Judge Memorial sophomore honored for service

Courtesy graphic Judge Memorial CHS

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SALT LAKE CITY — Judge Memorial Catholic High School sophomore Sofia Fouad, 15, has been named the Deseret News all-state 3A Humanitarian of the Year.

Sofia, a sophomore team volleyball player, was nominated for the award by her coach, Taylor Gustafson. Nominees in each classification were voted on by the state’s coaches.

The Deseret News has honored high school athletes in Utah for many years throughout the sports season by naming them to all-state teams. This year it expanded the honors to recognize their accomplishments off the field.

“Sofia Fouad is incredibly active at Judge Memorial,” Principal Patrick Lambert said. “She gives her all to academics, athletics, activities and service. Sofia is a leader at the school; she is an inspiring student.”

Sofia is one of three children in her family who are members of St. Ambrose Parish. Her parents are very proud of the volunteer work she does.

“I’m thrilled for other people to recognize what her father and I have seen in her for a long time, and her caring about those more vulnerable people in our society,” said her mother, Gina Fouad.

Last summer Sofia volunteered more than 75 hours at The Children’s Center in Salt Lake City. A member of Utah’s National Charity League chapter, Sofia said she fell in love with the children at the center while involved in a NCL service project there and then continued volunteering in the classrooms there on her own.

Through NCL, Sofia has participated in projects serving the YWCA, Circles, Neighborhood House and The Road Home. Sofia and her cousin Bridget Hankins and their friends also started a school club, the Female Alliance.

“We recognized that there was not really a space for women and non-binary individuals at our school to really talk about female issues,” she said.

The group meets regularly for discussion and to work on service projects. Last month the club hosted a period product drive at the school.

In addition to her extracurricular activities, Sofia is enrolled in several honors and AP classes. Even though she has a busy schedule, she spends much of her spare time volunteering.

“I love kids more than anything in this world,” she said. “I’m an aunt, I’m a big sister, I have younger cousins, and I’ve always felt super connected to little kids. Knowing that those kids don’t have someone in their lives that’s constantly stable to help them through really hard things – I love being that person for those kids. They just go through so much at such a young age, and it’s really hard for them to process those things. If I can just be the person to talk them through it, be the person to read them stories and do normal kid stuff with them where they can get away from all those horrible experiences, then that’s the most important thing in the world to me.”

After high school, Sofia plans to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in child psychology. She hopes to then find ways to take organizations like the Children’s Center to other places in the world, so more children and families can have access to those kinds of resources.

“It’s a huge honor and I don’t even think I would be in the running,” she said of the Deseret News award. “In my mind, it’s just something I love to do. I’ve always said I would do it even if I got absolutely no credit, no recognition, no anything just because I love it so much.”