Princess-Nyosha McWilliams, an eighth grader at Pathfinder K-8 School, won the Mayor's Leadership Award and a $2,500 college scholarship.

The scholarship was the culmination of the Mayor's Scholars Awards, given this year to 19 students from Seattle schools. Mayor Greg Nickels presented the awards at a ceremony Thursday evening at City Hall.

Four other students from West Seattle schools also received the Mayor's Scholar Awards:

* Mia Kaiser-Nielsen, a sixth grader also at Pathfinder;

* Adriana Tabile, a sixth grader at Madison Middle School;

* Miranda Taylor, an eighth grader at Denny Middle School; and

* Amleset Tesfamariam, an eighth grader also at Madison.

Also, Tiana Woods, an eighth grader at Whitman Middle School in Ballard, won the Leighton Hilbert Scholarship Award, given to a Native American student, and a $1,000 college scholarship.

The Mayor's Scholar Award honors "unsung heroes." Students submitted essays last February, saying how they contribute to their communities, what obstacles they face, and how they would use their award money. The Leighton Hilbert Scholarship is given to a Native American student in a Seattle school.

All the students have good academic standing. Their applications included recommendations from teachers and other adults familiar with their service work.

"These students represent decency, honor, goodness, tenacity and grace," said Ken Alhadeff, a major donor for the nine years the awards have been given. "These awards are for those who can love the deepest, care the broadest, and sacrifice the most for their community."

"This award allows us to recognize Seattle's next generation of leaders," Nickels said. "Service to others is the foundation of a strong community."

Alhadeff and Nickels gave each student a certificate, an oversized letterman jacket ("To grow into," said Alhadeff) and $500 to use for their own education or to donate to charity.

Mia Kaiser-Nielsen is the all-student body president for her grade, and helped the school raise nearly $3,000 in last autumn's Penny Harvest. She volunteered for the American Red Cross after her mother was involved in the shooting at the Jewish Federation in July 2006. She said she will save her award for college tuition, and give back to the community by becoming a teacher.

Adriana Tabile removed English ivy from Othello Park on Beacon Hill, helped her Seattle Church of Christ with its food drive for Northwest Harvest, and keeps a 4.0 grade point average at school. On Saturdays, she volunteers for a youth group in Redmond, working with her younger brother, Joey, and other kids who have autism.

Through her Girl Scout troop, Miranda Taylor helps feed the homeless, sings carols at nursing homes, and prepares Christmas cookie baskets for fire stations. She volunteers at her church's preschool and was a leader for its summer day camp.

Since she was 9, Amleset Tesfamariam has been a member of the choir at the Gevre Genet Kidisti Selessiae Eritrean Orthodox Church. Though she was born in the United States, she teaches younger students songs in her native language, Tigrinya. She will tithe one-tenth of her award, and put the rest in an investment account for college.

All the Mayor's Scholar Awards are funded by private donations made to the Alliance for Education, a nonprofit organization, and given through the city's Office for Education.

Matthew G. Miller is a freelance writer living in the Admiral District and may be contacted via wseditor@robinsonnews.com.