2020 archdiocesan students of the year named

The local winners were:
 

Elementary Division (5th grade), Elyse Dysart of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette.
 

Middle/Junior High Division (8th grade), Camille Truxillo of St. Mary’s Dominican High School.

 

High School Division (12th grade), Trent Burke of De La Salle High School.
 

Elementary School winner
    

“It has been an honor to be selected for Our Lady of Prompt Succor and the Archdiocese of New Orleans 5th Grade Student of the Year,” Dysart said. “To have been selected among so many well-deserving students has been an amazing experience, and one I will forever cherish. I know this opportunity would not have been possible without the love and support from my family, my guidance from my teachers and my faith in God.”
    

At Our Lady of Prompt Succor School, she is involved in Student Council, the Science Club, Library Club, chorus, Photo Journalism Club, Drama Club, Petite Dance Team and Patriettes Dance Team. She has volunteered to help children with learning and physical disabilities after school in her mom’s classroom, during public sporting events and fundraisers. She is an assistant dance instructor at Modern Conceptions of Dance and performs at Docville Community Performances and in community plays with The Company (a community children’s theater). She finished in the Top 10 at Mount Carmel Academy’s speech contest.
    

Her parents’ community-service jobs – her mother served as a special education teacher, her father as a firefighter – shaped her service to others.
    

“I must remember to be the best person I can be, remember to always put others before myself, live life to the fullest and always look to God for my guidance,” Dysart said in her portfolio application.
    

Dysart loves writing and is an advocate against bullying and for the less fortunate and aspires to be a news anchorwoman, a wedding planner or an actor.
 

Middle School winner
    

Truxillo is in advanced honors classes, maintaining a straight A average at St. Mary’s Dominican. Her school extracurriculars include cross-country team, playing saxophone in the marching, concert and Jazz bands; Discipleship Group; Junior Classical League; and student ambassador. She is a prize-winning Irish dancer, a St. Pius X CYO leader and an altar server, and she attended the 2020 March for Life. She is a middle school Academic Games local sweepstakes champion and placed first in the “presidents” competition. 
     

“When I was chosen out of the whole archdiocese, I was blown away,” Truxillo said. “Why would they choose me? What did I do differently from everyone else? 
    

“As I talked to the teachers, family members and peers who helped me put my application together, I learned a few things about myself – that I am the kind of person who gives her all when faced with a challenge; that my confidence doesn’t come from others’ approval, but from within myself; that my family members are my greatest supporters; and mostly that the deep faith that my family and Catholic school have instilled in me will carry me through any hardships, no matter how stressed, upset or nervous I am.”
 

High School winner
    

Burke is an honors’ graduate of De La Salle High School who received the school’s Signum Fidei (“Always Faithful”) award, the Principal’s Award for religious studies and the Cavalier of the Year award in consecutive years. He was homecoming king, an Advanced Placement Scholar and a member of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta National Math Honor Society, Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, National English Honor Society and Quill and Scroll National Journalism Honor Society. He was named LHSAA “All-Academic” 3-A for cross country and track and field.
    

Burke received the archdiocesan CYO’s St. Timothy award for service and participated as a panelist in the “Christus Vivit (Christ Lives): Strengthening Ministry with Youth and Young Adults” workshop. Her also won the Ed Brauner American Legion Post 307’s American Legion award.
    

He is a North Carolina A&T’s Dowdy Scholars Cohort for academic achievement and plans to major in computer engineering. 
    

To qualify for a “Student of the Year” nomination, students had to be enrolled in grades 5, 8 or 12, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.1 and complete a district-level portfolio. Dysart, Truxillo and Burke submitted their initial portfolio to the Office of Catholic Schools. Dr. RaeNell Houston presented certificates to each student.
    

“We are so proud of him,” Trent’s mother, Norlisha P. Burke, said. She and her husband Tim are also both De La Salle graduates. She was in the class of ’93, and Tim was in the class of ’91. “The school has meant so much to us, giving us all so many opportunities.”
    

Christine Bordelon can be reached at [email protected].