Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites - Kids Kaleidoscope

SISTER CITIES INTERNATIONAL YOUNG ARTISTS AND AUTHORS SHOWCASE HONORS CITY OF SANTA BARBARA SISTER CITIES LOCAL STUDENTS

1st Place Miranda Li - 8th Grade, Goleta Valley Jr. High - Teacher: Diana Hemsley "Peaceful Friendship"

Friendship: The Heartbeat of Global Peace, the theme of 2025 Young Artists and Authors Showcase, brought out the best in competitors ages 13-17 for the City of Santa Barbara Sister Cities annual young artists and authors competition (YAAS), featuring a bevy of local students’ presenting their creative response to their personal understanding of global peace.

YAAS Student Award Winners 2025 pictured include: Andrew Draper, Ariana Anaya De Jesus, Sofia Saseen, Kate Brecher, Dahlia Terebessy, Kendall Switzer, Paetra Spahn. Additional winners included: Miranda Li, Sophia Esparza, Daniella Ramirez, Aung Zaw, and Atton Hayes.

Margaret Saavedra, (SCI) and Kai Tepper, (CCP) presented proud recipient Aung Zaw his award. The 2025 Judges included Handcrafted 2D Art: Patrick Melroy, MFA, Adrienne De Guevara, Lisa Jablonski,

MAEd; Photography & Digital Art: Jenny Johns, MFA, Jon White, Lisa Jablonski, MAEd, Poetry: Katie Anderson, M.A. and Miriam Frieden, M. Ed. were all selected by members of the County Education Office who have supported the YAAS program for the past few years by providing a venue for the annual event, as well as selection of judges approved by Children’s Creative Project members Kelly Mitchell, Kai Tepper, Yoseline Gonzalez, Erin Sawyer, Kate Yamaski, and Victor Gonzalez.

Margaret Saavedra and Kai Tepper presented the annual awards to

the gathering of deserved students. All in attendance were pleased to see talented Poet Paetra Spahn accept her winning award, and charm the entire room as she read her beautiful poem from the podium

with such poise and grace. Kelly Mitchell and Yoseline Gonzalez, Children’s Creative Project shared that there were so many great submissions this year the judges struggled to settle on the final winners of cash prizes. Sister Cities greatly appreciates the support of City of Santa Barbara Councilman Oscar Guiterrez (SCI Sister Cities Liaison) who was in attendance at YAAS, and officiates at Sister Cities Committee meetings and special events, as does our City of Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse, time permitting.

City of Santa Barbara Sister Cities currently has six Sister City Committees: Kotor Montenegro, Toba Japan, Weihai China, Miraflores Peru, Patras Greece, and Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Takako Wakita of Toba Japan Sister Cities Committee (twenty-two-year member), Margarita Zaske Miraflores Peru (newest member with two years), along with Jill Stassinos Weihai China and Margaret Saavedra gave brief messages on their current Sister Cities Activities.

The Sister Cities Program in the U.S. had its beginnings from a proposal made by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to

establish a “People-to-People Program.” His wish was to involve people and organized groups in personal diplomacy, hoping relationships fostered would contribute to building world peace. Sister Cities International YAAS programs aim to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation – one individual, one community at a time. The Sister Cities International will soon celebrate sixty years of participation in this special diplomacy program with Santa Barbara Sister Cities members.

Sister Cities International is the U.S. national organization for nearly 500+ communities, and their 1800+ partners in 140+ countries around the world. The SCI original focus on personal diplomacy has been broadened to four key themes: economic development, arts and culture, youth and education, and humanitarian assistance. The annual YAAS, Young Artists and Authors Showcase competition is just one of the special programs sponsored by Sister Cities International through their worldwide committees and associations. For membership information please visit: www.sistercities.org.