Local students honored for overcoming obstacles

IRVINE — When Leonel Alvarez first came to TeWinkle Middle School, his counselor paid lots of attention to him.

In fact, she barely let him out of her sight.

“He was in fights several times a day,” said Terry Hardison, who accompanied Leonel to an awards ceremony Friday morning at the Irvine Marriott. “He physically had to shadow me so he wouldn’t get in altercations.”

Leonel, by his own admission, had a hair-trigger temper when he started the sixth grade at TeWinkle. Over the next two years, though, teachers and administrators worked with him closely to calm his rage and refocus his energy. This year, Leonel is an honor student and a band member.

And on Friday, he became one of 13 students in Orange County honored at the Marriott for overcoming difficulties.

The eighth-grader received a certificate, a medal, two Disneyland passes and $100 in cash. For the money, he already had a plan in place.

“I might spend half of it and start an account,” Leonel, 13, said.

Leonel was one of two Newport-Mesa students who won awards Friday from the Orange County region of the Assn. of California School Administrators. The chapter gives out a select number of awards every year, with one student ultimately selected to compete at the state level.

“There are children who have overcome a lot, but we’re looking for where the schools have really stepped in to work with the child,” said Peter Cole, president of the association’s Orange County region.

This year, schools sent in 25 applications, with 13 students making the final cut. Newport-Mesa was one of two districts, along with the Fountain Valley School District, to have more than one winner.

Costa Mesa High School senior Cynthia Mendoza was the other Newport-Mesa recipient. An unfocused student upon starting high school, she had worked her way up to earning a soccer scholarship to Pace University in New York.

“I think I matured,” Cynthia, 17, said about her high school career. “I focused more and decided I wanted to be something in life, so I put my energy into that.”