THOUSAND OAKS : Top Teen-Agers Are Recognized

Michelle Quist, a junior at Thousand Oaks High School, has a schedule that would drive most people to distraction.

She volunteers at Los Robles Medical Center, the Special Olympics, Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Home and Hospice, and the National Charity League. She is also active in the Mormon church and belongs to an award-winning ballroom dance team.

Oh, and she manages to maintain an A grade average in school.

So it was natural that her peers--other Thousand Oaks teen-agers--gave Michelle top honors Wednesday at the Youth Recognition Awards sponsored by the Thousand Oaks Youth Commission.

“They wanted to recognize kids who do things quietly,” said Carol Williams, who coordinates commission programs for the city. “Most of these kids are real high achievers.”

A total of 17 teen-agers and two organizations received awards out of 68 nominations, the most ever received by the commission.

Certificates for Outstanding Achievement were presented to Nicholas Doerr, Colina Intermediate School; Nicole Deddens and Janice Rapp, La Reina High; Julie Harrison, Westlake High, and Erik Reynolds, Conejo Valley High.

Certificates for Recognition were presented to Stephanie Carson, Redwood Intermediate; Ellen Chang, Colina Intermediate; Ian Lebby, Sequoia Intermediate; Gabe Shirey, Los Cerritos Intermediate; Stephanie Bladen, Jon Lopez, Joseph (Rob) Oberle, Giles Pettifor and Aeri Ra, Westlake High; Tonia Kim, La Reina High, and Clay McDaniel, Thousand Oaks.

The organizations honored were the Special Friendship Club at Colina Intermediate School, which assists developmentally disabled students; and the Los Robles Regional Medical Center Student Volunteers, which this year has 105 students participating.