Real estate developer Caruso held its 11th annual Spirit of American Youth scholarship ceremony this month, awarding two Glendale high school students $10,000 each. Winners are Madeleine Ackley, a graduate at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, and Hailey Sole, a graduate of Maranatha High School in Pasadena. Both students live in Glendale. Caruso hosted the awards ceremony and luncheon for the recipients earlier this month at Trattoria Amici, an Italian bistro in the Americana at Brand outdoor shopping center in Glendale. Americana is part of the company’s development portfolio which includes shopping and entertainment centers The Grove in L.A., The Promenade at Westlake in Westlake Village and The Commons at Calabasas. On site for the festivities were Glendale’s Mayor Ara Najarian and Rick Caruso, the billionaire founder and chief executive of Caruso. “We always like being connected to the community. That’s a big part of what we do, not only through design but through the operations,” Caruso told the Business Journal. He said the scholarship program drew between 300 and 400 applicants this year, the program’s most ever. “It’s always very tough to select two (recipients). But I’m always so proud of the kids that get it, they’re remarkable,” Caruso added. Spirit of American Youth is an effort by Caruso to recognize local high schoolers who excel not just academically, but as fledgling community leaders and philanthropists. Ackley, for example, routinely volunteered at homeless shelters. She also served as a youth instructor at Burbank Music Academy, where she discovered at a young age her passion for instrumental composition and writing music with lyrics. This fall, Ackley is attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. She was not present at the ceremony as her school semester had already begun, and was represented by her parents. Her mother Casey Ackley said Madeleine plans to study film scoring at Berklee. Sole last year organized a campaign to raise money to purchase holiday gifts for children at the Communidad Cesar Chavez shelter in L.A. She was also one of 250 students in California chosen to attend Pepperdine University’s youth citizen seminars. Sole is enrolled as a business administration major at USC.
