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Aria Menon Wins Spelling Bee
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ria Menon, 9, a fourth grader at Mountain Elementary School in Soquel is this year’s elementary winner of the Santa Cruz County virtual spelling bee. She will go on to compete in the state spelling bee in person May 14 in Stockton. Her mother, Sita Kaimal, said her daughter is an avid reader and was inspired by her brother Adi, 13, who competed for two years. During winter break, she got a spelling list from the school and invested her vacation time in spelling. The payoff: She got every word correct and bested fifth graders and sixth graders. No doubt she’s reviewing new words this very minute. The elementary division is for grades 4-6. Runner-up was Ihan Kang, who attends Westlake School in Santa Cruz, and Manuel Mattila, who attends Valencia Elementary in Aptos, placed third. In the junior division for grades 7-9, Ella Webb, a freshman at Scotts Valley
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Aria Menon High School, earned first place and the right to go to the state bee. Runner-up was Vikram Sathigh, who attends Scotts Valley Middle School and Sage Kelly who attends New Brighton Middle School, placed third. Locally, the spelling bee is organized and hosted by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. n
Dientes’ Tiffany Turner Wins National Award
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By Jondi Gumz
iffany Turner, chief operations clinics following strict protocols after a officer at Dientes Community two-month shutdown for all but emerDental Care in Santa Cruz, was gency visits. honored with the prestigious Emerging Her attention to detail has resulted Leader Award at the National Asso- in zero COVID outbreaks in Dientes’ ciation of Community Health Centers clinics to date, colleagues said. Policies and Issues annual “Her high expectations, conference in Washington, guidance to achieve goals, and D.C., on Feb. 16. team-orientation, combined The Emerging Leader with on-the-job experience, Award is given by George has allowed multiple Washington University’s front-line staff to advance Geiger Gibson Program in without formal management Community Health Policy to training,” said Dientes CEO exceptional young leaders Laura Marcus. whose work has helped She added, “Ms. Turner Tiffany Turner further health care and better goes above and beyond to health for medically underserved mentor and promote women of color to patients, communities, and special leadership positions … We couldn’t be populations. prouder to have a young woman of this Turner ’s initiative throughout the caliber leading our operations. She is an pandemic enabled Dientes to reopen its inspiration.” n
