Coastwise Prize winners honored

The annual Coastwise Prize for Investing Excellence, a scholarship program underwritten by Coastwise Capital Group LLC that aims to promote financial literacy among today’s youth, held its Awards Ceremony on Feb. 23, where this year’s finalists were honored and final six winners were announced.

Due to the program’s recent expansion to include sophomores, juniors and seniors, the scholarship program reached an exceptional number of students this year, impacting the financial lives of many more young adults. Essay topics varied between grade levels, but overall queried students to answer questions around why and how they plan to prepare mentally and financially for the costly expense of college, what resources they have explored, what their goals are, and how attending college will assist in achieving those goals.

The ceremony included dinner at Vigilucci’s Restaurant and special guest appearance by former Chargers player Timothy Dwight. Michael Willoughby, a professor at UCSD, also spoke before the finalists, their families and teachers, instructing all to think through and experience all the great things college has to offer.

Senior first-place winner was Jeanine Mejares of La Jolla High School, with Paul Tran of the Preuss School following in second place. Julia Pian of The Bishop’s School was selected as a first-place winner, while Alex Cromidas from La Jolla Country Day followed in second place for the junior grade level. First place for sophomores was Rick Saxe of La Jolla High School and Maile Nilsson following in second from The Preuss School. The winners received more than $10,000 combined in the form of a 529 College Fund, which will be immediately invested so they may use the money for college expenses.