Angels Baseball Foundation awards college scholarships to eight students
The Angels Baseball Foundation (ABF) has awarded eight AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) students with the Angels 8th Grade AVID Scholarship to assist in their continuing education once they reach the college level.
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Candidates were recommended by the AVID teachers at their respective middle schools. Students were nominated based on merit, leadership and strong academic performance while participating in the program.
The eight finalists were selected through an extensive process from the 68 middle schools throughout Orange County.
The eight scholarship finalists are Peyton Acosta from Alamitos Intermediate School in Garden Grove Unified, Emilia Ayala from Yorba Middle School in Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified, Eldon Bailey from McFadden Institute of Technology in Santa Ana Unified, Anna Hughes from Hewes Middle School in Tustin Unified, Laurie (Lam) Le from Johnson Middle School in Westminster Unified, Juxi (Bella) Liu from Vista Verde School in Irvine Unified, Guadalupe Montillo from TeWinkle Middle School in Newport-Mesa Unified and Katie Rojas from Warner Middle School in Westminster Unified.
The Angels 8th Grade AVID Scholarship was founded in 2006 by the Angels Baseball Foundation in conjunction with the Orange County Department of Education and the nonprofit Advancement Via Individual Determination. Since its inception, ABF has awarded more than $1.1 million in scholarships to 145 students through the program.
These one-time nonrenewable scholarship funds are held for the scholars in a trust until they graduate from high school and are accepted and enrolled into an accredited university.
– Submitted by Angels Baseball Foundation
Angels 8th Grade AVID scholars, Class of 2030, are recognized in a pregame ceremony. The students, from middle schools throughout Orange County, were awarded with college scholarships. (Courtesy of Angels Baseball)
TeWinkle Middle School student Guadalupe Montillo is among the scholarship recipients. (Courtesy of Angels Baseball)
Orange County teen actor Kayden Brenna Tokarski is joining the cast of the long-running soap opera “General Hospital.” She’ll be making her Port Charles debut in July. (Courtesy of Cathryn Farnsworth)
Steve Han, a 10 grade student at Beckman High School in Irvine, talks about his award-winning work, “The Hands of Reconstruction, Frances Perkins.” Han won $6,000 in ARTEFFECT’s Unsung Heroes competition. (Courtesy of: ARTEFFECTlmc)
South Orange County teen joins cast of ‘General Hospital’
The long-running soap opera “General Hospital” has recast the role of Scout Cain, the daughter of Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) and the late Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco).
Soap Opera Digest broke the news that South Orange County’s Kayden Brenna Tokarski, 16, will make her Port Charles debut in the role in July.
Tokarski is an award-winning actor with a growing list of credits across film and television. She gained early recognition playing the young version of Julia Roberts’ character in the Emmy-nominated Starz original TV series “Gaslit.” More recently, in May, she wrapped production on the neo-noir thriller “Quads & The Kicker.”
Tokarski also starred in Lifetime’s “My Professor’s Deadly Secret” and “Killer in Woods” as well as the upcoming biopic “Bruton,” playing Theo Rossi’s daughter. She appears alongside Anthony Michael Hall in the sci-fi feature “Roswell Delirium” as well as Dee Wallace in the upcoming “Curse of Vandor” and its sequel.
In addition to her film work, Tokarski stepped into the world of “Wednesday” (Netflix), voicing Wednesday Adams in a national Wendy’s commercial tied to the hit series. She also stars alongside Joey Fatone in a national Red Lobster commercial.
Outside of acting, the teenager sings and is a former competitive diver and is involved in several philanthropic and advocacy efforts.
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For her advocacy efforts, Tokarski was recognized as part of Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley’s 2026 “Women Making a Difference” Awards.
– Submitted by Kelly Tokarski
Irvine student wins grand prize in international ARTEFFECT competition
ARTEFFECT, a visual arts education initiative founded by international entrepreneur and philanthropist Lowell Milken, has announced the 46 winners of the 11th annual ARTEFFECT competition.
Steve Han, a 10th-grade student at Beckman High School in Irvine, took top honors.
The competition invited students in grades six through 12 worldwide to explore and celebrate the extraordinary stories of individuals who have improved the lives of others. These Unsung Heroes are role models whose courage, character and service to others have made a lasting impact on society, often without widespread recognition.
In total, ARTEFFECT awarded $49,750 in financial prizes across multiple categories to 46 winners in the middle and high school divisions of the 2026 competition.
The students’ chosen subjects represented a range of fields and historical periods, including civil rights, medicine, innovation, STEAM, wartime history and environmental advocacy.
Han earned the $6,000 grand prize. His colored pencil, marker and pen work on paper, “The Hands of Reconstruction, Frances Perkins,” depicts Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a U.S. Cabinet position and a driving force behind landmark labor reforms that reshaped workers’ rights and social protections during the New Deal era.
In his impact statement, Han describes how the imagery of his artwork celebrates Perkins’ leadership: “In the center is Perkins, who lifts a torn American flag. The flag shows a nation hurt and sunken by poverty, exploitation and instability, but she still lifts the flag. Through this gesture, I wanted to express Perkins’ determination not to let suffering define the future.”
Visit the ARTEFFECT website at arteffectlmc.org for more information of its competitions, including one this summer.
– Submitted by ARTEFFECT
The Bravo! section highlights achievements of our residents and groups. Send news of achievements for consideration to [email protected].
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