Local teens raise almost $4,000 to fight gender inequalities
Local teenagers helped raise awareness of gender inequalities and women in need through their student-led nonprofit, Girls Impact for Tomorrow (GIFT).
Led by CEO and Sage Hill High School student Amy Qin, the organization recently hosted a small-business pop-up fair in Irvine and raised $3,807. Thirty small businesses, including 10 student businesses, participated in the event and donated a portion of the revenue.
The money benefits Radiant Futures and its new residential project to house 20 families escaping domestic abuse and human trafficking.
Orange County student wins Battelle Climate Challenge with innovative proposal
Westminster resident Ashley Nguyen recently won the inaugural Battelle Climate Challenge with her proposal, “Seed Bomb.” The cost-effective, sustainable, seed-based restoration method is designed to increase the germination of eelgrasses to fight erosion along the California coast.
Nguyen also earned a $5,000 STEM grant to be split between the Westminster High School Environmental Club and the Westminster High School Mathematics Educated Resources Integrated Technology Science (MERITS) program.
“We are thrilled to recognize Ashley for her innovative thinking and dedication to solving one of the world’s toughest challenges,” said Wes Hall, vice president of philanthropy and education at Battelle. “We are proud to support students such as Ashley who are committed to leveraging STEM skills to better their local communities.”
The Battelle Climate Challenge encouraged and recognized high school students for sharing ideas for mitigating the effects of human-made climate change. For the challenge, students researched past and future impacts of climate-related hazards in their communities and developed proposed actions to help build more resilient communities.
Nguyen’s detailed proposal and proposals from other challenge finalists and semifinalists are posted at futureengineers.org/battelleclimatechallenge.
Battelle partnered with Future Engineers to launch the challenge as part of the company’s commitment to expanding quality STEM educational opportunities for all students and to developing climate solutions.
To hear about future STEM opportunities from Battelle, visit battelle.org/stem-education.
– Submitted by Battelle
9 Orange County Teens Selected for Carnegie Hall’s acclaimed national youth ensembles
Nine musicians from Orange County were selected as some of the brightest young musicians from across the U.S. for the 2023 rosters of NYO-USA and NYO2 – two of Carnegie Hall’s national youth ensembles.
Their hard work has paid off, and for this 10th anniversary summer, they were invited to train with world-class musicians and perform at Carnegie Hall and on tour. Both ensembles undertake an intensive training residency at Purchase College, SUNY, just outside New York City.
This summer, NYO-USA embarked on a seven-city North American tour, ending in San Diego on July 28. Acclaimed conductor Sir Andrew Davis leads the orchestra. NYO-USA’s tour repertoire includes a new work written for the ensemble by Valerie Coleman, commissioned by Carnegie Hall; Berlioz’s “Symphonie fantastique”; and Barber’s and Tchaikovsky’s violin concertos.
Here is the list of the Orange County musicians:
NYO-USA
Minjae Jaden Kim, Violin (Irvine)
Rubi Lee, Violin (Irvine)
Jiin Yun, Cello (Irvine)
Daniel De La Cruz, Viola (Laguna Niguel)
NYO2
Natalie Kwok, Cello (Fullerton)
Jiyu Lee, Violin (Fullerton)
Kara Wong, Viola (Tustin)
Josephine Velez, Cello (Yorba Linda)
Paul Gong, Bass (Irvine)
– Submitted by Carnegie Hall
The Bravo! section highlights achievements of our residents and groups. Send news of achievements for consideration to ocrbravo@gmail.com.
