Nine HCS students receive Top 20 Under 20 award

Hampton City Schools is excited to announce that nine students received the Top 20 Under 20 award from the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. These students were recognized at a ceremony on May 2, 2024.

The recognized students are:

Stephanie Adejayan – Bethel High School (BHS)

Stephanie, a junior, enjoys law, mythology, literature, and music. She likes spending time with her family and loved ones and writing, reading, playing the violin, playing volleyball, video-editing, and traveling. She hopes to attend Columbia University after she graduates next year and ultimately become a lawyer and an author. Her leadership roles include the neighborhood liaison and community participation committee chair in the Hampton Youth Commission. She is a BHS ambassador and president of Model United Nations.

Arianna Drew – Bethel High School 

Arianna is a senior who will be attending Hampton University in the fall to study criminology. Her hobbies include anything ROTC related, making money, and adding on to her 60+ hours of community service. She holds the second highest rank in her ROTC unit and is involved in Youth & Government, drill team, marksmanship team, Honor Guard, Girls Club, National Honor Society, and much more.

Cai Gomes – Phoebus High School (PHS)

Cai is a senior who plans to attend an out-of-state college next year to double major in international relations and political science and minor in economics. She enjoys language, culture, travel, fashion, food, and research. Her leadership strengths include Policy Pathways communication specialist; research intern at Policy Pathways; member of the National Honor Society; co-founder and former co-director of two nonprofits; co-founder and former co-sponsor of a school club; and a founding member of the first female BSA troop in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe region.

Sophia Harris – Kecoughtan High School (KHS)

Sophia, a junior, enjoys cooking and musical theater. She likes doing things that she feels will benefit an entire community, not just herself. She said she values her positions as a School Board student representative and junior class president at KHS.

Jonathan Jackson – Bethel High School

Jonathan is a senior who plans to continue his education in the fall. He is currently a member of the Academy of Media Arts and Design and has served as a student ambassador for three years. He also serves as a student representative to the School Board. Jonathan is a member of the senior class committee and the National Honor Society. He is active in his church and coordinates youth church. He participates with the 100 Black Men of Virginia Peninsula and was selected last summer to attend the Summer Residential Governor’s School at Radford University.

Kaleb Lucas – Phoebus High School 

Kaleb, a sophomore, enjoys music, law/politics, track and field, community service, and podcasting. He is a member of the Hampton YMCA Teen Leaders Club, serves as the PHS drum major, sophomore class president, president of the Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Temple Youth Council, CEO of The 757 Connection Community podcast, and is the chairperson of the Hampton YMCA Reader’s Club program that teaches HCS elementary students how to read through STEM experiments.

Dhruhi Patel – Bethel High School

Dhruhi is a sophomore who has participated in JV volleyball, JV softball, and varsity softball. She has volunteered over 60 hours at Sentara Hospital, and over 20 hours as an HCS Summer Bridge mentor. She participates in Model UN and has completed pre-calculus as a freshman and AP calculus as a sophomore. She enjoys art, tutoring students, and works in the family business.

Olivia Washington – Kecoughtan High School

Olivia, a senior, will be attending Christopher Newport University in the fall and majoring in accounting and a leadership program. She enjoys reading, playing tennis, cooking, and spending time with family and friends. She has served as president of the KHS FBLA chapter and treasurer for the region; academy ambassador; treasurer for Youth in Government; treasurer for Operation Smile, a college and career coach ambassador, and a mentor for Student2Student. 

Brooklyn Willard – Phoebus High School

Brooklyn is a senior who enjoys creating art, especially painting. She plans to attend Old Dominion University in the fall and major in business management. She has worked as a camp counselor during the seasonal breaks at the Fort Monroe Community Center for the past three years.