Duman Award Winner: Haddie Jones

Congratulations to our 2024 Duman Award winner, Haddie Jones from Santiam Christian!

One of our SALT tournament traditions is presenting a student with what we call “The Duman Award.” The Duman Award is named after one of our original SALT staff members, who was known for her kindness. Trisha Duman loved being part of SALT, and her passing left us with a forever hole in our hearts. This is an award we give to honor her memory. We ask for the coaches from each school to nominate one student who shines their light brightly for Jesus by always showing kindness, encouragement, and good leadership skills. This year’s Duman Award winner, Haddie Jones, stood out among the nominees. This is what Haddie’s coaches had to say…

“Haddie personifies joy and is frequently among the first to help and mentor other classmates. She does a great job of making everyone feel included. When a classmate was away from school for a prolonged time because of an injury, Haddie found out that the injured student had been reading SALT books in hopes of being on a SALT team. Haddie welcomed her with open arms and encouragement, and even advocated for virtual meetings with the injured student so that she could be part of the team. Haddie has a servant’s heart and loves others with her words and actions.”

Duman Award Winner: Gracie

Congratulations to our 2023 Duman Award winner, Gracie from Willamette Valley Christian School!

Each year we ask SALT coaches from participating schools to nominate one student they feel is a behind-the-scenes hero and shows extraordinary kindness to their teammates. This year’s Duman Award winner stood out among the nominees. Here is what Gracie’s coach had to say about her…

“Since the beginning of the school year, Gracie has always been a reader. When I was introducing SALT to our 3rd Grade class, she was one of the first to sign up. Gracie has enthusiastically read nearly all of the SALT books for this year. Her enthusiasm has encouraged others to read more in order to keep up with her. This is just one of the ways that Gracie shows leadership in her quiet, humble manner.”

The Duman Award was established as a way to honor our beloved teacher Trisha Duman who passed away in 2018. Trisha was a huge supporter of SALT and served on our board. She was definitely one of the behind-the-scenes heroes for us as we were getting the program up and running. Trisha had many amazing characteristics, but she was best known for her kindness.

Duman Award Winner: Annabelle Bradley

Congratulations to our 2022 Duman Award winner, Annabelle Bradley from Western Christian School!

Each year we ask SALT coaches from participating schools to nominate one student they feel is a behind-the-scenes hero and shows extraordinary kindness to their teammates. This year’s Duman Award winner stood out among the nominees. Here is what Annabelle’s coach had to say about her…

“Throughout the year Annabelle has shown great perseverance, creativity, and a good attitude. She has demonstrated what it looks like to be a contributing member of a team by her diligence in handling the content of the books she was responsible to read. Her quality work has been an excellent example for the rest of her team and inspiring for other members of the SALT teams. She has answered more questions from the book of James than any other student at our school. Along with her gentle, quiet spirit, Annabelle’s character has been noteworthy and honoring to the Lord.”

The Duman Award was established as a way to honor our beloved teacher Trisha Duman who passed away in 2018. Trisha was a huge supporter of SALT and served on our board. She was definitely one of the behind-the-scenes heroes for us as we were getting the program up and running. Trisha had many amazing characteristics, but she was best known for her kindness.

Duman Award Winner: Owen Lizama

We would like to congratulate Owen Lizama from Sonshine Christian School as our first recipient of the Duman Award.

We asked SALT coaches from participating schools to nominate one student that they felt was a behind-the-scenes hero and showed extraordinary kindness to their teammates. Owen stood out. Here is what his coach had to say about him…

“He always has the biggest smile on his face and is always encouraging to not just his teammates but to everyone around him. He is everyone’s friend! I’m very proud of how he has kept up our group’s morale and kept the teams’ eyes focused on what is important which is always doing our best and doing it for the Lord!”

The Duman Award was established as a way to honor our beloved teacher Trisha Duman who passed away this last December. Trisha was a huge supporter of SALT and served on our board. She was definitely one of the behind-the-scenes heroes for us as we were getting the program up and running. Trisha had many amazing characteristics, but she was best known for her kindness.