National St. Timothy Award goes to 18 teens

The CYO/Youth and Young Adult Ministry Office of the Archdiocese of New Orleans recognized outstanding youth April 27 at its annual leadership celebration at St. Louis Cathedral.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond presided over a prayer service and awards presentation. Eighteen teenagers were given the national St. Timothy Award, the highest award the Archdiocese of New Orleans can bestow on a young person.

To receive the St. Timothy Award, the youth’s service involvement may have originated in the parish but then branched out to the diocesan, school and community levels, said John Smestad, archdiocesan director of the CYO/Youth and Young Adult Ministry Office.

To qualify, youths must be nominated, submit an essay about how they have grown in their faith, list their activities and submit letters of recommendation. A panel interviewed the candidates and selected the winners.

The St. Timothy recipients were Gillen Briede, St. Francis Xavier Parish, Metairie; Ashley Bran, Holy Guardian Angels Mission, Bridge City; Rosemary Jones, St. Maria Goretti Parish, New Orleans; Joelle Lorenzo, St. Rita Parish, Harahan; Roy Messina, St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, New Orleans; Julia Delesdernier, St. Angela Merici Parish, Metairie; Jessica Ragas, Most Holy Trinity Parish, Covington; Cydni Ward, St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Marrero. Matthew Cheramie, Holy Family Parish, Luling; David Miranda, St. Clement of Rome Parish, Metairie; Reuben Hogan, St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Marrero; Samantha Eshleman, St. Benilde Parish, Metairie; Scott Cabes Jr., St. Dominic Parish, New Orleans; Sarah Chester, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Norco; Brad Giacone, Divine Mercy Parish, Kenner; Ka’Cell El-Mansura, St. Mary of the Angels Parish, New Orleans; Michael Morton, Ascension of Our Lord Parish, LaPlace; and John Guerra, St. Pius X Parish, New Orleans.

In addition, the Parish Youth Leadership Award is given each year to outstanding persons from each parish in the archdiocese who have given of themselves tirelessly in their home parish.

This year’s recipients were Dante Monier, Tristen Roberts and Jasmine Dorsey, All Saints; Christopher Caldarera, Dylan Turner and Jacob Palmature, Ascension of Our Lord; Brad Augillard and Taylor Landry, Blessed Sacrament/St. Joan of Arc; Cierra Johnson, Devin Minix and Morgan Minix, Blessed Trinity.

Grant Strohmeyer, Christ the King; Chris Hammond, Phil d’Aquin and Alexandra Walters, Divine Mercy; Lance Ragas and Katie Herbert, Holy Family, Franklinton; José Bran Jr. and Bethanie Cassard, Holy Guardian Angels; Jena Palmisano, Jessica Aragonez and Damian Aragonez, Immaculate Conception, Marrero; t’Jacques Guillot, Beau Douglas and Sarah Price, Mary Queen of Peace; Tiffany Schmidt, Jacob Ragas and Anton Derbes, Most Holy Trinity.

Cristina Alvarenga, Jared Croal and Luke Leonard, Our Lady of Divine Providence; Allie Gressaffa, Mason Pearcy and Blake Everard, Our Lady of Lourdes, Slidell; Trinie Tran and Hope Wilkins, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Belle Chasse; Blake Breaux, Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Westwego; Kaitlyn McAuliffe, Colin Francis and Samuel Raspino, Our Lady of the Lake; Meredith Duhe and Joseph Girardot, Sacred Heart of Jesus; Caitlyn Yerby, Abby Ponthier and William Waguespack, St. Andrew the Apostle; Kameron Zandi, Madeleine Winningkoff and Eugene Granier, St. Angela Merici; Peyton Boudreaux and Cody Keller, St. Anselm; Destinee Esnault, St. Augustine; Dillon Connick, Madeline Fleming and Sean Sheehan, St. Benilde; Rayna Sardegna, Cole Bennett and Brett Dipuma, St. Charles Borromeo; Jillian Wohlgemuth, Ryan O’Rourke and Kelli Mejia, St. Christopher the Martyr. Alexis Bellocq and Gabrielle D’Antoni, St. Clement of Rome; Christian LeBlanc, Arriel Hollingsworth and Denyze Stevenson, St. David; Kristina Nagy, Sydney Williams and Victoria Madary, St. Dominic; Cristian Zavala, Katie Nugent and Victoria Tanner, St. Edward the Confessor; Fritz Newburger and Gillen Briede, St. Francis Xavier; Anna Russell, Brittany Diodene and Allison Breaux, St. Joachim; Ashley Marchese, Kaitlyn Lemoine and Tony Suarez, St. Joan of Arc, LaPlace; Sabrina Bui and Brice Cheron, St. John Bosco.

Jamie Green, Jordan Simmons and Julian Lombard, St. Joseph the Worker; Rayonne Coleman and Charde Jacquot, St. Katharine Drexel; Nicholas Petras, St. Luke the Evangelist; Gabriella Bergez, Will Boler and Jeremy Seal, St. Margaret Mary; Rosemary Jones, Mia Reed and Kyree Curington, St. Maria Goretti; Anjele Guidry and Justin Vlosich, St. Martha; Asia Satcher, St. Mary of the Angels; Ryan Bergeron, Kyle Pecoraro and Katherine Rose, St. Mary Magdalen; Katie McAdam, Kirsten Pecquet and Molly Rosato, St. Matthew the Apostle.

Erika Augillard, Raven Cruse and Lynn Gibson, St. Paul the Apostle; Lucie Caire and Michael Brown, St. Peter, Covington; Nicholas Harrington, Kristine Clement and Lauryn Madere, St. Peter, Reserve; Lloyd Bradford, Heaven Douglas and Trey Douse, St. Peter Claver; Rae Comeaux, Michael Comeaux and Joshua Crawford, St. Philip Neri; Emily Stoehr, Maggie Sauter and Brian Corcoran, St. Pius X, New Orleans; Cameron Williams, Earic McDougle and Taylor Bailey, St. Raymond/St. Leo the Great.

Joelle Lorenzo, Rachel Lang and Daniel Sagona, St. Rita, Harahan; Casey Schallenberg, Rachael Johnson and Anne Marie Wingerter, Sts. Peter and Paul; Tanner Hernandez and Ariel Aguilar, Visitation of Our Lady.