The Kiwanis Club of Alameda celebrated nine exceptional eighth graders as 2024 Hope of America awardees on March 13 at a special luncheon for the students, their teachers, and their families at the Elks Lodge in Alameda. The total attendance, including Kiwanis members, was record-breaking for the annual event.
Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft and Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi presented their congratulations, as each student received a plaque from Kiwanis President Dawna Dowdell-Dos Santos, along with the Mayor’s official certificate. Special guests included the family of the late Gene LaFollette, a long-standing Kiwanian who presented these awards for many years. His daughter Madelyn introduced her mother Carolyn and her siblings, Allison and James. Madelyn’s tribute to her father was one of the highlights of the event, as were the teachers’ tributes to their students.
The Hope of America Award is given to outstanding eighth grade students who continuously demonstrate leadership, character, peer outreach, community service and school spirit. Every school in Alameda with an eighth grade class invites teachers to nominate students matching these criteria. The Alameda Kiwanis Hope of America committee makes its selection based on the responses received.
The Alameda Kiwanis theme is, “Serving The Children of The World, One Child and One Community at a Time, in Alameda since 1923.” For more information about the organization, visit the Alameda Kiwanis website.
