Amelia Goudzwaard is this year’s Citizenship Award recipient from Malibu High School. She has been playing softball for the past eight years, which led to her position as a Malibu Little League softball coach. Goudzwaard said this position helped cultivate her leadership abilities and pass on her skills and knowledge to others. Seeing her players succeed made her enjoy what she does. Goudzwaard’s greatest talent is to lead others and be a role model to her peers. Making decisions and leading group activities helped her interact with her fellow classmates.
“Overall, I believe that my competitive nature is one of my weaknesses. I might remedy this weakness by understanding that the team effort is more important than individual success and not focus so much on my own individual progress,” Goudzwaard said in her nomination form.
In her free time, she tutors students in subjects such as sixth grade common core math, AP calculus and AP European history. Goudzwaard joined the Zanmi Club her freshman year, which helps women in Haiti, providing them with shelter and home appliances. She traveled to Haiti her junior year with her co-advisor, Ms. Ryan, to visit the women in the Central Plateau. Her experience and her involvement with the Zanmi Club has taught her to pursue what she loves: helping others.