The Crowd: Schools honor students, raise funds

Corona del Mar High School students and their parents came together last week to celebrate Sea King Pride. It was the 15th annual awards celebration honoring 81 students in grades three to 12. The event attracted more than 200 guests who filled the small gymnasium at the high school.

Sea King Pride recognizes students selected by teachers for both excellence in academics and demonstration of high standards of honesty, integrity, community service and citizenship. CdM Middle School Principal Guy Olguin and high school Principal Tim Bryan joined with event chairwoman Barbie Townsend welcoming those attending the high-spirited gathering.

Following the honors, the crowd shared a banquet in the gym with teachers and administrators. Some of the honored students included seventh-grader Emma Deehan, 11th-grader Michael Delahanty, along with fellow CdM juniors Joel Ishii, Cole Satterfield, Brenda Dorsey, Bristol Coon and Hunter Thomas.

Also honored were Justin Tucker, Giovanni Almarez, Evan Daniele, Grace Kim, Brendan Barron and Carter Wheatley. Additional award recipients included Emily Alteri, Madison Vittarelli, Hunter Killburn, Rachael Somerville, Keith Coulter, Ishan Ghuse and Donald Kim.

Across town, rival Newport Harbor High School enjoyed a major sellout with the school’s 13th annual Home and Garden Tour.

The recent romp through local residences raised nearly $100,000 for the Newport Harbor Educational Foundation. Sponsored in large part by the HOM Real Estate Group, the crowd toured six uniquely designed homes and gardens followed by a champagne reception in-store at the Barclay Butera Design Salon on Newport’s Westcliff Drive.

Featured homes in this year’s tour included a Lido Isle bayfront residence owned by the Hodgkinson family, formerly of Piedmont. The Hodgkinsons also included a tour of their yacht, which was berthed in front of the residence. Additional generous homeowners donating residential tours included the Mitchell, Schnieder, Palazzo, Harden and Simpson families.

A garden tour was provided courtesy of the Whyte-Nataupsky family featuring design by Christopher Taylor Architectural Landscape. Also participating in the garden design aspect of the tour was local landscaper Molly Wood, who joined designer Barclay Butera at his store after the tour and offered guests garden concepts.

Additional support for the endeavor came from a variety of vendors including South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island, Bloomingdale’s, EDvantage College Consulting and the Daily Pilot. In between peeking at the homes, guests were treated to luncheon prepared by StoneFire Grill.

Funds raised will support a wide variety of programs benefiting the more than 2,400 students attending Newport Harbor High School.