Carla Vendeland Community Service Award
Carla Vendeland Community Service Award
Newport High School Parent, Carla Vendeland worked endlessly to fight world hunger, staying up late researching and writing letters in tireless campaigns against world hunger and for education. As part of her effort to encourage students to volunteer, she created the PTSA Knight Valor Program in 1989, recognizing Newport Students who make a difference in their community through their extraordinary volunteer efforts.
Mrs. Vendeland passed away in 1994 of cancer at the age of 52, and in her memory and in honor of her dedication to our community, the Carla B. Vendeland Community Service Award was established in 1996. The award is administered by the Bellevue Schools Foundation and each student receives $1,000. To qualify for the award, students need to be a graduating senior and need to have earned the PTSA Knight Valor Award.
Newport High School Winners: 2025 - 2026
Eric Chen
Eric volunteers with Seattle Humane Society, Regional Animal Services of King County, Emerald City Pet Rescue, Yakima Valley Pet Rescue, Bellevue Life Spring.
Over two and half years, he collected and donated 2100 used towels to various animal shelters in the region. The towels were collected from neighborhood boxes and local pools, cleaned and bundled them for each organization. The towel drives taught him about collective effort by individuals within a community. Eric believes leadership can be quiet and subtle. This project raised awareness of resource reuse while helping shelter pets and the organizations that support them. The towels help reduce spending on bedding and cleaning materials, freeing money for operational costs, veterinary care, and food. Seeing the towels in use after each drop off was rewarding. Giving back starts with intention and consistency. Instead of a towel, donors could donate to the pet food bank and money to support programs.
Eric will be attending Carnegie Mellon University in the fall studying economics.
Selina Zou
Selina is deeply dedicated to both academic excellence and community advocacy. As a passionate musician, she has sung in Newport’s Chamber and Treble Choir and served as a leader on the Choir Council. Beyond the arts, Selina is highly active in the legal and public safety sectors. She is part of Newport’s National Honors and volunteers in events such as the yearly Newport Ski Swap. She serves as a Class A Explorer with the Seattle Police Explorers, volunteering for patrol and community security events. She actively participates as a member of the Bothell Youth Court, adjudicating real cases for teens with minor traffic violations. Demonstrating a strong commitment to legal research, Selina recently authored a paper that criticizes the United States justice system that has been published in the Curieux Academic Journal. Moving forward, she plans to attend the University of Maryland, majoring in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and pursue a degree in law, hoping to leverage her diverse and unique experiences in leadership and community service to advocate for meaningful systemic reform and reduce recidivism.
2024-2025
Anu Dhananjay and Caleb Li4
Ava Chen and Alvin Sung
2022-2023
Ammana Karmali and Arohan Agate
2021 - 2022
Ethan Bai and Laren Chen
2020 - 2021
Jada Yamada and Kyle Pun
2019 - 2020
Alex Jabbour and Alicen (Chaewon) Han
2018 - 2019
Ethan Chaipatanapong and Yuka Kozakai
2017 - 2018
Garrick Luo & Neda Ali
2016 - 2017
Sharon Zhang & Matthew McCord
2015 - 2016
Dmytro Banin & Nina Reckinger
“Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.”
-John Holt