Three Pajaro Valley Unified School District students on Wednesday became the first in Santa Cruz County to earn the California State Seal of Civic Engagement.
The award, approved by the California State Legislature in 2020, goes to young people whose community involvement and knowledge of the U.S. and state constitutions and government make them stand out in their schools.
Morielle Mamaril, Paula Camacho and Marco Padilla-Perez earned their medals for bringing the idea to PVUSD, said Coordinator of Career and Technical Education Julie Edwards.
“The work they did is going to pay it forward for students going into the future,” she said.
The three were serving as PVUSD Summer in the City interns when they conducted extensive research and made their recommendations to a task force of community members, a PVUSD board member, educators and stakeholders.
The task force then reviewed and formalized the student recommendations.
Information on the steps to earn the Seal will be introduced broadly in the fall.
Recipients will receive a special seal on their high school diploma and be included in the student’s school transcript.
PVUSD will provide a medallion for each recipient to be worn at their high school graduation.
“This award is one way for PVUSD to recognize and reinforce the importance of civic engagement and build a culture of positive, forward-thinking youth engagement in our community as they contribute to our global society,” said PVUSD Director of Equity, Accountability and Federal and State Programs Michael Berman. “We are proud of our students who have earned the Seal in this, our first year.”
