By Naomi Kruh
Staff Writer
Whether he was building a school in Africa or DJing the latest event, senior Matt Stern also managed to become Mira Costa Student of the Year at the All Awards Assembly on May 28.
Every year, teachers vote for seniors out of the top 10 percentile for the Student of the Year award. The teachers vote, to narrow down the pool of students to five, then department chairs make the final decision for Student of the Year. Stern was aware that he would be receiving valedictorian, but the Student of the Year award recipient was kept secret until the assembly.
“I look for students who have done things that I consider to be exceptional, those who think outside the box, who go out of their way and go above and beyond in everything that they are involved in,” Spanish teacher Felise Shapiro said.
During the Stern’s four years Costa, he has been apart of the Musting Morning News. Stern was one of the show’s producers his sophomore and junior year and this year transitioned to being one of the two news directors who are in charge of running the entire production.
“He is an honest person who cares about other people,” video production and broadcast journalism teacher Michael Hernandez said. “Stern works really hard and is a role model for other people and students.”
Stern, a.k.a. DJ Sterntables, began DJing his freshman year when he was enrolled as a student at Scratch DJ Academy of Los Angeles. According to Stern, he was instantly hooked and began his business shortly after taking a few classes.
“I love being able to light up a room with energy from my music,” Stern said. “I hope to be able to DJ throughout college and ultimately continue my hobby as a side job.”
While at Costa, Stern participated in several clubs, such as Team Los Angeles and Ping Pong for Hope.
This past year, Stern and fellow senior Emily Everhard created a non-profit organization called The Building Class. Within two months, The Building Class raised $10,000 to construct a school in Kenya. After raising the money, Stern traveled to Kenya with Everhard to build a school through his organization.
“Winning the Student of the Year award was an amazing honor,” Stern said. “It was nothing I would have ever expected, especially as a freshman here. The students of the year were always people I looked up to as role models, so being crowned Student of the Year was pretty incredible.”
This fall, Stern will attend the University of Southern California, where he will study innovation and technology at the new Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy, where rapper Dr. Dre parterned with record producer Jimmy Iovine to design a degree mixing business, marketing, product development, design and liberal arts. Stern will be one of 25 students enrolled in the first class at the new academy.
“I’m looking forward to being surrounded by incredibly intelligent thinkers and people that will boost me to my highest potential,” Stern said.
At Costa’s Class of 2014 graduation ceremony on Thursday, Stern will also be giving a speech as one of the 21 valedictorians of his grade.
“I want to thank Mira Costa’s teachers, administrators and students,” Stern said. “I wouldn’t be anywhere without my Costa family, and I owe all my success to them.”
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