Lancers in the NEWS
Seniors Named 2021 YoungArts Finalists Seniors Kelly Lu ’21 and Arya Pratap ’21 are among 150 students selected from 8,000 applications nationwide for the prestigious National YoungArts Foundation annual visual, literary and performing arts competition. Kelly’s Design Arts honor recognizes her graphic design talent, a self-taught artistic skill. “Design is engineering and storytelling, requiring empathy with and awareness of the end user, whether that user is an established firm asking for a rebrand or a child interacting with your app,” she says. Arya’s World Dance honor is in Indian Classical Dance or Bharatanatyam, a 2,000-yearold divine art form she’s performed since age 4. She uses dance and her current virtual performances to tell stories and to foster change on issues including domestic abuse, social-economic inequality and global warming. “Hearing people say that my dance empowers them to share their own narratives of injustice fills me with an unmatched sense of purpose and confidence to continue experimenting with my art,” she says.
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Riley Simonsen ’22
Kaushik Tota ’21
2020 Los Altan of the Year
Youth Game Changer Award
Junior Riley Simonsen was named Los Altan of the Year by the Los Altos Town Crier for her impressive community service. As a result of the newspaper article, Riley also was recognized by U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo. In 2020, Riley joined Los Altos’s Teen Advisory Council, part of the Community Health Awareness Council, and co-created the council’s new buddy program matching teen mentors with elementary school students. Riley also serves on the teen advisory group for Lyftly, a Los Gatos-based company that administers mental health and emotional support through an app. She volunteers with San Jose’s Hope Services to assist people with developmental disabilities and mental health needs, and is a teen docent at the Los Altos History Museum. At Saint Francis, Riley is involved with the Family Club, Student Council and California Scholarship Federation. An avid soccer player, she hopes to study nursing.
In December 2020 at the inaugural, virtual Clean Energy Hall of Fame ceremony, the California Energy Commission honored Kaushik Tota ’21 as the Youth Game Changer Award Winner. In 2018, he founded the Climate Youth Ambassador Program (climateyouthambassadors.org) to collaborate and lead Bay Area teens in solving the climate crisis. During the pandemic, Kaushik’s nonprofit held 11 virtual events, reaching 700-plus students at elementary and middle schools. The nonprofit won the 2020 Our Planet, Our Purpose: STEM for Changemaking Challenge by Ashoka national award recognizing organizations using STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to promote sustainability in their community. “I believe that awareness is fundamental in spurring on widespread adoption and advocacy for progressive climate policies at a local, nationwide and global scale,” says Kaushik, who is a member of the Science Bowl, Quiz Bowl, Science Olympiad and robotics teams.
PROGRESS Spring 2021
