Ari Jarrett of Pasadena Elementary School, Gianna Bonnett of Jacobsville Elementary School, Selena Houck of Southern Middle School, and Lauryn Wilson of Meade High School are the first recipients of the annual Mo Gaba Positivity and Perseverance Awards. The video announcement of the winners was made today on the school system’s social media sites in celebration of Mo Gaba Day throughout Anne Arundel County Public Schools. The video can be found here.
The winners will be formally recognized and receive their award at the Board of Education’s next meeting on February 2, 2022. Their schools will receive a banner and $500 in the winner’s name to be used for a school initiative that promotes kindness and positivity. The monetary award is generously sponsored by the 21st Century Education Foundation.
Mosilla Kingsley “ Mo” Gaba was a student in AACPS whose health challenges never defeated his intellectual brilliance, positive attitude, fun-loving spirit, or his ability to make others smile and marvel at his resilience. In honor of this courageous student who physically left us too soon, the Mo Gaba Power of Positivity and Perseverance Award seeks to uphold Mo’s legacy by recognizing students who embody those characteristics.
More than 50 students were nominated by their schools for demonstrating exceptional capabilities to overcome obstacles and showing kindness and a positive attitude to change the lives of others.
2022 Mo Gaba Positivity and Perseverance Nominees
- Kemaunya Covert, Annapolis Middle School
- Landon Otterbacher, Arnold Elementary School
- Kalix Timo, Arundel High School
- Myah Fadojutimi, Arundel Middle School
- Schuyler Ward, Wiley H. Bates Middle School
- Sean Garlington, Broadneck High School
- Eleanor Louise Crystal, Brooklyn Park Elementary School
- JaCyla Swan, Brooklyn Park Middle School
- Riley Whitney, Cape St. Claire Elementary School
- Harvey Jeffries, Carrie Weedon Early Education Center
- Keondre Green, Center of Applied Technology North
- Aria Agarwal, Crofton Elementary School
- Pourochista Izadyar, Crofton Middle School
- Mya McCartha, Ferndale Early Education Center
- Caetlyn Bobbick, Folger McKinsey Elementary School
- Olivia DiDomenico, George T. Cromwell Elementary School
- Christopher Sola, Lindale Middle School
- Lola Hott, Manor View Elementary School
- Emma Borrelli, Marley Elementary School
- Esther Doniz Revolorio, Maryland City Elementary School
- William “Lee” Arrington, Mayo Elementary School
- Carola Mendez, Monarch Global Academy
- Tae’veon Spence, North County High School
- Ebony Guyton, North County High School
- Laura Sorto-Hernandez, Northeast High School
- Grace Marie Anderson, Northeast Middle School
- McCall Smith, Oak Hill Elementary School
- Alexis Duffy, Odenton Elementary School
- Owen Stewart, Old Mill Middle School South
- Harmony Evans, Pershing Hill Elementary School
- Kylan Diop, Phoenix Academy
- Bradley Schroeder, Phoenix Academy
- Ailani Myers, Quarterfield Elementary School
- Jeremy Martinez-Cotto, Richard Henry Lee Elementary School
- Ezra Binkley, Rolling Knolls Elementary School
- Jayshaun Small, Severn Elementary School
- Nathaniel Ehrenreich, Severn River Middle School
- Joanna Thoms, Severna Park Elementary School
- Abigail Chavez-Alarcon, Severna Park Middle School
- Quinn Lucas, South River High School
- Roberto “Alexi” Corvera-Hernandez, South Shore Elementary School
- Hudson Toth, Tracey’s Elementary School
- Alexis Moreno Velazquez, Tyler Heights Elementary School
- Emerson Del Cid Romero, Walter S. Mills-Parole Elementary School
- Kyleigh George, Walter S. Mills-Parole Elementary School
- Kaylah Hill, Waugh Chapel Elementary School
- Athena Jefferson, West Meade Early Education Center
- Umatalaf Naputi, West Meade Early Education Center
- Ka’nyra Washington, Windsor Farm Elementary School