe Elementary—Zion Hamilton
Micanopy Area Cooperative School—Hailynn Morris
Newberry Elementary—Carter Foland
Norton Elementary—Mya Mayes
Parker Elementary—Lucy Thompson
Rawlings Elementary—Anna Teekpeh
Shell Elementary—Aria Williams
Sidney Lanier Center—Milenys Sanchez
Talbot Elementary—Leandro Perez
Terwilliger Elementary—Payton Cheatham
Wiles Elementary—Alex Chang
Williams Elementary—Bryan Davis
About 100 people attended Wednesday’s ceremony.