By Robin Shepherd

The Mountain View-Los Altos-Los Altos Hills Challenge Team held its Annual Champions for Youth Breakfast last week and had no trouble finding candidates to recognize for their excellence in volunteer service on behalf of the community’s youth.

This year, the Challenge Team recognized Bruce Barsi, captain of the Mountain View Police Department, and Judy Hannemann, a trustee for the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District (MVLA). Each honoree received certificates of recognition from Liz Kniss, representing the 5th District of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and from state Sen. Joe Simitian.

The Challenge Team is a community-based, non-profit partnership of students, school districts, police departments, community organizations, parent groups and health service agencies collaborating to prevent substance abuse among young people of the community. Challenge Team activities include local sports camps, programs for at-risk youth and other projects supporting elementary, middle and high school youth in the public and private schools of Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.

Barsi has served six years on the Mountain View police force, during which he has worked in successful programs to support at-risk youth, including Cops For Kids, Cops and Goblins, a Thanksgiving Meals program and the Cops That Care toy drive during the Christmas holiday season.

Barsi has volunteered to mentor high school students, served as president of the Mountain View Rotary Club and been active on a Challenge Team task force on gang problems. Before joining the Mountain View force, Barsi served with the San Mateo Police Department.

Hannemann has more than two decades of community and education service to her credit, including stints as assistant dean of students at Stanford University and local program coordinator for Pepperdine University.

Now in her fourth term as an MVLA trustee, Hannemann has served as president of the PTA, League of Women Voters, YWCA board and Los Altos School District board of trustees. She is active in the Mountain View Rotary, the Los Altos Community Foundation board and the Southern Peninsula Hearing League. In 2002, Hannemann was selected the 21st Assembly District’s Woman of the Year by then-Assemblyman Simitian.

For more information about Challenge Team, contact Gay Krause at 949-7113 or krausegay@foothill.edu.