Three local high schools nominated almost 80 of their most promising students for the annual Optimist Youth of Excellence Awards. The winners, best of the best across six categories, each received an engraved plaque presented by retired U.S. Rep. Tom M. Davis, III, at an evening presentation on March 18 at Madison High School.

"They’re all winners," host and awards committee member, Al Dunkerley of Applied Resources, told the assembly. "When you read through the nominations, you see that all the kids were impressive. How do you separate them? It wasn’t easy."

High schools George C. Marshall, James Madison and Oakton submitted nominations on behalf of their students, and the nominated students supported the submissions within the six categories with their academic records and resumes. Marshall garnered four of the six awards, profiting from its renowned IB program.

The resumes of the winners read like a Who’s Who of young achievers, excelling in areas from advanced sciences to Web design and strengths in between.

The Optimist Club of Great Vienna has awarded the Youth of Excellence awards to local students for more than 20 years.

"We’re all given a talent, an instinct," Davis said. "At the end of the day, we’re all good at something."



WINNERS were Arian Khorshid, Marshall HS, Academic award; Kenzie Bainbridge, Marshall HS, Citizenship award; Ryan McNamee, Oakton HS, Fine Arts award; Catherine Wang, Madison HS, Science award; Kelly Crider, Marshall HS, Sports award; and Syed Hassan, Marshall HS, Technology award.

Khorshid holds a 4.0 in Marshall’s IB program. Bainbridge mentors at Marshall, at an elementary school, and is her church youth group’s representative. McNamee, a musician, has received local and county accolades for his instrumentation. Wang interned at the University of the Health Sciences at Uniformed Services facility in Bethesda, conducting an analysis of congenital cardiac arhythmia, and has witnessed open heart surgery at Inova Hospital Fairfax. Crider excels in field hockey, swim, dive and track and field. She is a member of the U.S. Olympic Development Team in hockey. Hassan is Microsoft-certified and produces Web sites, including that of Marshall’s Future Business Leaders of America club.

"The Marshall High School community is always appreciative of everything the Optimists do to support the local schools," said George C. Marshall Principal Jay Pearson. "I’m proud of our students’ achievements. Their awards reflect the hard work and dedication that our students at Marshall put forth."

Greater Vienna Optimist president, Carla Brooks of Long and Foster, previewed the agenda, and Optimist Sheryl Friedley introduced the speakers.

All 78 nominated students were recognized with a certificate presented by Davis. The Student Symphonic Orchestra of Fairfax, conducted by Marshall High School senior, Matthew Martz, played classical music as a prelude to the awards ceremony.