Two High School Seniors Named Irish Belles for 30th St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17

Cameryn Boggio-Shean of Ventura High and Jonyssa Carrillo of El Camino High will serve as Irish Belles for the Ventura Elks Club’s 30th annual County Ventura St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Ventura.

For the first time in the eight-year history of its Irish Belle program, the parade committee has selected two winners to share the honor.

“The consensus of the five members on the committee was that neither one of the top two candidates could be considered a second choice,” said committee chairman Tim O’Neil. “We agreed that, for the first time, we had a virtual tie and two Irish Belles for 2018.”

Both Cameryn and Jonyssa are seniors at their Ventura high schools. They were selected from among six candidates chosen by the principals of six local high schools.

An accomplished musician, Cameryn is lead cellist in Ventura High’s national award-winning Honor’s String Orchestra, co-founder of the Cougars’ Den Peer Mentoring Program, and a volunteer music instructor at Project Harmony.

Jonyssa is described by her principal, Cheryl Burns, as “a scholar with a 3.8 GPA, a solid work ethic and a kind heart. Giving back to others and building a strong school community are very important to Jonyssa.” Each year, Jonyssa has been part of El Camino’s Leadership Class, where she helps to organize school events and build school spirit.

The Belles’ duties are to attend promotional activities supporting the parade and to ride in the convertible that leads the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee entry.