Pacific Beach Town Council honors two teens with $1,500 scholarships

The Pacific Beach Town Council has honored two teens with the Dan Froelich Youth Award. They are Graham Allen and Joel Levin.

The award is a $1,500 scholarship created by the council in 1990, named after a devoted 11-year-old who was determined to serve his community and make PB a better place for everyone, according to council President Charlie Nieto.

It is given annually by the council to  recognize distinguished Mission Bay High seniors who have demonstrated that same spirit of dedication and servitude to their community as Dan, he said.

For the first time, the annual award was given to a pair of graduating seniors, so a combined $3,000 was presented during the council’s June 17 meeting.

Allen has demonstrated outstanding local leadership by serving as the president of the Mission Bay Surf Team, where he helped organize practices, support his teammates and run the team’s social media to put their best foot forward and represent their school proudly, according to Nieto. Allen also played on his school’s indoor and beach volleyball teams.

The recent graduate earned an International Baccalaureate diploma from Mission Bay High School and was selected to speak on an IB podcast that will be featured throughout IB schools throughout the world, Nieto said.

Outside of school, Allen volunteered with the Autism Tree Project, mentored at Urban Surf 4 Kids and founded his own Surf-Off Series. The annual fundraiser has brought in over $20,000 to support surfing opportunities for foster youths.

In addition, Allen participated in numerous surfing competitions, including those hosted by USA Prime, Western Surfing Association and the National Scholastic Surfing Association. He also found time to work at South Coast Surf Shop after school.

Allen plans to major in event industry management at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Levin was class treasurer his sophomore, junior and senior years of high school, overseeing the fundraising of over $38,000 for his class. His responsibilities included being a part of planning his class’s prom, pep rallies, senior assassin, senior awards and much more, Nieto said.

After school Levin was captain of the Mission Bay varsity tennis team during his junior and senior years. The team became  league champions and CIF champions. Levin also led the Mission Bay Pickleball Club as its treasurer and highest-ranked player.

Outside of school, Levin served as the BBYO Vice President for the Pacific Western Region, the largest Jewish youth group in the world, Nieto said. Levin also served as an inclusion specialist at Camp Jaycee to foster a sense of inclusivity and accessibility, spending time one-on-one with autistic campers ages 5 to 18.

Levin’s other notable endeavors included working for the DREAM Project, being a student poll worker for San Diego County and volunteering at Kindness G’MACH Jewish Gift Closet.

Levin will be pursuing a career in advertising and he aspires to become a creative strategist or advertising executive.

“With both Joel and Graham excelling in our own community, and with even more successes ahead of them, I think it’s safe to say our future is in the right hands,” Nieto said.