ROSE PARADE
Sem Parker, a senior at La Costa Canyon High School, has been selected by Music for All to be a member of the Bands of America Honor Band in the 2026 Rose Parade in Pasadena, joining hundreds of other performers from across the nation in the prestigious national honor band. Parker is the drum major and a trumpeter in La Costa Canyon’s Maverick Brigade marching band.
DARAJA ACADEMY
Jenni Doherty, co-founder of Daraja Academy, an all-girls school in Kenya, along with school counselor Gitwa Lilian and two students, Aquila and Yvonee, recently visited The Grauer School, a private school in Encinitas. The students were hosted by Grauer students Esme McCrary and Sadie Sonneborn Malecki, student leaders of the Girl Rising Club, which works to empower young women locally, nationally and globally. Grauer Principal and Girl Rising Club mentor Alicia Tembi hosted Doherty and Lilian. The schools have a longstanding partnership with each other.
CAL STATE SOCCER
Efren Nunez Dominguez of the Cal State San Marcos men’s soccer team was recently named to the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-West Region first team.
TRIKE-A-THON
The Goddard School of Carlsbad, a local early childhood education provider, recently hosted a Trike-a-Thon to raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The school raised $3,630.
HYGIENE FOR HUMANITY
Frontwave Foundation and Frontwave Credit Union recently built more than 7,000 hygiene kits and raised over $7,200 to support local shelters and outreach programs. The kits include soap, shampoo, and other basic hygiene necessities. There were also 2,000 comfort kits with new socks and underwear, and additional feminine hygiene kits. The kits are being distributed through Interfaith Community Services, Operation HOPE, and Humanity Showers in San Diego County.
BABY OTTERS
Two baby otters, Pearl and Sapphire, were recently born at Nurtured by Nature in Valley Center and will soon make their appearance during the 2026 Otter Swim Encounters. Since 2008, Nurtured by Nature has provided the encounters for children and their families who visit from organizations like the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Nurture by Nature opened its Otter Valley Nature Inspiration Center in Valley Center two years ago, where the otter programs take place.
DADS CLUB
Vista Community Clinic has been awarded a $3.5 million federal grant to expand its Dads Club Program, which strives to help build stronger families by promoting healthy marriages, teaching communication and conflict management skills, and supporting responsible parenting practices. The grant provides $700,000 annually over five years.
CENTER OF HOPE
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest San Diego recently celebrated its newly renovated “Center of Hope” at the Oceanside Clubhouse, made possible by the Panda Cares Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Panda Express. The new center is a modern, multipurpose space designed to help Oceanside youth by offering a safe, inspiring environment for studying, collaboration, career exploration, and workforce-readiness programming.
SHELTER TO SOLDIER
Shelter to Soldier, a nonprofit organization that adopts dogs from local shelters and trains them to become service dogs for post-9/11 veterans, received a $25,000 Giving Tuesday Matching Gift from long-time partner Griffin Funding. The match doubles community donations made on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 2, helping the organization reach its $50,000 fundraising goal.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Held on Nov. 8, the Solana Beach Civic and Historical Society’s Holiday Boutique raised close to $12,000 for the organization’s annual scholarship program. The event featured thousands of unique hand-made quilts, children’s items, holiday ornaments, home decor, planters, garden art, jewelry and more. Here are a few scenes from the annual tradition, which dates back to 1953 when the society was founded.
SCRIPPS RESEARCH
Scripps Research has appointed distinguished leaders in finance and biomedical science, Douglas W. Phillips and Steven M. Paul, to its Board of Directors. Phillips recently retired as senior vice president and chief investment officer at the University of Rochester, where he oversaw the institution’s pension and investment funds totaling more than $12 billion in combined assets. Paul is a neuroscientist, psychiatrist and biopharmaceutical executive with decades of leadership, and is now a professor of psychiatry and neurology at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.
