BCC Student Citizen Award
The Brentwood Student Citizen Award is given every year to deserving Brentwood youth under the age of 18 years who have demonstrated initiative, leadership, innovation, and dedication toward improving the lives of others. These students have made amazing contributions not only to the Brentwood Community but also to the City of Los Angeles and in many cases, communities around the world as well.
Nominations are made by school administration in consultation with school faculty members and counselors. Certificates of merit are presented to the students at an award ceremony during a BCC meeting and include the presentation of certificates from Council District 11, the Mayor, the County Supervisor for our District, our District’s Assemblymember and State Senator, and our Federal Representative, as well as a medal from the BCC.
Eligible students are not required to live in Brentwood but must attend one of the schools either located in or that serve the Brentwood community. Current awards are given to high school students from Palisades Charter High School, University High School, Brentwood School and The Archer School for Girls. Past awards were given to middle school students as well from Paul Revere and St. Martin of Tours. These students are a true inspiration to our community.
This Award was introduced by Loretta Ditlow, former BCC Board Member, in 2002.
2024
Remi Cannon - Archer School for Girls
Kaitlin Morgan - Palisades Charter High School
Enkhsaruul Sandagsuren - University High School Charter
2023
Delara Tehranchi- Archer School for Girls
Maverick Au - Brentwood School
Peter Garff - Palisades Charter High School
Janessa Nicolas - University High School
2022
Laura Robson -Archer School for Girls
Alana Kamins --Brentwood School
2021, 2020
*No awards given due to COVID-19
2019
Itzel Hernandez – Palisades Charter High School
Talia Ginsberg – Brentwood School
Hannah Kim – Archer School for Girls
Daniel Pineda – University High School
2018
Wyatt Sarkisian – Brentwood School
Wendy Cano – Palisades Charter High School
Siena Mills – Archer School for Girls
Litzy Bautista – University High School
2017
Steven Pineda- University High School
Lilith Ferreira- Palisades Charter High School
Maya Wernick- Archer School for Girls
Caitlin Cohen- Brentwood School
2016
Nancy Gomez- University High School
Uma Halsted- Archer School for Girls
Jared Rubin- Brentwood School
Casey Longstreet- Pacific Palisades Charter School
2015
Hyejin Hong- University High School
Mari Goldberg- Archer School for Girls
Joshua Wagner- Brentwood School
Amir Ebtehadj- Pacific Palisades Charter School
2014
Vivian Annie Loy- Pacific Palisades Charter High School
Paris Korman- Brentwood School
Dana Wood- Archer School
Lester Gopar- University High School
2013
Willa Grace Giffin- Palisades Charter High School
Isabelle Brai- Brentwood School
Raymond Arevalo- University High School
Donna Kharrazi- Paul Revere Charter Middle School
Lulu Cerone- Archer School for Girls
2012
Annie Krepack- Archer School for Girls
Natalie Cardenas- Brentwood School
Dora Seggelke- Paul Revere Middle School
Girls Scout Troop #10645- St. Martins of Tours School
Jose Ernest Lopez- University High School
2011
Alana Snyder and Ike Adler- Brentwood School
Jack Ginsberg- Paul Revere Middle School
Yasmine Elsouri and Maria Silka- Palisades Charter High School
2010
St Martin of Tours Junior High School
Briana Monkarsh- Brentwood School
Simon Brooks- Brentwood School
Jennifer Hourani- Archer School
Ariana Fisher, Peter Atkinson, Connor McGillivray – Pacific Palisades Charter High School
2009
Callie Kloves- Brentwood School
Dayna April- Brentwood School
Madeline Fraser- Archer School for Girls
Graham McGillivray- Palisades High School
2008
Catherine Haber- St. Martins of Tours School
Juliana Klein- Archer School for Girls
Mason Moss- Brentwood School
Rebecca Epstein- Palisades Charter School
2007
Adit Gadh- St. Martins of Tour School
Natalie Babcock- Archer School for Girls
2006
Marisa Guterman- Archer School for Girls
8th Grade- St Martins of Tour School
Samantha Rosenbaum- Paul Revere Middle School
Sabrina Giglio- Paul Revere Middle School
2005
Samantha Chaikin- Archer School for Girls
2004
6th Grade Class- Brentwood School
Hillary Newman – Archer School for Girls
Evan Krenzien- Brentwood School
2002
Lauren Bergman- Brentwood School
Dominic Cerio- Berkeley Hall
Chloe Brooks- Archer School
BCC Shining Star Award
The BCC “Shining Star” Award is given to a person who has performed an outstanding act of kindness, a heroic act, extraordinary achievement in the arts, education or other roles deserving of commendation.
It may be given at any BCC meeting by the Chair in appreciation from the entire BCC Board and the greater community. Their name may be submitted to the Chair by anyone on the BCC Board or in the Community.
This Award may be given when appropriate. There is no limit as to the number of people awarded in a given year.
January 2023 - Brentwood resident Simone Joseph started “BrentwoodMeet”, a social group organizing a variety of events at our local Barrington Recreation Center, helping bring the Rec Center back to life and engaging residents in activities and events ranging from Pickleball to conversational French to trivia tournaments.
February 2022 – Toscana Restaurant – the owners of Toscana led a fundraiser, selling gift cards to their restaurant at a discount, and donating all funds raised to relief efforts for Ukraine.
January 2022 – Village For Vets – Village For Vets, a local non-profit founded by Brentwood resident Marci Polier Swartz, led the way in raising funds and obtaining “tiny homes” for the West LA VA homeless Vet program, allowing the homeless Vets living outside the VA property to come in and find shelter.
October 2021 - Yahir Gonzalez – Mr. Gonzalez, while visiting a Brentwood area building, heard some calling for help. He located an older gentleman on the ground, who was suffering a serious medical episode. Mr. Gonzalez quickly called 911 on this person’s behalf and stayed with this gentleman to see that help arrived. Mr. Gonzalez further made use of social media to track down this gentleman’s relatives to ensure that family members were able to be united with their sick relative and provide family support.
Previous Honorees:
Lauren Winnick and Nicole Hemmat – These two members of our community recognized a woman who was listed as missing and whose family was searching for her. She had wandered away from a family gathering and suffered from memory issues. They were able to reunite the missing woman with her family and get her the help she needed.
Anonymous – The Brentwood Community Council honored a gentleman who made a citizen’s arrest of an arsonist who was attempting to start a fire off the 405 freeway in the Brentwood area, averting what could have been a serious situation. The gentleman preferred to remain anonymous, but our community’s gratitude was still made known.
Sharon Grossman – Ms. Grossman has been a steadfast leader in documenting the local troubles within the community that need attention, from unlawful dumping near the Brentwood Science Magnet School to calling attention to homeless individuals in need of services.…
Ronnie Krokdal – Ms. Krokdal has been rescuing dogs from the most difficult of situations and matching them with foster and permanent owners.