GCA Celebrates Over 250 Student and Staff Awards
Gilbert Classical Academy held their annual Awards Ceremony on April 22nd - celebrating the achievements and dedication of over 250 students, staff, and volunteers.
Members of the GCA community were recognized for their academic success, athletics achievements, commitment to leadership, and dedication to volunteerism.
During the ceremony, 16 award categories were presented:
- Department Awards - The selection of these awards involves careful consideration by the various GCA Departments. They thoughtfully discuss the students who have truly shone this year, leading to a comprehensive list of worthy individuals.
- .Volunteer of the Year - Each year, GCA staff collectively nominates and selects one individual whose generosity and selfless commitment have stood out.
- Spartan Athlete Award - Presented to a junior high and high school student-athlete who exemplifies academic and athletic excellence throughout the school year and consistently displays The GCA Way.
- Principal Leadership Awards - This prestigious award is presented to students with outstanding leadership qualities and academic performance throughout the school year.
- Virtue Awards
- Socrates Award - Inspired by Socrates' belief in self-discovery and the power of acknowledging what we don't know, the Socrates Award honors an educator who fosters a similar spirit of inquiry in their classroom and on campus.
- Spartan Appreciation Award - Recognizes a support staff member who consistently goes above and beyond for our GCA community.
- Spartan of the Year - Awarded to a student nominated by GCA teachers and staff for their dedication to others and how they disadvantage themselves to advantage the community.
- Senate Leaders
- National Merit Scholars - Awarded to students who scored in the top 1% of all students nationwide on the PSAT, SAT, and National merit Qualifying Test.
- 2025 Valedictorians - Awarded to students who have exemplified academic excellence throughout their high school journey and have earned a perfect record of all A's.
- GCA Hall of Heroes - Awarded to the Legion to earn the most points throughout the school year.
- Legion Awards - Given to the legion member who has shown leadership, compassion, and engagement in the legion, includes everyone, and models what it is to be a Spartan.
- Golden Scholars - These students have earned an outstanding unweighted GPA of 3.8 or higher.
- The 100, 150, and 200 Club - Awarded to students with outstanding academic growth who have achieved substantial increases in their PSAT scores since the previous year.
- Swim and Dive Championship Ring ceremony
Over 250 GCA students, staff, and community members were celebrated during the ceremony.
Department Awards
Junior High and High School
Physical Education - Taylor Wheeler
Spanish - Javen Chen
Art - Rati Tabatadze
Theater - Kendalyn Atencio
High School
Social Studies - Jackson Peterson
Science - Conner Daneshkhah
Mathematics - Mackenzie Adcock
English - Makenzie Adcock
Latin - Caitlyn Dees
Music - Colin Ray
Junior High
Social Studies - Grace Carvalho
Science - Tia Pifer
Mathematics - Munachiso Okoli
English - Vaishnavi Shah
Latin - Sanjesna Jesu Nazarene Sangeetha
Music - Lydia Knight
Spartan Athlete Award
Junior High
Girls - Munachiso Okoli
Boys - Connor Bondi
High School
Girls - Marie Felicia Cristobal
Boys - Sotris Katsanos
Senate Leaders
Junior High Tribune Winners: Nick Mineccia and Aden Wakefield
High School Junior Counsel: Freya Bajaj
High School Senior Counsel: Mary Maguire
Virtues Award
- Brandon Kooner
- James Klauba
- Hobey Hartman
- Munachiso Okoli
- Mila Steege
- Aiden Wakefield
- Aaron Andrade
- Korbin Appell
- Jasmine El Masri
- Ella Mbuya
- Sasha Penunuri
- Rati Tabatadze
- Dahna Tao
- Ayden Thielsen
Socrates Award
Roslyn Knight
Spartan Appreciation Award
Samantha Levy
Spartan of the Year
Conner Daneshkhah
National Merit Scholars
Conner Daneshkhah
GCA Hall of Heroes
Brough’ Brufhalos
Volunteer of the Year
Toni Maguire
Principal Leadership Awards
Thorsten Anderson & Noelle Strait-Constandse
Valedictorians
- Bhavani Arvind
- Caitlin Chua
- Conner Daneshkhah
- Zoey Emmert
- Aidan Feirstein
- Pranav Kodali
- Jackson Peterson
- Rati Tabatadze
- Elaine Tang
- Alexander Tangpan
- Merissa Wongso
- Farhan Islam
- Wenrui Xu
- Jennifer Chen
Legion Awards
- Ameziane - Apocalyptic Alpachemists - Jada Espinoza
- Brough - Blazing Broughalos - George Valencia
- Bloxham - Bloxam’s Blackwidows - Thorsten Anderson
- Cheer - Cheer’s Cheerleaders - Arshiya Mohamed
- Culley - Culley’s Cobras - Komalpreet Chadha
- Delecki - Delecki's Demigods - Jose Fuentes
- Dodder - Dodder's Dragons - Emily Dong
- Gary - Gary’s Griffins - Tahani Kozerski
- Gibson - Gibson’s Gladiators - Aleena Thomas
- Glenn - Glenn’s Gorilla’s - Ryan Roco
- Hill - Hill’s Hammerheads - John Gailey
- Johnson - Johnson’s Juggernauts - Annie Huynh
- Joslin - Joslin’s Justice League - Rory Lendzion
- Maas - Mickey Maas’ Massive, Medieval, Magical Mafia - Ashleigh Voiles
- Pettit - Pettit’s Punishers - Kaylee Bushor
- Roso - Roso’s Roosters - Maria/Jennifer/Elise
- Russell - Russell’s Rats - Jackson Peterson
- Ryan - Ryan’s Reynolds - Hannah Han
- Scatena - Scatena's Savages - Stephanie Hein
- Tidwell - Tidwell’s Teletubbies - Ayan Bhatia
- Tantalo - Tantalo’s Tortugas - Michelle Owsley
- Sprinkle - Sprinklles Sprinkles - Paul Cristobal
- Wall - Wall’s Wildcats - Sophia Wong
- Watson - Watson Wizards - Amanda Tran
The 100, 150, and 200 Club
- Hammer, Corianna N.
- Usrey, Olivia K.
- Pokharel, Jessica
- Cork, Ethan
- Njuguna, Christine M.
- Wu, Wangzhaoqi
- Arendt, Kiley M.
- Parmar, Shivang
- Nguyen, Madeleine Phuong-Anh T.
- Vu, John T.
- Marshall, Ian C.
- Baker, Nicholas J.
- Dhillon, Manraj S.
- Saavedra Garcia, Diego
- Kamau, Jamille Ethan
- Alarcon Contreras, Aolani
- Yu, Bella J.
- Bloxham, Samuel A.
- Brignone, Gianno
- Gata, Mira G.
- Mlunjwana, Luyanda R.
- Tang, Iris Y.
- Muruvanda, Natalia M.
- Baleme, Charles A.
- Slay, Brenden O.
- Jeraige, Elio
- Anderson, Oliver J.
- Huq, Areeb A.
- Uribe, Carlos S.
- Jones, Kyle M.
- John, Joshua
- Bhatia, Esha
- Aslam, Armaan
- Maarouf, Sammy I.
- Wendell, Illiana F.
- Cristobal, Paul-Matteo D.
- Phan, Jason P.
- Swenson, Bryleigh S.
- Walker, Kaleb A.
- Carlson, Blake E.
- Tomco, Ryker K.
- Plumb, Zachary J.
- Starling, Olivia C.
- Higgins, Bryson V.
- Kephart, Sophie G.
- Sham, Yat Hei
- Gurr, Enoch S.
- Bhatia, Aryan D.
- Cruz, Ethan R.
- Abdulwahab, Ziad A.
- Sotoa, Malosi K.
- Stuart, Kirsten Leanne F.
- Trejo, Sophia M.
- Adcock, Madison R.
- Patel, Bhaarvi A.
- Salloum, Kiyan S.
- Salian, Nikhil S.
- Chow, Maxwell V.
- Sienkiewicz, Scarlett R.
- Tran, Anh
- Gomez, Kaylee C.
- Wallen, Ava E.
- Dahman, Chase A.
- Garland, Nevin S.
- Thomasson, Casey
- Wahl, Carter O.
- Chavez Kocsis, Devin C.
- Bajaj, Freya
- Skiera, Rayna E.
- Emmert, Alexis L.
- Chen, Javen
- Rice, Nicholas J.
- Torrey, Zoeanna
- Lakhanpal, Aarav
- Irizarry, James D.
- Ferguson, Lincoln
- Merkuri, Elizabeth
- Guymon, Aspen J.
- Wheeler, Taylor S.
- Andrade, Aaron S.
- Johnson, Nash R.
- Cole, Duncan M.
- Kelto, Audrey M.
- Hernandez, Isabella M.
- Ha, Thu A.
- Thomas, D'Angelo S.
- Tzeng, Evan S.
- Barlics, Glen D.
- Wong, Sabrina P.
- Penunuri, Sasha I.
- Trimmer, Devlin M.
- Prasad, Shreya
- Hanson, Teresa A.
- Okoli, Chigozie D.
Golden Scholars
- Reese Bense
- Mae Carmichael
- Janelle Chang
- Brock Dillard
- Damien Gonzalez
- Simon Kinnaird
- Myla Ledbetter
- Hailey Long
- Avril Ni
- Aashi Parikh
- Laxmi Patel
- Ilina Salian
- Sharon Schuessler
- Arnav Shah
- Vaishnavi Shah
- Arshaq Shaik
- Mila Steege
- Aubrie Stratton
- Kaylee Thielsen
- Keilani Torbert
- Thorsten Anderson
- Sushank Aragam
- Alicia Azbill
- Mia Bhatia
- Chase Carlson
- Vincent Czajka
- Mackenzie Feirstein
- Ava Gonzalez
- Mason Hammer
- An Huynh
- Shadman Islam
- Sanjesna Jesu Nazarene Sangeetha
- Makenna Johnson
- Sophia Knight
- Munachiso Okoli
- Noelle Parker
- Tia Pifer
- Yiyang Sun
- Dahna Tao
- Everett Ulrickson
- Skylar Victorino
- Ethan Waldo
- Sophia Westcott
- Carina Xue
- Allison Yates
- Nora Alarie
- Aaron Andrade
- Tanaaz Arefeen
- Abigail Baker
- Vincenzo Bernasconi
- Aaron Chan
- Sai Satwik Chekka
- Sabrina Chung
- Catherine Dinh
- Jordan Garding
- Aspen Guymon
- Thu Ha
- Sophia Hajiha
- Hobey Hartman
- Ennis Ingram
- Nash Johnson
- Andrew Lawson
- Lucas Liu
- Madelyn Martinez
- Ella Mbuya
- Talia Mbuya
- Elizabeth Merkuri
- Nikolai Oskowis
- Sainy Patel
- Sasha Penunuri
- Nathan Pudenz
- Zoe Reyes
- Madison Riley
- Anjolie Sell
- Mason Smith
- Owen Stuckey
- Ayden Thielsen
- D'Angelo Thomas
- Zoeanna Torrey
- Evan Tzeng
- Caroline Udall
- Asha Weiden
- Taylor Wheeler
- Oliver White
- Kyla Wilton
- Sabrina Wong
- Steve Wongso
- Madison Adcock
- Freya Bajaj
- Aryan Bhatia
- Carter Carmichael
- Parker Chavez
- Javen Chen
- Maxwell Chow
- Allegra de Bruin
- Caitlyn Dees
- Prisha Dhiman
- Jayden Dong
- Alexis Emmert
- Kennedy Emmert
- Paul Gailey
- Nevin Garland
- Amaya Garrard
- Anghelo Ivan Gata
- Gabriella Hanna
- Zadok Hutchins
- Joseph Irizarry
- Dallin Johnson
- Sophie Kephart
- Emma Kusz
- Nathaniel Leach
- Caden McCraw
- Lennon Mikan
- William Milla
- Zaydan Mirza
- Bhaarvi Patel
- Hector Ramos
- Mackenzie Redford
- Aveline Scilley
- Yat Hei Sham
- Mayank Sharma
- Juan Franco Sinoc
- Hanna Skiera
- Rayna Skiera
- Olivia Starling
- Kairos Torsina
- Anh Tran
- Michael Wang
- Ethan Wilke
- Makayla Wolfgang
- Jayden Yates
- Nathan Yu
- Kiley Arendt
- Esha Bhatia
- Samuel Bloxham
- Gianno Brignone
- Silvia Carminati
- Ethan Cork
- Paul-Matteo Cristobal
- Carolina De Moura Baptista
- Jotham Demellow
- Manraj Dhillon
- Ava Fay
- Mira Gata
- Meher Jammi
- Joshua John
- Kyle Jones
- Jamille Ethan Kamau
- Zawadi Kariuki
- Aubrey Kloepping
- Mary Maguire
- Declan Meyers
- Luyanda Mlunjwana
- Paul Mueller
- Madeleine Phuong-Anh Nguyen
- Christine Njuguna
- Bakari Nzou
- Shivang Parmar
- Ilse Penunuri
- Ethan Peterson
- Jason Phan
- Jessica Pokharel
- Gracelyn Provost
- Iris Tang
- Bao Gia Han Tran
- Shiloh Ulrickson
- Olivia Usrey
- George Valencia
- Sarena Venti
- John Vu
- Illiana Wendell
- Sophia Wong
- Melanie Wu
- Wangzhaoqi Wu
- Max Xue
- Bella Yu
- Anthony Zhu
- Makenzie Adcock
- Irfan Alam
- Bhavani Arvind
- Kendalyn Atencio
- Ayan Bhatia
- Angelina Bui
- Angeline Bui
- Jennifer Chen
- Caitlin Chua
- Maria-Felicia Cristobal
- Conner Daneshkhah
- Adam Dennis
- Emily Dong
- Zoey Emmert
- Aidan Feirstein
- Emmalie Gibson
- Aiden Hall
- Hannah Han
- Stephanie Hein
- Cindy Huynh
- Ayan Islam
- Farhan Islam
- Kiara Johnson
- Alexandra Katsanos
- Pranav Kodali
- Brandon Kooner
- Analise Kresge
- Terry Li
- Joseph Medina
- Aidan Meyers
- Arshiya Mohamed
- Alicia Nguyen
- Phil Ni
- Gokce Ozturk
- Dharma Patel
- Jackson Peterson
- Neah Pyon
- Devan Schroeder
- Noelle Strait Constandse
- Rati Tabatadze
- Elaine Tang
- Alexander Tangpan
- Ashleigh Voiles
- Merissa Wongso
- Wenrui Xu