Altimira Middle School announces Students of the Year

Joseph Costanzo and Ava Burk honored for 2015-2016|

Since coming to Altimira Middle School in fifth grade from St. Francis Solano School, Student of the Year Joseph Castanzo has maintained a 3.86 GPA across all his classes. This year, he is taking accelerated science, algebra and advanced language arts.

He says that U.S. history is his favorite class because his teacher, Justin Hollander, 'makes history come alive.' When asked what advice he would pass on to future middle school students, Joe said, 'I believe you should be involved with clubs, activities and athletics. You only have one chance at middle school – don't waste any opportunities.'

Outside of his schoolwork, Joe has played basketball for Altimira for the past two years. Next year, he is excited to attend Sonoma Valley High. He is considering the possibility of studying engineering and following in the footsteps of his father who is a construction engineer.

Student of the Year Ava Burk joined Altimira from El Verano Elementary School. During her two years at Altimira she has maintained a 3.86 GPA in all her classes, despite rigorous coursework in algebra and advanced language arts.

About her English class, Ava said, 'Mr. Curtis makes the writing process creative and real.' She offers the following advice to future students, 'I encourage you to challenge yourself. Take an honors class, meet new people and not always hang out with the same group. If you see someone sitting alone, sit down with them, you never know you might make a new friend.'

Ava is very involved with Altimira's yearbook and she looks forward to taking photography next year at Sonoma Valley High. She would like to attend the University of Hawaii for college and one day be a photographer for a music magazine.

This article is one in a series throughout the year, honoring the Students of the Year at each school campus.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.