About the Award
In the fall of 2008, two friends, Jason Baehr and Steve Porter, had an idea: to open a charter school in Long Beach with a unique educational model. As they worked to bring that vision to life, they turned to their community for help. This is where Danielle Montiel stepped in.
Through her thoughtfulness, carefulness, and dedication, she was a part of the small team that wrote the charter school petition and did all the work of opening a charter school that led to IVA’s approval by LBUSD in 2012. From that great work on, she played a significant role in growing this unique school community.
How did Danielle Montiel create such an impact on the school? Danielle turned her excellent mind to her tasks and to the people forming this community. Danielle saw the value in others and encouraged their growth. Her curiosity, care, and commitment to cultivating community inspired those around to be the best versions of herself. To have this person of character in our founding school community created a thoughtful, supportive and challenging environment. Danielle has left an indelible mark on the culture at IVA and on our school.
Each year, IVA’s faculty and staff select one promoting student that exemplifies this award.
Established in 2019, the Danielle Montiel Memorial Award honors a member of IVA’s founding team, its first employee, and a connector of our community. Each year the award recognizes a student who uses their good intellectual character to make meaningful impact to the culture of thinking, care, and connection at IVA. Danielle had an excellent mind that she used in the service of and for the good of others. In doing so, Danielle made the community a happier and more beautiful place. We celebrate the students who impact us in this way.
The Danielle Montiel Memorial Award includes engraved natural wood bookends for the recipient and funds to pursue their curiosity. Each year the award is made possible by the generous support of Danielle’s parents John and Claire Tschirky and honors Danielle’s love of books and nature.
Ruthie is a person of integrity who consistently does what is right, even when it would be easier to stay silent. 
She has the courage to speak up for others, stand up against unfairness, and she helps create an environment where everyone feels included and valued.
What stands out most is the way she combines intellectual character with care for others. Ruthie leads with both confidence and humility, inspires those around her to be their best selves, and makes our community stronger simply by being a part of it.
Ruthie attends the PACE program at Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
Sofia is incredibly tenacious in being her authentic self. She finds the joy in each class that she enters. She builds meaningful relationships with not just her peers but with her teachers as well. She is enthusiastic to be in class, to learn, and to try new things. Sofia approaches challenges without hesitation, and finds a way to put in visible effort each day.
Sofia frequently makes positive statements about school activities, extracurricular activities, and other people. She leads by example in showing kindness and integrity, regardless of who she is with or where she is on campus.
She is so confident in who she is as a person. Not afraid to be herself completely, shares good recommendations, she is open and comfortable with herself. She is unapologetic. What’s behind so much of this is her deep curiosity, this is what drives her attentiveness, generosity with other people, honestly interested in listening to others thoughts.
Sofia attends the PACE program at Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
Oliver is someone who, no matter what other students are doing, is always trying his absolute best. He manages to be exceptionally “cool” while also being really respectful and kind and hard working. He is someone that all students can look up to. He doesn’t treat people differently depending on their social status. He is kind to everyone.
Oliver attends the PACE program at Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
Zoe is a valuable member of the IVA community. She is genuine with her actions, she is kind and thoughtful with her peers, and shows respect and appreciation for teachers and staff. She is a curious and passionate learner. She helps invite others into the learning environment, uplifts her peers, and is eager to lead and help when needed. She is not afraid to admit if she doesn’t know something, and she willingly and lovingly puts in her best effort in both learning and social environments. alike.
Zoe attends Wilson High School.
In terms of academics, Eli practices intellectual courage by putting himself out there and asking questions. He practices curiosity and shows a true love for learning. He brings so much positive energy to class. He is kind, expresses gratitude and loves to help others any time he can. In math last year he was consistently attentive, open to new ideas, humble in acknowledging mistakes and always willing to share his ideas with a partner or the whole class. He also always said thank you on his way out of class!
Eli practices humility in his willingness to admit mistakes and grow from them, which can make others do the same. He is constantly enthusiastic about wanting to help others in any way that he can and does so with a genuinely positive attitude.
Eli attends the PACE program at Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
AJ is kind to all students regardless of their grade level or reputation. He gives people the benefit of the doubt, while also being able to create boundaries. He’ll hear classmates complaining and he will calmly give advice by asking questions or saying how he would handle the situation. AJ thanks me for the lesson after each class meeting and wishes me a good day or weekend. He says it in a genuine way! He is good at separating business from friendships. He is a role model for his classmates because he participates and takes intellectual risks. This encourages other students to pay attention and participate as well. He’s fun and students seek him out.
He is kind and caring and wants to create connections with him community no matter what grade the students are in. AJ is a strong advocate for himself and his friends. He demonstrates many of the virtues as well setting a strong example for all grade levels.
AJ attended the Cobalt Institute of Math and Science in Victorville and then went to the University of California, Irvine.
Leah is a genuinely curious and attentive learner, despite any struggles or challenges she may face. I have witnessed her being open-minded and compassionate both in the traditional classroom and outside of it (during advisory). She is very thoughtful with her words and actions, and she helps create a welcome and safe learning environment for all. She embodies the traits that our mission and vision wishes to implement in our student body and community.
Leah takes conversations as a class deeper. She asks questions, clarifies what other students are saying in a way that promotes peace and better discussion. She is constantly engaged demonstrating curiosity, open-mindedness, attentiveness. She is always reading new things and thinking about new things. She also has this awesome “thinking/pondering face.”
Leah attended the JMAC program at Jordan High School and then went to
Janice is a joy bringer to every class. She really brings out ideas and questions and gets us talking. She’s really good at connecting things other students say (sometimes even from a few weeks back) and then weaving that into our class and really enriching our whole class culture.
Janice practices an exuberant curiosity about every single topic tossed her way. She always wants to know more and asks questions in a way that pushes us deeper into the learning. She has the kind of enthusiasm that is contagious, which has been especially helpful to the community culture during online learning. She loves learning for learning’s sake. She is open to all the wonders of the world, eagerly taking it all in and making it part of who she is.
She is extremely thorough as she articulates her thinking, digging deeper to provide support from many angles. She is willing to hear multiple perspectives and is interested in knowing more. She is not afraid to ask questions or share her thinking. She pushes through challenges and embraces struggle.
Janice attended the PACE program at Long Beach Polytechnic High School and then went to the University of California, Berkeley.
Video Presentation 2020 – promoting during the global pandemic
Brianna attended the PACE program at Long Beach Polytechnic High School and then went to Dartmouth College majoring in Neuroscience.
Sofia is an attentive and intellectually thorough learner who asks questions that often inspire the thinking of your peers. Sofia’s thoroughness and self reflection shared openly with her community inspires students to practice their own self reflection and a desire to push their own thinking. Sofia continually moves beyond a cursory understanding of the task or novel at hand and takes the class with her. Sofia grows in her curiosity and encourages that growth in her community in way she steps forward with thoughtful questions and pondering information she comes across. She takes initiative in her learning and jumps into the learning process without needing reassurance or guidance. Sofia pursues active engagement and personal presence and sets an example of intellectual humility that invites her class into that relationship with learning.
Sofia attended the Quest Program at Millikan High School and then University of California, Berkeley.
