'All-Around Superstar': Manhattan Beach Star Student

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA— Star Students are found in classrooms, on concert and theater stages and at debate lecterns, and out in the community doing good things to make life better for all of us.

Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize Star Students, and we’re working to tell the stories of these outstanding kids to their neighbors.

This submission comes from S. Akhtar. who nominated Winston of Manhattan Beach. Akhtar is Winston's teacher at Mira Costa High School.

Star local student’s name

Winston Iskandar (10th grade)

Star local student’s home state

California

How do you know the star local student?

Student in my class

Why do you believe the star local student should be recognized?

Winston is an all-around superstar of a student. At school, he’s a role-model student that maintains a 4.0GPA while taking challenging AP and math/computer science dual-enrollment courses.

On the artistic side, he’s an internationally-recognized pianist that has won numerous accolades including First Place at the Los Angeles Elite Music Competition and National Classics Alive Auditions. He was recently invited to perform a solo debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Alongside his brother, Winston runs a program called Musical Encounters, where he leads music workshops for underserved LAUSD elementary schools.

On the technical side, he’s leading a research project with Dartmouth College to improve Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy among elementary and middle school students.

Winston’s generosity and passion for helping others by utilizing technology extend beyond the classroom. Early in the pandemic, when our lives turned digital, Winston had the foresight that the ‘digital divide problem’ would further widen the gap between developed and developing countries.

He co-founded his 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Mathisi-fy, to help address the issue. He collaborated with his peers to provide free computer science workshops and resources for over 2,000 students from underserved communities worldwide. Using Mathisi-fy as his philanthropy platform, he created and ran a successful corporate sponsorships program raising over $100,000 to fundraise computing technology for students in Nigeria and Zambia.

Through his efforts, hundreds of students from disadvantaged backgrounds have learned vital computer science skills, which allowed them to pursue tech-related internships. I admire his tenacity and ambition to tackle one of the biggest global problems. His selfless and unwavering commitment to learning and mentoring is an inspiration to all, and I am proud to call him my student.

What's one thing you want everyone to know about the star local student?

Winston is a unique student with a very bright future and his actions are making positive impacts in the community.

Congratulations on your achievements, and all of our best wishes to you in the future, Winston!

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