Yeraldy Tejada Hernandez of Waugh Chapel Elementary School, Maizy Barbour of Windsor Farm Elementary School, Kate Rimel of Magothy River Middle School, Ming Miller of South River High School are the 2023 recipients of the annual Mo Gaba Positivity and Perseverance Awards. The video announcement of the winners was made today on the school system’s social media sites in celebration of Mo Gaba Day throughout Anne Arundel County Public Schools.
In addition, Connor Barton-Mullan of Monarch Academy Glen Burnie was recognized as the 2023 Mo Gaba Legacy Award Winner.
The winners will be formally recognized and receive their awards at the Board of Education’s next meeting on February 1, 2023. Their schools will receive a banner and $500 in the winner’s name to be used for a school initiative that promotes kindness and positivity. The Education Foundation of Anne Arundel County Public Schools generously sponsors the monetary award.
Mosilla Kingsley “ Mo” Gaba was a student in AACPS whose health challenges never defeated his intellectual brilliance, positive attitude, fun-loving spirit, or ability to make others smile and marvel at his resilience. In honor of this courageous student who physically left us too soon, the Mo Gaba Power of Positivity and Perseverance Award seeks to uphold Mo’s legacy by recognizing students who embody those characteristics.
More than 40 students were nominated by their schools for demonstrating exceptional capabilities to overcome obstacles and showing kindness and a positive attitude to change the lives of others.
2023 Mo Gaba Positivity and Perseverance Nominees
- Tochi Anyanwu, Arundel High School
- José Vega Fernandez, Arundel Middle School
- Aniya Martin, Brooklyn Park Middle School
- Lauren Lehnert, Chesapeake Bay Middle School
- Gabriel-Marcellino Faller-McGlone, Crofton Middle School
- Josiah Watts, Ferndale Early Education Center
- Harper Hasson, Folger McKinsey Elementary School
- April Baumgardner, Freetown Elementary School
- Ramiro Arevalo, George T. Cromwell Elementary School
- Leslie Nuñez-Mendoza, Glen Burnie High School
- Kevin McKinney, Lindale Middle School
- Sabria Jackson, MacArthur Middle School
- Khari Aaliyah-Amil Mouzon, Marley Elementary School
- Charli Adkins, Marley Middle School
- Christian Amos, Monarch Academy
- Paul Silver, Monarch Academy
- AniJ Fluker-Tucker, Old Mill High School
- Lola Hott, Manor View Elementary School
- Elizabeth Leal, Old Mill Middle School South
- Zayonah Reese, Pershing Hill Elementary School
- Daniel Haase-Lyons, Severna Park Middle School
- Kyle Vican, Severna Park Middle School
- Jeremy Beeson, Southern High School
- Salvatore Venizelos, Waugh Chapel Elementary School
2023 Mo Gaba Positivity and Perseverance Legacy Nominees
- Brooklyn Foster, Arundel High School
- Quinn McCauley, Arundel Middle School
- Adielle Roman Rosario, Chesapeake Bay Middle School
- Ruby Holton, Davidsonville Elementary School
- Connor Cooper, Ferndale Early Education Center
- Brandon Davis, George T. Cromwell Elementary School
- Axel Matuz-Encarnacíon, Marley Elementary School
- Aisha Yusuff, Monarch Global Academy
- Mason Schaeffer-Sisk, Odenton Elementary School
- Alaya Parker, Old Mill High School
- Nicollas Menezes Pereira, Old Mill Middle School South
- Emily Smith, Pasadena Elementary School
- Riley Buck, Severna Park Middle School
- Lilly Leonard, Southern High School
- Luca Madrid, Windsor Farm Elementary School
