The Best & Brightest Awards Announces School Based Winners
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Leon County’s most outstanding high school seniors were selected for the 20th year as the 140 finalists in the 2025 Best & Brightest Awards, which recognizes and honors public, private, and home-schooled students who excel academically and in service to their school and community. The finalists underwent an interview process and will be recognized in the Best & Brightest Awards Ceremony, to be held Wednesday, May 14th. That evening, the countywide winners will be announced and all finalists will be honored during this annual special event.
“For 20 years, we have seen some of the best high achieving students in Leon County. This year’s class is just as strong with their academic excellence and selfless service,” said Laura Rogers, coordinator of the awards program as director of World Class Schools, within the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce. “It amazes me how they bring such a servant heart with their involvement with their extracurricular clubs, sports, non-profit organizations, churches and mentoring.”
The Best & Brightest Awards program, now in its 20th year, will reach the million-dollar award amount in Leon County scholarships to over 2800 private and public high school seniors since its inception in 2006. The Best & Brightest Awards program’s premier sponsor is Envision Credit Union in partnership with Leon County Schools, World Class Schools of Leon County, The Tallahassee Democrat, Sachs Media, Gay and Ron Sachs, Capital Health Plan, Leon County Government, The City of Tallahassee, Comcast, Sperry Construction, and the Florida League of Cities.
“The significant and meaningful achievements of these seniors and their sincere commitment to service is strong evidence for us to all have high hopes for the future that they will continue to lead,” said Ron Sachs, chairman of Sachs Media and founder of the Best & Brightest Awards. “Each of these students is a champion and we look forward to sharing their stories.”
On March 1st, panels of select community leaders interviewed the finalists on subject areas such as public speaking, technology, and science to determine the winners for the countywide awards. This year, the 140 finalists will be evaluated on their academic achievement, leadership, and community service. A winner, runner-up, and honorable mention recipient will be named from each category.
To reach this point, finalists have demonstrated a record of academic achievement and expertise in one of 15 competitive categories. First-place countywide winners in each category will receive scholarships of $1,500; runners-up will be awarded $750; and honorable mention recipients will receive $500. All other finalists will receive a $100 scholarship in recognition of their superlative accomplishments.
In addition to celebrating high school students, the Best & Brightest Awards program recognizes 59 younger Leon County students. The program conducts an Eighth Grade Essay Contest available to all middle schools in the Leon area. Three students will be chosen and win awards ranging from $100 to $500. The contest provides middle school students with opportunities to expand their experience and get awarded for it. The essay helps encourage them to reflect on the importance of community involvement and academic achievement as they enter their high school careers.
Another feature of the program, first introduced 13 years ago, is the Spirit of the Best & Brightest Award, commemorating the late Brooks Rogers. Presented to one of the top Best & Brightest winners who most exemplifies a deep commitment to civic duty and service, the student will receive a $2,500 scholarship in addition to his or her primary scholarship award winnings.
This year’s Seniors for the 2025 Best & Brightest Awards are:
Art Category: Clare Andrew (FSUS), Kate Harlacher (Home School), Abigail Hofmann (Godby), Yohan Hopgood (Lincoln), Alexavier Hunter (Rickards), Zara Jaffe (Maclay), Ava Littlejohn (CCS), A’Lyric Martin (FAMU DRS), Marina Stolley Villanueva (SAIL)
Athletics Category: Madeline Forslund (Chiles), Savanna Griffin (TCA), Sydney Jackson (NFC), Darius Jones II (Rickards), Andrew Lunt (Maclay), Klover Maple (SAIL), Emma McFarland (CCS), Natalie Nelson (Lincoln), Ebony Petit-Bois (Godby), Avery Presnell (FSUS), Gabrielle Simmons (Leon)
Business Category: Rosaisela Avalos (Godby), Julian Chavez (FSUS), Isabel Davis (Maclay), Anekae Donaldson (TCA), Hadriel Hamid (Chiles), Sadie Knowlton (Lincoln), Ethan Manning (CCS), William Proctor (Leon), Bhargava Tatineni (Rickards)
Career/Technical Category: Dehja Barrett (Godby), Viswambhar Janapati (Rickards), Victory Klutsey (SAIL), Amaya Lawrence (Leon), Ryan Linn (Lincoln), Hayne Miller (Maclay), Daniella Preston (Chiles), Amber Simons (FSUS)
Drama & Performing Arts Category: Magrathea Burke (SAIL), Camille Ervin (Chiles), Namitha Gopalachar (Lincoln), Aidenn Hafez (Maclay), Mckenna Noel (Leon), Gabriella Rieder (FSUS), Kayleigh Stuart (CCS), Serenity Wiggins (Rickards)
English & Language Arts Category: Molly Cohen (Leon), Malik Gambles (Rickards), Katelyn Pye (CCS), Braden Richardson (Lincoln), Srivani Sankuratri (FSUS), Megan Vegas (Maclay), Grace Xu (Chiles), Katherine Zurko (SAIL)
Journalism & Media Production Category: Vine Butler (Maclay), Alyssa Crouse (FSUS), Sophia Gauding (SAIL), Haley Grant (Lincoln), Anthony Jimenez (Godby), Addison Leace (Leon), Nishithasri Nandineni (Rickards), Nathaniel Rorison (Chiles)
Leadership Category: Kylie Alkire (Home School), Alyssa Bauer (FSUS), Tolulope Binitie (Godby), Sophia Clement (Lincoln), Carson Conway (Maclay), Addison Cowart (NFC), Luke Dietz (CCS), Suhas Gaddam (Rickards), Lenna Gayhart (Leon), Liam Hundley (SAIL), Jazanae Rolle (TCA), Raven Simmons (FAMU DRS), Alexie Thomas (Chiles)
Mathematics Category: Jordan Baumann (SAIL), Kaitlyn Boulos (Lincoln), Braylee Dempsey (Chiles), Augustus Ettore (FSUS), Sukeerth Goly (Rickards), William Morton (NFC), Diya Patel (Maclay), Cole Robinson (Leon), Steven Walker (Godby)
Music Category: Erin Broder (Chiles), Talia Duncan (Leon), Matthew Harley (FSUS), Emily Hawken (Maclay), Gabrielle Hudlow (Lincoln), Elizabeth Kim (SAIL), Erick Martin-O’Kelley (Virtual), Fox Rutherford (Home School), Jake Veleber (CCS), Tiffany Zheng (Rickards)
Public Speaking Category: Issa Allison (Rickards), John Fletcher Butler (Maclay), Macy Coombs (Leon), Lauren Culp (Lincoln), Mia D’Aurio (CLA), Elijah Edwards (SAIL), Michaela Hopkins (TCA), Parini Mehta (FSUS), Mia Stout (Chiles), Myia Tucker (Godby)
Science & Health Category: Nicole Beam (Lincoln), Ja’Mya Daniels (Godby), Ireland Earlywine (Maclay), Keegan Flury (FSUS), Evan Kile (Leon), Amaya Lockwood (TCA), Macey Mirowitz (SAIL), Lydia Shaw (CLA), McClain Stroud (FAMU DRS), Olivia Zeng (Rickards), Lillian Zhang (Chiles)
Social Science Category: Olivia LeFils-Roberts (SAIL), Aditi Mukhirala (Leon), Margaret Murray (Maclay), Savannah Nortelus (FSUS), Shianne Pipkin (TCA), Adrienne Slater (FAMU DRS), Sujin van Hoeij (Lincoln), Paola Verlage Ramirez (Godby), Alyssa Wu-Guttmann (Chiles), Haasini Yelugoti (Rickards)
Technology Category: Sagar Bhat (Rickards), Nyla Close (Lincoln), Austin Langston (FSUS), Leah Song (Maclay), Courtney Stokes (Leon), Vyacheslav Tsvetkov (Chiles)
World Languages Category: Caroline Cox (Home School), Ava Files (FSUS), Rex Fuselier (SAIL), Sabri Hanley (Rickards), Asher Robertson (Lincoln), Juliana Tripodi (Leon), Sophia Wildrick (Maclay)
This year’s 8th Grade Essay Contest finalists are:
Christ Classical Academy: Marion Bevis, Julianna Harter, Cole Landy
Community Christian School: Elise Buck, Naomi Petscher, Jacob Saquibal
Community Leadership Academy: Analeigh Klein, Ana Eva Fernandez Mota, Emery Simon
Cornerstone Learning Community: Ayah Davis-Craig, Brady Lynn Henderson, Olivia Lammers
Deerlake Middle School: Swati Bimeesh, Emily Chen, Chloe Hiver
Fairview Middle School: Anvita Devulapalli, Sanya Loubriel, Keerthana Manchikanti
Florida State University Schools: Camden Hand, Meisa Hutt, Eliza Moody
Griffin Middle School: Tancy Aurelus, Darryl’Asia Morrell, La’Daisha Pollock
Maclay School: Lila Bubriski, Medha Konda, Krish Patel
Montford Middle School: Jude Carson, Channing Savoy, Bellamy Vass
Nims Middle School: Da’Mari Broaders, Rhyan Glover, Caleb McMillian
North Florida Christian School: Sophia Adams, McKenzie Kilcullen, Kinsley Locke
School of Arts and Sciences: Scout Glasgow
Swift Creek Middle School: Harper Belle Schulze, Katelyn Whipple, Alexandria Whitaker
Trinity Catholic School: Casey Aultman, Bella Barragan, Holly McCormick
Woodville Middle School: Mia Ferguson, June Perez, Drayton Somers