Los Alamos Public Schools honors 96 students for kindness and service

Los Alamos Public Schools has recognized 96 students with its fourth annual Devi Raju Citizenship Awards, putting kindness and service at the center of what the district chose to celebrate. Each honoree received a certificate and a $100 Chamber Check, a reward aimed less at individual achievement in the traditional sense than at the daily behavior that shapes a school community.

The criteria show a clear district value. At the elementary level, classroom teachers selected students for exceptional kindness and generosity of spirit toward fellow students. At Los Alamos Middle School, the standard was similar, but it also included service to the community. In a district where honors often spotlight grades, athletics or senior milestones, this recognition sent a different message: Los Alamos Public Schools is publicly rewarding the social habits that make schools work.

The program also has become a steady part of the district’s recognition calendar. This year marked the fourth time the awards were presented, following coverage that described the program as being in its second year in 2024 and its third year in 2025. That progression shows the awards have moved quickly from a new idea to an established tradition in Los Alamos County.

The name behind the award carries its own local history. Dr. M.R. Raju, a retired Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist and former Los Alamos resident, established the citizenship awards in honor of his late wife, M. Subhadra “Devi” Raju. Self Help has said Devi Raju was trained as a lawyer in India and worked on social justice issues, including land and water rights. She later became known as an advocate for people in poverty in northern New Mexico and in India.

Among the middle school honorees named this year were Axel Lovato, Olivia Pulsipher, Lisbeth Munoz, Lanae Collins, Alma Trujillo and Chloe Blackburn. They were pictured with Principal Jill Gonzales, a small reminder that the award is being used inside the schools to recognize the kind of conduct that builds trust among students and staff long before graduation day.

The scale matters, too. Honoring 96 students is broad enough to reach deeply into the district while still preserving the value of the recognition. In practice, the awards amount to a statement about civic formation in Los Alamos: the district is choosing to reward students not just for what they know, but for how they treat one another and how they serve the wider community.