Leslie Maldonado Carrasco of Chaparral High School, heads to the stage to accept the Citizen of the Year award during the 2023 Sun Standout Awards at the South Point Showroom Monday, May 22, 2023.
Thursday, May 25, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Community service initiatives began drawing in Leslie Maldonado Carrasco when she was in middle school. She joined clubs and the National Honor Society out of a desire to help those around here. “I really loved that,” she said.
The senior said making a difference has been top of mind for her ever since. Her favorite community project is the annual Green-Up event at the Las Vegas Wash, which sees volunteers carting out trash and planting new trees, shrubs and grasses.
Maldonado Carrasco will attend UNLV next year on a full-ride scholarship, with a focus on hospitality. She would like to become an event manager. “We need to change, and I would like to be the change,” she said.
In between her volunteering schedule, Maldonado Carrasco excelled as a two-sport athlete. Volleyball and softball have always been her two favorite sports, and she stuck with them throughout high school.
She played outside hitter in volleyball, while patrolling center field in softball. She was also a gymnast growing up.
Other projects she has undertaken include making get-well cards for elderly residents going through physical therapy, and volunteering at the Opportunity Village Magical Forest.
“It’s definitely made me a team player and getting to know different people,” she said. “You can’t get along with everybody, but it shows me how to be more social, more interactive, more talkative.”
Finalists:
• Joyce Calimag, Cristo Rey St. Viator basketball and track: Volunteered with Catholic Charities, Three Square Food Bank and Shade Tree while working at the Clark County Commission the past two years.
• Adrian Rodriguez, Canyon Springs football, wrestling and volleyball: Organized part of a Martin Luther King Jr. parade while serving as a member in the ROTC with plans to enlist in the National Guard.
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
