Crossroads Students Honored with Awards and Accolades

Ninth grader Layla Laiken was accepted into the National Honors Society for Dance Arts. 

Eleventh grader Abby Listenberger was awarded first place overall in the senior division and first in the solo category in the Starpower Dance Competition.  

Eleventh grader Arabella Joaquin was a finalist in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) and won several YAGP awards including: Senior Top 12 in both Contemporary and Classical, second place in YAGP Ensemble (Small Group) as well as Top 12 Ensemble at the Youth Grand Prix Philippines. She also received an honorable mention from the California Dance Classics. Arabella was awarded scholarship acceptances to John Cranko Summer Intensive, Legacy Masters Summer Program, Vaganova International Program and the International Contemporary Master Summer Intensive.

Seventh grader Dora Adelman received the DownBeat Magazine Student Music Award for Junior High School Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist, Vocals and Guitar.

Ninth grader Ethan Wu was awarded first place in the finals of the American String Teachers Association Bowed Strings Competition, Viola 1 Category, and will advance to the California state finals in October 2026. Ethan was also a winner of the Palisades Symphony Concerto Competition.

Ninth grader Stanley Gavin was selected for the UCLA Summer Global Jazz Intensive.

Ninth grader Alex Rescorla won the Grand Prize in the performer-composer category in the North American Division of The 3rd Australia International Music Competition. 

Tenth grade violinist Vivienne Shiao won an honorable mention in the American String Teachers Association Los Angeles live finals of the Bowed Strings Competition. Vivienne was also a winner of the Palisades Symphony Concerto Competition.

Tenth grade violist Prince Wang was awarded first place in the Charleston International Music Competition.

Tenth graders Miles Prabhu and Rishi Bhatt and ninth grader Stanley Gavin were accepted into the Stanford Jazz Institute.

Tenth grader Landon Hollman was selected for the SCSBOA All-Southern California High School Jazz All-Stars and the All-State High School Jazz Band (the only bass player selected statewide) as well as the 2026 NEA/Herbie Hancock Institute National Peer-to-Peer All-Star Jazz Quintetto. He was also awarded a scholarship from California Jazz Alliance. 

Eleventh grader Leo Rao was selected for the All-Southern California Honor Jazz Band.

At the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards performing arts competition, 11th grader Coleman Steele advanced to the second round and 12th grader Austin Washington was a semifinalist.

Upper School students Giovana Baker, Shiv Munjal, Melese Light-Orr, Brett Rosenblatt, Rhys Grandy, Oliver Orosco, and Will Gershwin were selected for the California Association of Independent Schools honor band.

Both Jazz 4 and Jazz 3 bands received Gold ratings at the Forum Music Festival at Fullerton College. Sissi Rao, Austin Washington, and Benny Karpman earned individual awards as well.

The Crossroads Jazz 3 and 4 bands traveled to New York City for the WorldStrides Heritage Festival. The Jazz 3 Band was awarded a Gold Third Place and the Jazz 4 Band came home with the Outstanding Band Trophy, Adjudicator Award Trophy and Gold First Place—the festival’s highest award. Twelfth graders Lola Goetz and Sissi Rao were awarded Maestro Awards for extraordinary musical ability and sensitivity. Sissi also won the festival’s singular Ovation Award for her contributions to Crossroads music and the broader community.

The Crossroads student-run newspaper, Crossfire, was named a 2026 Crown Award finalist in the Digital News category—one of the most prestigious honors in student journalism—by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Tenth grader Harper Kamins was awarded a Gold Key for Screenplays & Scripts, a Silver Key for Personal Essay & Memoir and a Silver Key for Poetry.

Tenth grader Samantha Leeds was awarded a Silver Key for Personal Essay & Memoir and an honorable mention for Screenplays & Scripts.

Tenth grader Maxson McKuin received an honorable mention in Personal Essay & Memoir.

Tenth grader Evelyn Lewis was awarded a Gold Key for Poetry and a Silver Key for Short Story. 

Eleventh grader Rhys Grandy was awarded two Gold Keys for Poetry and one Gold Key for Short Story along with three Silver Keys for Poetry.

Eleventh grader Blaise Gardner was awarded a Gold Key for Poetry.

Eleventh grader Miles Belkind was awarded a Gold Key for Poetry.

Eleventh grader Mae Andrew was awarded a Gold Key for Poetry, a Silver Key for Flash Fiction and an honorable mention for Personal Essay & Memoir.

Eleventh grader Charlotte Wenneker was awarded a Gold Key for Personal Essay & Memoir.

Twelfth grader Sarina Braun was awarded a Silver Key for Personal Essay & Memoir.

Twelfth grader Jett Laiken received an honorable mention in the Writing Portfolio category.

Tenth grader Samantha Leeds was awarded the New Talent Award from the National Film Festival for Talented Youth and Best Young Filmmaker from the Independent Shorts Awards, and received a Silver Key for Film & Animation from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Twelfth grader Sarina Braun won second place for her short film at the Open Mind Film Festival.

Ninth graders Landon Fawaz and Julia Wolfberg created pictograms that were chosen for the exhibition My LA Pictogram at Japan House LA.

Eleventh grader Zack Cheuk was a YoungArts 2026 Winner with Distinction in Visual Arts.

Eleventh grader Blaise Gardner was awarded a Silver Key and an honorable mention for Painting from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

The Crossroads Project X Flagway Travel Team—seventh grader Blake Williams, eighth graders Xi'analiah Ballon, Mariama Belew, Cameron Clayter, Blake Dixon, and Monroe Johnson, and ninth graders Cayden Matthews and Krishna Mitchell—earned third place in the National Flagway Tournament in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The tournament brings together students from around the country to compete in the fast-paced, physical "knowledge sport" that combines athleticism with advanced mathematical concepts.

Ninth graders Layla Laiken and Mila Shen won a Research Award for outstanding work on the topic of preventing educational and economical disempowerment of women. 

Tenth grader Samantha Leeds received a Commendation from the International Maritime Organization at Bruin MUN.

Eleventh grader Nadav Brandes was awarded Best Delegate, Marymount Model UN (solo delegate, DISEC Advanced).

Eleventh grader Arabella Joaquin was awarded an honorable mention on the Joint Crisis Committee from Pacific Model United Nations. 

Eleventh grader Sebastian Gonzales and 10th grader Armaan Hariharan earned third place in the Global Stock Pitch Competition, an international high school capstone event hosted in New York City by Young Investors Society.

Eleventh grader Arabella Joaquin was awarded a Global Impact Recognition Award, a Global Fundraising Award and an International Community Builder Award from Leadership Initiatives for her fundraising work supporting communities in Northern Nigeria. Arabella was also awarded a scholarship to attend the Leadership Initiative Summer Internship Program.   

Students in the Middle School Latin Department completed the National Latin Exam and the National Mythology Exam, receiving distinctions at every level. They participated in the State Latin Convention bringing back first-, second- and third-place awards in multiple categories and received many accolades at the Southern California Regional Amici Madness (SCRAM). Upper School students also completed the National Latin Exam, the Myth Medusa Exam and attended the California Junior Classical League State Convention, where they received awards for Overall Artistic Winner, All-Around Individual, Overall Athletic Winner, as well as first, second and third-place ribbons.