Business & Entrepreneurship
GOLD - Gianfranco Cardenas
SILVER - Ashley Portillo
BRONZE - Benny Hernandez
Community Service
GOLD - Ximena Valenciano
SILVER - Lorena Salgado
BRONZE - Hanniel Martinez Diaz
Education
GOLD - Melissa Flores
SILVER - Jazmin Hernandez
BRONZE - Carmen Jacobo
Engineering
GOLD - Matthew Gomez
SILVER - Luis Antonio Hernandez Aguirre
BRONZE - Mauricio Rodriguez
Healthcare & Science
GOLD - Edgar Ocelotl Tecuanhuey
SILVER - Victoria Zambrano
BRONZE - Addisyn Weiland
Media & Entertainment
GOLD - Citlalic Garcia
SILVER - Isabella Wilson
BRONZE - Jesus Flores Morales
Public Service & Social Justice
GOLD - Edgar Vilchez
SILVER - Melanie Garcia
BRONZE - Zachary Sardas-Trevorrow
Sports & Fitness
GOLD - Lily Witte
SILVER - Ellie Sanchez
BRONZE - Matthew Gomez
Sustainability (Green)
GOLD - Guadalupe Vazquez
SILVER - Xenia Diaz Castillo
BRONZE - Reyna Duffy
Technology
GOLD - Alexandria Balde
SILVER - Nathalia Olivarez
BRONZE - Zachary Kirkeby
Business & Entrepreneurship
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Gianfranco Cardenas
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
High School: Lawrence North High School
Hispanic Heritage: Peruvian
Gianfranco credits his Peruvian background in not only helping drive his entrepreneurial spirit but in the products he sells at his online soccer business. While his store sells soccer stuff year-round, Gianfranco wanted to make sure that he incorporated not only gear from the US national team, his team of Peru, but gear from Hispanic teams all over central and South America in preparation for the World Cup knowing that it will lead to a high demand of soccer gear.
Besides already having the entrepreneurial spirit, Gianfranco, has made sure that he is prepared by taking advantage of all the classes and clubs relating to business that he can. So far Gianfranco has already taken Introduction to Business, Marketing Fundamentals, Entrepreneurship and New Ventures, and Advanced College Project Principles of Management, which are all Dual Enrollment Classes at Indiana University-Bloomington. In addition to his business college coursework, Gianfranco has found great success in FBLA where he won 1st place in the FBLA Sales Presentation on his sales pitch for Apple watches and 2nd Place in the Public Service Announcement an achievement which Gianfranco credits with boosting his confidence. It also showed him that not only do you need to be creative and innovative but a hard worker as well. He was dedicated and worked hard by practicing his speech every day and made sure that the slide presentation was done to perfection.
In an effort to give back to his community, Gianfranco has been volunteering at Gleaners Food Bank. There he and the team were able to feed close to fifty families in one day. He knows that hunger and food insecurity are not only problems in other parts of the world, but it is also a significant issue at home as well. The days that he spends at the center make a difference for not only the families who receive the food but his community overall as well.
Gianfranco has been recognized as a College Board National Hispanic Recognition Scholar, the Kiwanis Club Outstanding Character Award, and the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association All-Academic. With a course load filled with IB and college courses, such as AP/IB English Literature and Composition, IB Theory of Knowledge, IB History, IB Sports, Exercise, and Health Science, and IB Math: Applications and Interpretations. Gianfranco has an impressive 3.91GPA with plans to attend Indiana University - Bloomington, IUPUI, or the University of Notre Dame to study finance and minor in International Business.
High School: Lawrence North High School
Hispanic Heritage: Peruvian
Gianfranco credits his Peruvian background in not only helping drive his entrepreneurial spirit but in the products he sells at his online soccer business. While his store sells soccer stuff year-round, Gianfranco wanted to make sure that he incorporated not only gear from the US national team, his team of Peru, but gear from Hispanic teams all over central and South America in preparation for the World Cup knowing that it will lead to a high demand of soccer gear.
Besides already having the entrepreneurial spirit, Gianfranco, has made sure that he is prepared by taking advantage of all the classes and clubs relating to business that he can. So far Gianfranco has already taken Introduction to Business, Marketing Fundamentals, Entrepreneurship and New Ventures, and Advanced College Project Principles of Management, which are all Dual Enrollment Classes at Indiana University-Bloomington. In addition to his business college coursework, Gianfranco has found great success in FBLA where he won 1st place in the FBLA Sales Presentation on his sales pitch for Apple watches and 2nd Place in the Public Service Announcement an achievement which Gianfranco credits with boosting his confidence. It also showed him that not only do you need to be creative and innovative but a hard worker as well. He was dedicated and worked hard by practicing his speech every day and made sure that the slide presentation was done to perfection.
In an effort to give back to his community, Gianfranco has been volunteering at Gleaners Food Bank. There he and the team were able to feed close to fifty families in one day. He knows that hunger and food insecurity are not only problems in other parts of the world, but it is also a significant issue at home as well. The days that he spends at the center make a difference for not only the families who receive the food but his community overall as well.
Gianfranco has been recognized as a College Board National Hispanic Recognition Scholar, the Kiwanis Club Outstanding Character Award, and the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association All-Academic. With a course load filled with IB and college courses, such as AP/IB English Literature and Composition, IB Theory of Knowledge, IB History, IB Sports, Exercise, and Health Science, and IB Math: Applications and Interpretations. Gianfranco has an impressive 3.91GPA with plans to attend Indiana University - Bloomington, IUPUI, or the University of Notre Dame to study finance and minor in International Business.
SILVER - Ashley Portillo
Hometown: Chicago, IL
High School: Noble Street College Prep
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican & Guatemalan
Ashley’s mom has predicted that Ashley would have a career in business ever since she was a young girl telling her "Mija, quiero verte en una oficina" due to seeing Ashely’s entrepreneurial spirit. In the 6th grade, Ashley started selling slime. Her first clients were her friends, who bought glitter slime for five and ten dollars. She even expanded her small business with a friend who had her own bracelet business so they would not only be able to combine cost and profits as they expanded their business into two different schools.
Ashley had the opportunity to take a program at Georgetown University called Leadership Initiatives, which partners high school students with organizations worldwide. There they are put into small groups to devise business plans for their partner organization. Ashley’s group was teamed up with a Nigerian photographer named, Eunice Daga Koshi, who wanted to expand their business. Together they formed UNYC Photography. This opportunity Ashley believes will help prepare her for business career as she had to consider different forms of advertisement, time zones, and language barriers.
Ashley’s teacher believes that she is one of the most amazing students that she has come across. Besides being an exceptional student, evidenced by making honor roll every year in high school and a course schedule filled with AP & honors courses, but who Ashley is as a person. Described as a community builder, Ashley loves to connect with those around her in a genuine and authentic way. Despite being described is fiercely independent, she is the first to volunteer to help others, or be a calm presence whenever there is tension in the classroom. She notes that during COVID-19, Ashley became a part of Connecting Chicago, an organization that connects students to tutor other students in subjects they are struggling. Ashley was able to tutor a girl in Spanish and loved not only being able to help another student out and meet the little girl’s family over the weeks of tutoring virtually, but the opportunity to share her Guatemalan and Mexican culture. This experience was life-changing for Ashley and for the last two years she has volunteered her time every Thursday in teacher’s office hours to help students learn the material but in a way that the other students are able to pick up quickly.
Of Mexican and Guatemalan descent, and an impressive 4.0 GPA, Ashley plans to attend the University of Southern California, Northeastern University, or Dominican University to study international business.
High School: Noble Street College Prep
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican & Guatemalan
Ashley’s mom has predicted that Ashley would have a career in business ever since she was a young girl telling her "Mija, quiero verte en una oficina" due to seeing Ashely’s entrepreneurial spirit. In the 6th grade, Ashley started selling slime. Her first clients were her friends, who bought glitter slime for five and ten dollars. She even expanded her small business with a friend who had her own bracelet business so they would not only be able to combine cost and profits as they expanded their business into two different schools.
Ashley had the opportunity to take a program at Georgetown University called Leadership Initiatives, which partners high school students with organizations worldwide. There they are put into small groups to devise business plans for their partner organization. Ashley’s group was teamed up with a Nigerian photographer named, Eunice Daga Koshi, who wanted to expand their business. Together they formed UNYC Photography. This opportunity Ashley believes will help prepare her for business career as she had to consider different forms of advertisement, time zones, and language barriers.
Ashley’s teacher believes that she is one of the most amazing students that she has come across. Besides being an exceptional student, evidenced by making honor roll every year in high school and a course schedule filled with AP & honors courses, but who Ashley is as a person. Described as a community builder, Ashley loves to connect with those around her in a genuine and authentic way. Despite being described is fiercely independent, she is the first to volunteer to help others, or be a calm presence whenever there is tension in the classroom. She notes that during COVID-19, Ashley became a part of Connecting Chicago, an organization that connects students to tutor other students in subjects they are struggling. Ashley was able to tutor a girl in Spanish and loved not only being able to help another student out and meet the little girl’s family over the weeks of tutoring virtually, but the opportunity to share her Guatemalan and Mexican culture. This experience was life-changing for Ashley and for the last two years she has volunteered her time every Thursday in teacher’s office hours to help students learn the material but in a way that the other students are able to pick up quickly.
Of Mexican and Guatemalan descent, and an impressive 4.0 GPA, Ashley plans to attend the University of Southern California, Northeastern University, or Dominican University to study international business.
BRONZE - Benny Hernandez
Hometown: Palatine, IL
High School: Palatine High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Growing up, Benny was not sure what he wanted to be when he was older, he just knew he wanted to make money and have job security. When he took his Business and Exploration class his sophomore year, he knew he wanted to do accounting. What draws Benny to accounting, is that it is one of a kind, is the root of all business and he finds it fun to do as it is like doing a puzzle made up of numbers. Benny is already well on his way for his business career path, He has already taken Accounting 1, Business Explorations, Financial Accounting, Advanced Accounting, Finance & Investing, Business Management, & AP Macro Economics Statistics, AP Microeconomics and Dual enrollment Business Management. With all this course work already completed would mean that he already around a semester worth of college credit business courses before he even graduates high school. Benny in addition to his rigorous business coursework is also a member of his schools Business Honor Society. While he notes this as one of his proudest accomplishments, it is bittersweet for him as the only Latine member of the honor society.
While Benny entered high school on a general education pathway, Benny applied and interviewed for his school’s Project Excel, which promotes leadership and advocacy for first-generation college students. In this program, students are thrown accelerated course work, a task that his teachers noted that he always met or exceeded. Benny is also inquisitive by nature, especially on business topics. Once he found out his teacher had an international business background, he would often ask their opinion or thoughts on the economy, how to manage money, how to invest, entrepreneurship or other materials he was learning in class. This inquisitive nature all showed his teacher just how much of a love and passion that Benny has for all things business, and a curiosity often not seen in students his age. While she greatly admires this trait in Benny, what impresses her the most, is how hard-working and driven he is in making his dream of having his own accounting firm a reality.
This year, Benny volunteered at the Chicago marathon, which he really enjoyed. Even in just setting up the water and Gatorade stations made a world of difference to the runners and cleaning the streets to pick up the discarded cups to ensure a mess was not left for the residents. Despite the 12-hour long day, it was all worth it for Benny.
Benny has a 3.33 GPA, is of Mexican descent, and plans to major in accounting and minor in business management at Northern Illinois University, DePaul University, or Northeastern Illinois University.
High School: Palatine High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Growing up, Benny was not sure what he wanted to be when he was older, he just knew he wanted to make money and have job security. When he took his Business and Exploration class his sophomore year, he knew he wanted to do accounting. What draws Benny to accounting, is that it is one of a kind, is the root of all business and he finds it fun to do as it is like doing a puzzle made up of numbers. Benny is already well on his way for his business career path, He has already taken Accounting 1, Business Explorations, Financial Accounting, Advanced Accounting, Finance & Investing, Business Management, & AP Macro Economics Statistics, AP Microeconomics and Dual enrollment Business Management. With all this course work already completed would mean that he already around a semester worth of college credit business courses before he even graduates high school. Benny in addition to his rigorous business coursework is also a member of his schools Business Honor Society. While he notes this as one of his proudest accomplishments, it is bittersweet for him as the only Latine member of the honor society.
While Benny entered high school on a general education pathway, Benny applied and interviewed for his school’s Project Excel, which promotes leadership and advocacy for first-generation college students. In this program, students are thrown accelerated course work, a task that his teachers noted that he always met or exceeded. Benny is also inquisitive by nature, especially on business topics. Once he found out his teacher had an international business background, he would often ask their opinion or thoughts on the economy, how to manage money, how to invest, entrepreneurship or other materials he was learning in class. This inquisitive nature all showed his teacher just how much of a love and passion that Benny has for all things business, and a curiosity often not seen in students his age. While she greatly admires this trait in Benny, what impresses her the most, is how hard-working and driven he is in making his dream of having his own accounting firm a reality.
This year, Benny volunteered at the Chicago marathon, which he really enjoyed. Even in just setting up the water and Gatorade stations made a world of difference to the runners and cleaning the streets to pick up the discarded cups to ensure a mess was not left for the residents. Despite the 12-hour long day, it was all worth it for Benny.
Benny has a 3.33 GPA, is of Mexican descent, and plans to major in accounting and minor in business management at Northern Illinois University, DePaul University, or Northeastern Illinois University.
Community Service
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Ximena Valenciano
Hometown: West Chicago, IL
High School: West Chicago Community High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Helping one’s community has been an integral part of Ximena’s life since she was a young girl. Ximena grew up hearing, “Donde come uno, comen dos” and growing up in Mexico, Ximena saw first-hand how harsh the conditions there can be; with children not having homes, money, or food so her family made it a priority to give to those worse off than them.
Ximena has always been an excellent student, so she was elated when during her junior year she had the opportunity to join her high schools National Honor Society and combine her excellent academics with her passion for giving back. Ximena has volunteered in food pantries, hospitals, schools, creating cards for hospitalized children, friendship bracelets for Afghan refugees, and has even found opportunities online to give back. In National Honor Society, each member is required to do 40 hours of community service throughout the school year; however, Ximena met and exceeded that requirement in the first two months and by the end of her junior year had 100 hours of community service. This year, Ximena already had 60 hours and hopes to exceed last year’s hours. Due to Ximena’s dedication, she was voted to be her schools National Honor Society Senior Service Officer. This role means that Ximena is in charge of organizing all of the volunteering events offered at the school, which is a daunting task as there are 120 members of the National Honor Society. So far, Ximena has led events like the Frosty 5k, and the Feed My Starving Children. One moment in her community service that sticks out the most was when a lady she met told her about her battle with cancer and requested their help for an organization that focused on packaging and raising awareness for low income women battling cancer. From there, Ximena immediately contacted organization and was able to gather a group of 40 volunteers to help out. In honor of the women who connected her to the organization, that recently passed, Ximena will be organizing the club’s second service day there. Due to all of Ximena’s accomplishments and dedication to community service she was awarded the United Nations Merit Award, the United Nations Honor Award, and United Nations Ambassador Award, the latter being the highest achievement in the organization. Besides National Honor Society, Ximena was asked by her school to be a Student Ambassador, a role reserved for those highlighted for their leadership skills and high-level of maturity to mentor new students and encourage student involvement. This acknowledgment is more remarkable as Ximena switched schools in between her sophomore and junior year. At her old school, Ximena was active in their GLO and their French club.
Ximena is of Mexican descent and has a perfect 4.0 GPA with plans to major in Biomedical engineering at DePaul University, Loyola University, or the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.
High School: West Chicago Community High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Helping one’s community has been an integral part of Ximena’s life since she was a young girl. Ximena grew up hearing, “Donde come uno, comen dos” and growing up in Mexico, Ximena saw first-hand how harsh the conditions there can be; with children not having homes, money, or food so her family made it a priority to give to those worse off than them.
Ximena has always been an excellent student, so she was elated when during her junior year she had the opportunity to join her high schools National Honor Society and combine her excellent academics with her passion for giving back. Ximena has volunteered in food pantries, hospitals, schools, creating cards for hospitalized children, friendship bracelets for Afghan refugees, and has even found opportunities online to give back. In National Honor Society, each member is required to do 40 hours of community service throughout the school year; however, Ximena met and exceeded that requirement in the first two months and by the end of her junior year had 100 hours of community service. This year, Ximena already had 60 hours and hopes to exceed last year’s hours. Due to Ximena’s dedication, she was voted to be her schools National Honor Society Senior Service Officer. This role means that Ximena is in charge of organizing all of the volunteering events offered at the school, which is a daunting task as there are 120 members of the National Honor Society. So far, Ximena has led events like the Frosty 5k, and the Feed My Starving Children. One moment in her community service that sticks out the most was when a lady she met told her about her battle with cancer and requested their help for an organization that focused on packaging and raising awareness for low income women battling cancer. From there, Ximena immediately contacted organization and was able to gather a group of 40 volunteers to help out. In honor of the women who connected her to the organization, that recently passed, Ximena will be organizing the club’s second service day there. Due to all of Ximena’s accomplishments and dedication to community service she was awarded the United Nations Merit Award, the United Nations Honor Award, and United Nations Ambassador Award, the latter being the highest achievement in the organization. Besides National Honor Society, Ximena was asked by her school to be a Student Ambassador, a role reserved for those highlighted for their leadership skills and high-level of maturity to mentor new students and encourage student involvement. This acknowledgment is more remarkable as Ximena switched schools in between her sophomore and junior year. At her old school, Ximena was active in their GLO and their French club.
Ximena is of Mexican descent and has a perfect 4.0 GPA with plans to major in Biomedical engineering at DePaul University, Loyola University, or the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign.
SILVER - Lorena Salgado
Hometown: Chicago, IL
High School: George Westinghouse College Prep
Hispanic Heritage: Puerto Rican & Mexican
In Lorena’s family, they have over 80 years of teaching experience and this culture to serving others has been integral in her upbringing and can be seen in her dedication to community service. She is the current president of her school’s National Honor Society so she has been in charge of planning all of the community service events; ranging from food and clothing drives for South American asylum seekers in Chicago, blood drives, and numerous clean and green events. Lorena makes sure that she also does acts of service outside of school and that is where the majority of her service comes from. At the local nonprofit, Northwest Center, she takes part of their initiative Playstreets. During the summer they create community block clubs with the goal of reducing crime in local communities. These block clubs host block parties in some of the city’s most crime ridden blocks in order to build and foster relationships amongst the youth who live there. In other methods to reduce crime, the non-profit hosted Hoops in the Hood, which was all about giving youth a safe space to not only play basketball but form meaningful connections. Here Lorena lead the drills and warmups and once the basics were learned, they conducted basketball tournaments. In addition to the team building basketball activities, they also gave out food, water and summer refreshments like raspados and ice cream to the players and their families. For Lorena, this was her favorite service event as it showed the youth in her own neighborhood a healthy and safe environment to play sports with other kids who looked like them. While Lorena’s work at the nonprofit has mostly involved youth, she has done other projects to help other members of her community. She has made care packages for senior residents at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that contained face masks, food, and even winter clothing.
At the Belmont Cragin Youth Leadership Council, Lorena and others spearheaded a transportation infrastructure improvement campaign. This all stemmed from one of Lorena’s friends being hit by a car on his bike and Lorena knowing something needed to be done. Despite Belmont Cragin community having the largest youth population, Lorena and her peers noticed that it only had one bike lane that ran only for one mile. The amount of bike lanes in her town overall, was not equitable considering the entire city of Chicago has over 200. To change this, the council met with legislators at the city, state, and federal level to advocate for funding to improve and build the bike and transportation options in their town. To gain momentum for this, Lorena lead outreach events to spread the word but also gather the support of local stakeholders. She spoke at schools, created a community poll, and hosted weekly bike rides. This hard work paid off with 20 new miles of bike lanes being added as well as 20 Divvy bikeshare stations being built in her town.
The dedication that Lorena has for her community can also be seen in her dedication to her studies. She was valedictorian of her middle school and has made honor roll every year of high school while taking many AP courses. She will be attending Pace University, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, or New York University to get her BFA in acting.
High School: George Westinghouse College Prep
Hispanic Heritage: Puerto Rican & Mexican
In Lorena’s family, they have over 80 years of teaching experience and this culture to serving others has been integral in her upbringing and can be seen in her dedication to community service. She is the current president of her school’s National Honor Society so she has been in charge of planning all of the community service events; ranging from food and clothing drives for South American asylum seekers in Chicago, blood drives, and numerous clean and green events. Lorena makes sure that she also does acts of service outside of school and that is where the majority of her service comes from. At the local nonprofit, Northwest Center, she takes part of their initiative Playstreets. During the summer they create community block clubs with the goal of reducing crime in local communities. These block clubs host block parties in some of the city’s most crime ridden blocks in order to build and foster relationships amongst the youth who live there. In other methods to reduce crime, the non-profit hosted Hoops in the Hood, which was all about giving youth a safe space to not only play basketball but form meaningful connections. Here Lorena lead the drills and warmups and once the basics were learned, they conducted basketball tournaments. In addition to the team building basketball activities, they also gave out food, water and summer refreshments like raspados and ice cream to the players and their families. For Lorena, this was her favorite service event as it showed the youth in her own neighborhood a healthy and safe environment to play sports with other kids who looked like them. While Lorena’s work at the nonprofit has mostly involved youth, she has done other projects to help other members of her community. She has made care packages for senior residents at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that contained face masks, food, and even winter clothing.
At the Belmont Cragin Youth Leadership Council, Lorena and others spearheaded a transportation infrastructure improvement campaign. This all stemmed from one of Lorena’s friends being hit by a car on his bike and Lorena knowing something needed to be done. Despite Belmont Cragin community having the largest youth population, Lorena and her peers noticed that it only had one bike lane that ran only for one mile. The amount of bike lanes in her town overall, was not equitable considering the entire city of Chicago has over 200. To change this, the council met with legislators at the city, state, and federal level to advocate for funding to improve and build the bike and transportation options in their town. To gain momentum for this, Lorena lead outreach events to spread the word but also gather the support of local stakeholders. She spoke at schools, created a community poll, and hosted weekly bike rides. This hard work paid off with 20 new miles of bike lanes being added as well as 20 Divvy bikeshare stations being built in her town.
The dedication that Lorena has for her community can also be seen in her dedication to her studies. She was valedictorian of her middle school and has made honor roll every year of high school while taking many AP courses. She will be attending Pace University, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, or New York University to get her BFA in acting.
BRONZE - Hanniel Martinez Diaz
Hometown: Newark, OH
High School: Metro Early College High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Community Service is of the up-most importance for Hanniel. While his school requires each student to serve twenty hours a year, Hanniel always exceeds it. In fact, his junior year he had 5x the number of required hours with over 100 service hours. For him, this dedication to serving others comes from his parents who he recalls always being willing to help their friends and family with anything asked. Whether it be driving them across town, babysitting, or helping them move his family always lent a hand. For Hanniel and his family, the purpose is to let those who need a hand or are going through a hard time that they are not alone. In order to follow in their footsteps, Hanniel has found various ways to give back, but they all deal with helping a younger generation of students and hoping to inspire them to give back as well. As a freshman, he was a tutor for two middle school teachers in both social studies and math. During their office hours he would help the students with their homework as well as re-proctor tests students needed to make up. For Hanniel, being able to help the students was a great feeling. Through a program that pairs rising Latinx freshman with an older Latinx student, Hanniel was paired with three students and one was a Latina who was nervous about entering high school. Hanniel was able to share his knowledge of being a high school student and to how find ones way through high school. Despite the mentorship requirement already being over, the student will still reach out to him still to seek his advice on clubs, classes and other school related matters. In addition to the three students, he also mentored a local middle school student council.
Recently he has been working with the Metrobots, a robotics team, for the past three years. For them he has served as their Media Manager, Team Operations Manager, and Media Mentor. His role as the Media Mentor for the younger students has been the most rewarding. He could see how much they looked up to him and valued his advice and guidance, and he notes how they never failed to make him proud. Even though he is no longer with the Metrobots, he will still check in on them and see how they are doing both individually and as a team. For Hanniel, looking back at his high school career and numerous accomplishments, being a mentor was the most memorable experience.
Hanniel has held leadership positions with the Key Club for the past three years. While it took him some time to feel confident in running a club, him and his team have been able to meet any challenges head on. After their first year they were able to make the club a successful one through decorating their school and giving students encouragement goodie bags during various finals week. Once he graduates next year, Hanniel hopes that the tradition of serving lives on not only just in high school but also for their whole lives.
While already having college classes under his belt at Ohio State University and Columbus State Community College, next year Hanniel will study accounting at Ohio State University, the University of Pennsylvania, or Harvard College.
High School: Metro Early College High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Community Service is of the up-most importance for Hanniel. While his school requires each student to serve twenty hours a year, Hanniel always exceeds it. In fact, his junior year he had 5x the number of required hours with over 100 service hours. For him, this dedication to serving others comes from his parents who he recalls always being willing to help their friends and family with anything asked. Whether it be driving them across town, babysitting, or helping them move his family always lent a hand. For Hanniel and his family, the purpose is to let those who need a hand or are going through a hard time that they are not alone. In order to follow in their footsteps, Hanniel has found various ways to give back, but they all deal with helping a younger generation of students and hoping to inspire them to give back as well. As a freshman, he was a tutor for two middle school teachers in both social studies and math. During their office hours he would help the students with their homework as well as re-proctor tests students needed to make up. For Hanniel, being able to help the students was a great feeling. Through a program that pairs rising Latinx freshman with an older Latinx student, Hanniel was paired with three students and one was a Latina who was nervous about entering high school. Hanniel was able to share his knowledge of being a high school student and to how find ones way through high school. Despite the mentorship requirement already being over, the student will still reach out to him still to seek his advice on clubs, classes and other school related matters. In addition to the three students, he also mentored a local middle school student council.
Recently he has been working with the Metrobots, a robotics team, for the past three years. For them he has served as their Media Manager, Team Operations Manager, and Media Mentor. His role as the Media Mentor for the younger students has been the most rewarding. He could see how much they looked up to him and valued his advice and guidance, and he notes how they never failed to make him proud. Even though he is no longer with the Metrobots, he will still check in on them and see how they are doing both individually and as a team. For Hanniel, looking back at his high school career and numerous accomplishments, being a mentor was the most memorable experience.
Hanniel has held leadership positions with the Key Club for the past three years. While it took him some time to feel confident in running a club, him and his team have been able to meet any challenges head on. After their first year they were able to make the club a successful one through decorating their school and giving students encouragement goodie bags during various finals week. Once he graduates next year, Hanniel hopes that the tradition of serving lives on not only just in high school but also for their whole lives.
While already having college classes under his belt at Ohio State University and Columbus State Community College, next year Hanniel will study accounting at Ohio State University, the University of Pennsylvania, or Harvard College.
Education
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Melissa Flores
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
High School: Ronald Reagan High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Melissa had to take the role that a lot of older siblings of immigrant families have to take out of necessity; the role of being a good example, baby sitter, and teacher for her younger brother. During the pandemic, she took on the role of live-in tutor where she would help him with his classwork and any school related paperwork. She did such a good job tutoring her brother that she was soon asked to take on a similar role with other relatives over the weekends. Melissa cherished this time with the kids and took her role seriously. She would create worksheets for them and replicate a classroom, with her as the teacher. Her proudest moment in education so far, she notes is being able to teach her dad English. Her family was having trouble finding English classes that suited her family’s needs and accommodating for her dad’s work schedule. He tried switching to teaching himself with YouTube videos but that was not working either. Therefore, Melissa took it upon herself to teach him. She would create worksheets, give him homework, and create lesson plans in order to make sure they stayed on track and consistent. Even though he is still not fluent, Melissa was able to get her dad to the level of being able to speak and understand the basics so that he can get by. His quality of life improved because he was better able to communicate with his co-workers and other people in his daily life without having to rely on his kids to translate.
Melissa also has more formal teaching experience, as she is part of her schools Education pilot program where she is dual enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. There she has already taken classes such as Intro to Teaching where she learned all of the modern theories in childhood development, classroom management techniques, and even how to teach at urban schools. There she even had a service requirement at a local elementary school where she was placed in a third-grade classroom. Melissa loved watching the teacher and how she would interact with the students and loved her role in helping the students practice their reading. Her advisor noted despite being significantly younger than most of the students in the college class, Melissa had some of the highest marks on tests and on her mentor teacher’s feedback. Other experience Melissa has had in education was as a tutor at the local middle school. She would go for an hour and a half every other week to teach 3rd to 6th graders English, Math, Science, Spanish and Social Studies. Here she enjoyed being able to see the students’ progress over her time with them and seeing the smiles on their faces when they would get a problem right. The role at the middle school was one Melissa took on separately and is not getting class credit for. Her college teacher noted that Melissa asked for permission to take this on, as she simply wanted more experience. Lastly, Melissa has started a book club at her school. After learning that other students did not enjoy reading for fun, she wanted to change that. The clubs plans for this year are to increase literacy, book drives, creating a little library at her school, and hosting fundraisers that would not only raise money for the club but for literary services around Milwaukee.
Melisa will attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison, DePaul University, or Marquette University in the fall to study Secondary World Language Education.
High School: Ronald Reagan High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Melissa had to take the role that a lot of older siblings of immigrant families have to take out of necessity; the role of being a good example, baby sitter, and teacher for her younger brother. During the pandemic, she took on the role of live-in tutor where she would help him with his classwork and any school related paperwork. She did such a good job tutoring her brother that she was soon asked to take on a similar role with other relatives over the weekends. Melissa cherished this time with the kids and took her role seriously. She would create worksheets for them and replicate a classroom, with her as the teacher. Her proudest moment in education so far, she notes is being able to teach her dad English. Her family was having trouble finding English classes that suited her family’s needs and accommodating for her dad’s work schedule. He tried switching to teaching himself with YouTube videos but that was not working either. Therefore, Melissa took it upon herself to teach him. She would create worksheets, give him homework, and create lesson plans in order to make sure they stayed on track and consistent. Even though he is still not fluent, Melissa was able to get her dad to the level of being able to speak and understand the basics so that he can get by. His quality of life improved because he was better able to communicate with his co-workers and other people in his daily life without having to rely on his kids to translate.
Melissa also has more formal teaching experience, as she is part of her schools Education pilot program where she is dual enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. There she has already taken classes such as Intro to Teaching where she learned all of the modern theories in childhood development, classroom management techniques, and even how to teach at urban schools. There she even had a service requirement at a local elementary school where she was placed in a third-grade classroom. Melissa loved watching the teacher and how she would interact with the students and loved her role in helping the students practice their reading. Her advisor noted despite being significantly younger than most of the students in the college class, Melissa had some of the highest marks on tests and on her mentor teacher’s feedback. Other experience Melissa has had in education was as a tutor at the local middle school. She would go for an hour and a half every other week to teach 3rd to 6th graders English, Math, Science, Spanish and Social Studies. Here she enjoyed being able to see the students’ progress over her time with them and seeing the smiles on their faces when they would get a problem right. The role at the middle school was one Melissa took on separately and is not getting class credit for. Her college teacher noted that Melissa asked for permission to take this on, as she simply wanted more experience. Lastly, Melissa has started a book club at her school. After learning that other students did not enjoy reading for fun, she wanted to change that. The clubs plans for this year are to increase literacy, book drives, creating a little library at her school, and hosting fundraisers that would not only raise money for the club but for literary services around Milwaukee.
Melisa will attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison, DePaul University, or Marquette University in the fall to study Secondary World Language Education.
SILVER - Jazmin Hernandez
Hometown: Chicago, IL
High School: Lindblom Math and Science Academy
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Jazmin still remembers her first day of kindergarten and not because she loved school. She recalls that on that day, the only word she understood that her teacher said was her own name and being confused at how all the other students seemed to be able to communicate with each other but she was the only one who didn’t understand. That day all those years ago would impact Jazmin for years to come, while she was able to master the language it left her very insecure to public speaking. She recalls a time in the sixth grade when a transfer student from Mexico came, and Jazmin was able to translate for him and help explain the instructions of the various assignments. While some students might have been annoyed by how much another student was depending on them and needing their help, it meant the world to Jazmin who never wants a student with a language barrier to feel like she did that first day. To prepare for her future career as an educator, Jazmin already has a ton of experience. She spent a lot of her formative years in her aunt’s day care. Once in school, Jazmin has had the opportunity to tutor students in classes that she excels in like science and English and even at the school’s writing center. She has even applied and was accepted as a LTA or teacher’s assistant. In this role, Jazmin is not only able to tutor, but create mini lessons, lead community builders, and grade course work. Doing these tasks makes it clear to her that she in on the right career path. For Jazmin, she knows that she is lucky that she is able to make a career in something that she is passionate about, something that not everyone is fortunate to do.
Jazmin’s goal is to be a high school teacher and she knows that there is a lot that needs to be done around the US, and in her hometown of Chicago, to make education more equitable. In Chicago, she found that schools are often underfunded and can be unsafe, or students do not feel encouraged to learn. However, she knows that their learning environment is not suitable or reflective of the caliber in which they are capable. While there are many things that are needed to change this reality, Jazmin knows that having teachers of color is a start. Jazmin notes the impact of her teacher, Ms. Soto, who is also of Mexican descent, and reiterated the importance and influence that representation has on students. For Jazmin, she wants to be a history teacher and while she wants to teach the curriculum, she also wants to include the importance of BIPOC to American history as current us history classes tend to whitewash.
In her community service position at the public library, Jazmin was tasked with their youth programs. Due to her dedication to Chicago’s youth, Jazmin is in charge of encouraging participation in their summer reading program as well as doing outreach for event attendance. Here, as she is one of the only Spanish-speaking workers, Jazmin ensures that the library programs are equally accessible to all residents and that the minority communities are not left behind.
With a perfect 4.0 Jazmin will study secondary education and minor in history at Northwestern University, University of Chicago, or University of Illinois Chicago.
High School: Lindblom Math and Science Academy
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Jazmin still remembers her first day of kindergarten and not because she loved school. She recalls that on that day, the only word she understood that her teacher said was her own name and being confused at how all the other students seemed to be able to communicate with each other but she was the only one who didn’t understand. That day all those years ago would impact Jazmin for years to come, while she was able to master the language it left her very insecure to public speaking. She recalls a time in the sixth grade when a transfer student from Mexico came, and Jazmin was able to translate for him and help explain the instructions of the various assignments. While some students might have been annoyed by how much another student was depending on them and needing their help, it meant the world to Jazmin who never wants a student with a language barrier to feel like she did that first day. To prepare for her future career as an educator, Jazmin already has a ton of experience. She spent a lot of her formative years in her aunt’s day care. Once in school, Jazmin has had the opportunity to tutor students in classes that she excels in like science and English and even at the school’s writing center. She has even applied and was accepted as a LTA or teacher’s assistant. In this role, Jazmin is not only able to tutor, but create mini lessons, lead community builders, and grade course work. Doing these tasks makes it clear to her that she in on the right career path. For Jazmin, she knows that she is lucky that she is able to make a career in something that she is passionate about, something that not everyone is fortunate to do.
Jazmin’s goal is to be a high school teacher and she knows that there is a lot that needs to be done around the US, and in her hometown of Chicago, to make education more equitable. In Chicago, she found that schools are often underfunded and can be unsafe, or students do not feel encouraged to learn. However, she knows that their learning environment is not suitable or reflective of the caliber in which they are capable. While there are many things that are needed to change this reality, Jazmin knows that having teachers of color is a start. Jazmin notes the impact of her teacher, Ms. Soto, who is also of Mexican descent, and reiterated the importance and influence that representation has on students. For Jazmin, she wants to be a history teacher and while she wants to teach the curriculum, she also wants to include the importance of BIPOC to American history as current us history classes tend to whitewash.
In her community service position at the public library, Jazmin was tasked with their youth programs. Due to her dedication to Chicago’s youth, Jazmin is in charge of encouraging participation in their summer reading program as well as doing outreach for event attendance. Here, as she is one of the only Spanish-speaking workers, Jazmin ensures that the library programs are equally accessible to all residents and that the minority communities are not left behind.
With a perfect 4.0 Jazmin will study secondary education and minor in history at Northwestern University, University of Chicago, or University of Illinois Chicago.
BRONZE - Carmen Jacobo
Hometown: Chicago, IL
High School: Lincoln Park High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Throughout Carmen’s entire academic career, she has only had three Hispanic teachers, and two of them were for a Spanish class, and only one teaching a core subject. Carmen personally felt the difference of what it is like to have a teacher who looks like them and can resonate by shared experience. As a Latina, in her role as a teaching assistant she makes sure to connect with the students on factors like family traditions, morals, and language. Carmen feels that this allows her to create stronger bonds so that the students thrive in the classroom while also highlighting and representing career options that they have. For the students who are non-Latino, having diversity in the classroom is also a great learning opportunity as it exposes those students to different backgrounds but role models who are diverse. Besides connecting on shared heritage, Carmen ensures that when she teaches, she does so in a fun and interactive way. As an 8th grade math teacher, she knows that not only is it a difficult subject to learn but one that is also hard to captivate student attention for a student of any age. To combat this, Carmen would always try to find the healthy median of being fun while also being informative. This would often mean that she would occasionally throw a fun game into the lesson plans. One of these games involved Easter Eggs that were hidden all around the classroom. In teams, all of the groups had to not only find the eggs with the math problem inside but also solve it. At the end of the lesson, the team that had the most correct answers was announced as the winners.
As a Latina student in Chicago, Carmen has seen first-hand the disparity in minority majority schools have in the form of resources and opportunities available to them. With run down school buildings and lack of resources attributes to apathy for school and adding appeal to life on the streets as that can become a more tempting option. To combat this, Carmen suggests more studies and research on developmental psychology and how these experiences influence adolescents. In addition, creating more programs to highlight and benefit Latinx/Hispanic students can create a positive chain reaction not only for that particular student’s life but also in the community. Carmen herself has been making sure she does all she can to fix this problem. As the teacher’s assistant she will seek out students who do not show up to school, or don’t engage in class or turn in work. For these students, she always tries to find a connection or at least show that she cares about them not only in their academic pursuits but also as individuals. At their graduation last year, one of the student’s faces lit up when he saw that she came to graduation and thanked her. He said other teachers give up on him when he doesn’t understand something right away but not Carmen. This reinforced to her, that she is not only good at what she does but that she is making a positive impact on these students lives.
Ensuring a better life for students is one of Carmen’s missions in life. While seen in her work as a teacher, she also regularly volunteers at Feed My Starving Children, which makes sure meals are available for children who have food insecurity. Carmen will continue her education pursuits in studying developmental psychology at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, or Kenyon University.
High School: Lincoln Park High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Throughout Carmen’s entire academic career, she has only had three Hispanic teachers, and two of them were for a Spanish class, and only one teaching a core subject. Carmen personally felt the difference of what it is like to have a teacher who looks like them and can resonate by shared experience. As a Latina, in her role as a teaching assistant she makes sure to connect with the students on factors like family traditions, morals, and language. Carmen feels that this allows her to create stronger bonds so that the students thrive in the classroom while also highlighting and representing career options that they have. For the students who are non-Latino, having diversity in the classroom is also a great learning opportunity as it exposes those students to different backgrounds but role models who are diverse. Besides connecting on shared heritage, Carmen ensures that when she teaches, she does so in a fun and interactive way. As an 8th grade math teacher, she knows that not only is it a difficult subject to learn but one that is also hard to captivate student attention for a student of any age. To combat this, Carmen would always try to find the healthy median of being fun while also being informative. This would often mean that she would occasionally throw a fun game into the lesson plans. One of these games involved Easter Eggs that were hidden all around the classroom. In teams, all of the groups had to not only find the eggs with the math problem inside but also solve it. At the end of the lesson, the team that had the most correct answers was announced as the winners.
As a Latina student in Chicago, Carmen has seen first-hand the disparity in minority majority schools have in the form of resources and opportunities available to them. With run down school buildings and lack of resources attributes to apathy for school and adding appeal to life on the streets as that can become a more tempting option. To combat this, Carmen suggests more studies and research on developmental psychology and how these experiences influence adolescents. In addition, creating more programs to highlight and benefit Latinx/Hispanic students can create a positive chain reaction not only for that particular student’s life but also in the community. Carmen herself has been making sure she does all she can to fix this problem. As the teacher’s assistant she will seek out students who do not show up to school, or don’t engage in class or turn in work. For these students, she always tries to find a connection or at least show that she cares about them not only in their academic pursuits but also as individuals. At their graduation last year, one of the student’s faces lit up when he saw that she came to graduation and thanked her. He said other teachers give up on him when he doesn’t understand something right away but not Carmen. This reinforced to her, that she is not only good at what she does but that she is making a positive impact on these students lives.
Ensuring a better life for students is one of Carmen’s missions in life. While seen in her work as a teacher, she also regularly volunteers at Feed My Starving Children, which makes sure meals are available for children who have food insecurity. Carmen will continue her education pursuits in studying developmental psychology at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, or Kenyon University.
Engineering
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Matthew Gomez
Hometown: Copley, OH
High School: St. Vincent - St. Mary High School
Hispanic Heritage: Colombian & Mexican
Matthew’s fascination with airplanes started at an early age where he would watch documentaries on various planes such as the ones on aircraft carriers that were used in the Pacific in the battles of Midway to the SR71 Blackbird escapades over soviet airspace. This interest led to Matthew competing in robotics since the 4th grade when he joined the First Lego League. As he grew older and his skills progressed, he chose to attend the STEM focused school of St. Vincent - St. Mary High School. He also moved up to the First Tech Challenge and joined a robotics team, which he has been a part of since his freshman year. In these competitions, he builds the chassis, as well as any other accessories that are needed for competition. With the St. Vincent - St. Mary High School rocket team they were able to compete in the American Rocketry Challenge in 2021, the world's largest rocket contest. Their rocket was able to complete its mission in having an egg in the nose cone, reach a height of 850 feet, and stay in the air for close to a minute, while leaving the rocket, and more importantly the egg, intact. For it to work, this was done by calculating the weight and balance of the rocket. Each rocket also needed to be able to record its own flight information, to do this Matthew put a altimeter inside the rocket, as well as a motor that contained gunpowder to ensure that the rocket was able to get the necessary height. This would also allow for the rocket to separate into two once it reached its peak and deploy a parachute. The rocket was close to the top 100 in the country, with Matthew’s team being announced as an alternate finalist.
As Matthew’s school is STEM based it has allowed him to take many engineering and higher-level math based classes such as AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics 1, and AP Calculus AB. It has also given him the opportunity to learn several program languages, HTML 5, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and Java, and has allowed him to enroll an additional online class of IoT (Internet of Things) at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Outside of the classroom, Matthew’s hobbies and volunteer work often circle back to his love of engineering. For his Eagle Scout Project, he made a set of movable platforms for school children at the University of Akron’s Field Station’s outdoor classroom.
Matthew has sought out numerous leadership and volunteer opportunities. He has volunteered at the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank and with Blessings in a Backpack, whose mission supports children living below the poverty line and making sure that they will be able to eat during the weekends outside of school. He was selected to attend BSA’s NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training) and was asked by high school to be a student ambassador.
Of Colombian and Mexican descent, Matthew will attend the University of Akron, Ohio State University, or the University of Michigan to study Aeronautical Engineering and minor in electrical engineering.
High School: St. Vincent - St. Mary High School
Hispanic Heritage: Colombian & Mexican
Matthew’s fascination with airplanes started at an early age where he would watch documentaries on various planes such as the ones on aircraft carriers that were used in the Pacific in the battles of Midway to the SR71 Blackbird escapades over soviet airspace. This interest led to Matthew competing in robotics since the 4th grade when he joined the First Lego League. As he grew older and his skills progressed, he chose to attend the STEM focused school of St. Vincent - St. Mary High School. He also moved up to the First Tech Challenge and joined a robotics team, which he has been a part of since his freshman year. In these competitions, he builds the chassis, as well as any other accessories that are needed for competition. With the St. Vincent - St. Mary High School rocket team they were able to compete in the American Rocketry Challenge in 2021, the world's largest rocket contest. Their rocket was able to complete its mission in having an egg in the nose cone, reach a height of 850 feet, and stay in the air for close to a minute, while leaving the rocket, and more importantly the egg, intact. For it to work, this was done by calculating the weight and balance of the rocket. Each rocket also needed to be able to record its own flight information, to do this Matthew put a altimeter inside the rocket, as well as a motor that contained gunpowder to ensure that the rocket was able to get the necessary height. This would also allow for the rocket to separate into two once it reached its peak and deploy a parachute. The rocket was close to the top 100 in the country, with Matthew’s team being announced as an alternate finalist.
As Matthew’s school is STEM based it has allowed him to take many engineering and higher-level math based classes such as AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics 1, and AP Calculus AB. It has also given him the opportunity to learn several program languages, HTML 5, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and Java, and has allowed him to enroll an additional online class of IoT (Internet of Things) at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Outside of the classroom, Matthew’s hobbies and volunteer work often circle back to his love of engineering. For his Eagle Scout Project, he made a set of movable platforms for school children at the University of Akron’s Field Station’s outdoor classroom.
Matthew has sought out numerous leadership and volunteer opportunities. He has volunteered at the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank and with Blessings in a Backpack, whose mission supports children living below the poverty line and making sure that they will be able to eat during the weekends outside of school. He was selected to attend BSA’s NYLT (National Youth Leadership Training) and was asked by high school to be a student ambassador.
Of Colombian and Mexican descent, Matthew will attend the University of Akron, Ohio State University, or the University of Michigan to study Aeronautical Engineering and minor in electrical engineering.
SILVER - Luis Antonio Hernandez Aguirre
Hometown: Gary, IN
High School: Illinois Math and Science Academy
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Luis affectionately refers to his “DIY” family as what fostered his comfortability with tools. This familiarity is what led him to always seeking engineering courses in high school. As a freshman he took the shop class, Manufacturing Technology, where he learned to 3D print and CNC. His shop teacher was so impressed with Luis that they encouraged him to join the newly started FRC Robotics team. This team changed his life and led to Luis transferring to the prestigious Illinois Math and Science Academy. This school allowed for Luis more opportunities than his other school and even introduced him to MakerSpace where he became a member of the MakerSquad. As a member, he is able to not only help his classmates with their projects by offering his expertise and guidance as well as complete his own projects. In the time that he has been at the school he has been able to make custom desk organizers, lights, and even a quadcopter.
Luis is thankful for the opportunities that IMSA has given him, including access to an academically challenging curriculum. So far he has taken courses such as SI-Physics and Physics: Calculus-Based Mechanics, the equivalents of AP Physics A and AP Physics C, Mechanics, and Computer Science Inquiry, where he learned Python, HTML, and CSS, as well as Object Oriented Programming. Before high school, his only experience in programming was in scratch which Luis did not enjoy as he felt it was repetitive and boring, so he wrote it off due to disinterest. However, with his Computer Science Inquiry course, he fell in love with programming and all that programming has to offer. To date, Luis is familiar with seven different programming languages. This accomplishment is particularly significant to Luis, who never imagined that he would have a career in programming.
When Luis transferred schools, he still kept up with the FRC robotics team and has become his teams Head of Electrical Systems and has led his team to become a 2021 FRC Midwest Finalist. In his captain role, he will still do the unfun tasks and does use his position of authority to designate the menial tasks to others. In his first day of captain, the coach admired his initiative to organize the messy toolbox and read over the guidelines made by the previous captain to try to fill in any gaps that he saw. These actions may seem small, but it ensured that his team would be able to hit the ground running on the first day. This leadership capability was also seen in Luis’s bordering school when he was tasked to be Residential Student Leader and a Wing Liasson his second year. In these positions, Luis was in charge of fostering a safe and welcoming space for his peers and in cooperation with other wing liaisons. Last year, Luis was nominated for his residence hall’s Hall Community Coordinator, where he leads the hall councils. Luis takes this role seriously as he knows that the younger students look up to him and wants to set a good example.
Luis has a 3.87 unweighted GPA, and will be attending Purdue University, the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, or the University of Illinois Chicago in the fall to study Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering.
High School: Illinois Math and Science Academy
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Luis affectionately refers to his “DIY” family as what fostered his comfortability with tools. This familiarity is what led him to always seeking engineering courses in high school. As a freshman he took the shop class, Manufacturing Technology, where he learned to 3D print and CNC. His shop teacher was so impressed with Luis that they encouraged him to join the newly started FRC Robotics team. This team changed his life and led to Luis transferring to the prestigious Illinois Math and Science Academy. This school allowed for Luis more opportunities than his other school and even introduced him to MakerSpace where he became a member of the MakerSquad. As a member, he is able to not only help his classmates with their projects by offering his expertise and guidance as well as complete his own projects. In the time that he has been at the school he has been able to make custom desk organizers, lights, and even a quadcopter.
Luis is thankful for the opportunities that IMSA has given him, including access to an academically challenging curriculum. So far he has taken courses such as SI-Physics and Physics: Calculus-Based Mechanics, the equivalents of AP Physics A and AP Physics C, Mechanics, and Computer Science Inquiry, where he learned Python, HTML, and CSS, as well as Object Oriented Programming. Before high school, his only experience in programming was in scratch which Luis did not enjoy as he felt it was repetitive and boring, so he wrote it off due to disinterest. However, with his Computer Science Inquiry course, he fell in love with programming and all that programming has to offer. To date, Luis is familiar with seven different programming languages. This accomplishment is particularly significant to Luis, who never imagined that he would have a career in programming.
When Luis transferred schools, he still kept up with the FRC robotics team and has become his teams Head of Electrical Systems and has led his team to become a 2021 FRC Midwest Finalist. In his captain role, he will still do the unfun tasks and does use his position of authority to designate the menial tasks to others. In his first day of captain, the coach admired his initiative to organize the messy toolbox and read over the guidelines made by the previous captain to try to fill in any gaps that he saw. These actions may seem small, but it ensured that his team would be able to hit the ground running on the first day. This leadership capability was also seen in Luis’s bordering school when he was tasked to be Residential Student Leader and a Wing Liasson his second year. In these positions, Luis was in charge of fostering a safe and welcoming space for his peers and in cooperation with other wing liaisons. Last year, Luis was nominated for his residence hall’s Hall Community Coordinator, where he leads the hall councils. Luis takes this role seriously as he knows that the younger students look up to him and wants to set a good example.
Luis has a 3.87 unweighted GPA, and will be attending Purdue University, the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, or the University of Illinois Chicago in the fall to study Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering.
BRONZE - Mauricio Rodriguez
Hometown: West Dundee, IL
High School: Dundee-Crown High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Before he even started high school, Mauricio has already accomplished what most inventors and engineers can only hope to achieve and that is have their own patent. This patent of his twisted tooth comb apparatus came about by years of tinkering and inventing in an effort to help his mom with her daily activities. The ability to come up with his comb and get the patent not only encouraged Mauricio’s engineering and entrepreneurial spirit but also served as a reminder of what he is able to accomplish. Since then, Mauricio’s creative mind is always working. One of his latest ideas was a 3-D printed device to assist in garbage waste and disposal by eliminating the air pockets that form in plastic bags to hold waste. The ability to be innovative is a family trait that Mauricio has inherited from his grandfather, who had this skill and drive out of necessity from coming to the United States from Mexico for a dream of a better life.
Mauricio is an extremely accomplished student; he boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA and is ranked first out of his entire senior class of 659 students. He is extremely prideful in his work and is in numerous honors and AP courses. His school is currently creating an independent study with the science department just for Mauricio, which will focus on creating and setting up the schools lab and plans for the labs sustainability for Biology and Anatomy specifically. For this, Mauricio will be interviewing upperclassmen students and collecting the data for analysis. The survey questions would relate to their current curriculum, with the hopes of improving student engagement and interaction. One of the other activities that he completed so far has been conducting prototyping on the printers, restoring broken 3-D printers by cleaning, or assisting in calibration, and creating a troubleshooting guide for the future. Besides fixing the broken ones, he began practicing and implementing his own 3-D design and printing to test and refine invention parameters, and prepared products for customers. This project he hopes will rejuvenate a culture of creativity that had been neglected at this school after several years of at home learning. Most of the work that Mauricio is currently doing, he will not be able to reap the benefits of but it speaks to Mauricio’s character and drive to improve the school experience for others.
At school he won third place in the Dundee-Crown INCubator business pitch last year and is a member of the school’s National Honor Society and an active member of several service-related clubs and organizations. He has been recognized as a Hispanic Recognition Program at College Board, which awards him for excelling academically. In the fall, he will be majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in Entrepreneurship at Stanford University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, or the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.
High School: Dundee-Crown High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Before he even started high school, Mauricio has already accomplished what most inventors and engineers can only hope to achieve and that is have their own patent. This patent of his twisted tooth comb apparatus came about by years of tinkering and inventing in an effort to help his mom with her daily activities. The ability to come up with his comb and get the patent not only encouraged Mauricio’s engineering and entrepreneurial spirit but also served as a reminder of what he is able to accomplish. Since then, Mauricio’s creative mind is always working. One of his latest ideas was a 3-D printed device to assist in garbage waste and disposal by eliminating the air pockets that form in plastic bags to hold waste. The ability to be innovative is a family trait that Mauricio has inherited from his grandfather, who had this skill and drive out of necessity from coming to the United States from Mexico for a dream of a better life.
Mauricio is an extremely accomplished student; he boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA and is ranked first out of his entire senior class of 659 students. He is extremely prideful in his work and is in numerous honors and AP courses. His school is currently creating an independent study with the science department just for Mauricio, which will focus on creating and setting up the schools lab and plans for the labs sustainability for Biology and Anatomy specifically. For this, Mauricio will be interviewing upperclassmen students and collecting the data for analysis. The survey questions would relate to their current curriculum, with the hopes of improving student engagement and interaction. One of the other activities that he completed so far has been conducting prototyping on the printers, restoring broken 3-D printers by cleaning, or assisting in calibration, and creating a troubleshooting guide for the future. Besides fixing the broken ones, he began practicing and implementing his own 3-D design and printing to test and refine invention parameters, and prepared products for customers. This project he hopes will rejuvenate a culture of creativity that had been neglected at this school after several years of at home learning. Most of the work that Mauricio is currently doing, he will not be able to reap the benefits of but it speaks to Mauricio’s character and drive to improve the school experience for others.
At school he won third place in the Dundee-Crown INCubator business pitch last year and is a member of the school’s National Honor Society and an active member of several service-related clubs and organizations. He has been recognized as a Hispanic Recognition Program at College Board, which awards him for excelling academically. In the fall, he will be majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in Entrepreneurship at Stanford University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, or the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.
Healthcare & Science
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Edgar Ocelotl Tecuanhuey
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
High School: Lawrence North High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Since he was a young boy, Edgar has always been fascinated by medicine, with part of his interest deriving from his experience with family members’ struggles with diabetes and atherosclerosis. An opportunity at the technical career center, McKenzie Career Center, allowed for him to be part of the biomedical program called Project Lead The Way, which let him get hands on experience in biomedical science. Since then, Edgar has been able to explore more biomedical concepts through programs such as Molecular Medicine in Action hosted by the Indiana University School of Medicine. This prestigious opportunity was only available for the top 50 biomedical students in Indiana. There Edgar and his cohort explored topics that tackle current medical struggles: Bioethics for CRISPR, recent research breakthroughs, and progressive diseases such as cancer. In looking for other opportunities for research specifically, Edgar applied and was selected for a two-month summer internship at the Eli Lilly and Company Corporate Center. During his internship, he completed a research project with the help of several researchers in the neurodegeneration sector. He findings were so impressive that he was asked to present his findings to global public safety and clinical research advisors and scientists within Neurodegeneration and Oncology. At the internship, Edgar made the most of his time there in not only doing his own research and learning new concepts in medicine, but to make meaningful connections with his mentors. Edgar looks up to Dr. Paul Ardayfio, specifically. Edgar highlighted that as a person of color, Dr. Ardayfio never made him feel like he was in the way despite the doctor’s obvious stress and workload. In fact, he made Edgar and the other interns feel that he would always make time for them to be a resource. This trait led to the admiration of Edgar and his peers.
In school, Edgar is enrolled in not only the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program but the PLTW Biomedical Engineering coursework as well. He is a member of the National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, HOSA (Future Health Professionals) and PAC (student government/council). He is also the president of LN’s Dream Team, an organization that is dedicated to celebrating Latinx students regardless of their immigration status. Edgar is an impressive student and has been recognized as a Quest Bridge College Prep Scholar, a College Board National Hispanic Recognition for both 2021 and 2022, Academic Top 10, a superintendents award, and the Rising Star of Indiana Award.
With a 4.0, Edgar will study biochemistry and minor in neuroscience next year at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Chicago, or Indiana University Bloomington.
High School: Lawrence North High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Since he was a young boy, Edgar has always been fascinated by medicine, with part of his interest deriving from his experience with family members’ struggles with diabetes and atherosclerosis. An opportunity at the technical career center, McKenzie Career Center, allowed for him to be part of the biomedical program called Project Lead The Way, which let him get hands on experience in biomedical science. Since then, Edgar has been able to explore more biomedical concepts through programs such as Molecular Medicine in Action hosted by the Indiana University School of Medicine. This prestigious opportunity was only available for the top 50 biomedical students in Indiana. There Edgar and his cohort explored topics that tackle current medical struggles: Bioethics for CRISPR, recent research breakthroughs, and progressive diseases such as cancer. In looking for other opportunities for research specifically, Edgar applied and was selected for a two-month summer internship at the Eli Lilly and Company Corporate Center. During his internship, he completed a research project with the help of several researchers in the neurodegeneration sector. He findings were so impressive that he was asked to present his findings to global public safety and clinical research advisors and scientists within Neurodegeneration and Oncology. At the internship, Edgar made the most of his time there in not only doing his own research and learning new concepts in medicine, but to make meaningful connections with his mentors. Edgar looks up to Dr. Paul Ardayfio, specifically. Edgar highlighted that as a person of color, Dr. Ardayfio never made him feel like he was in the way despite the doctor’s obvious stress and workload. In fact, he made Edgar and the other interns feel that he would always make time for them to be a resource. This trait led to the admiration of Edgar and his peers.
In school, Edgar is enrolled in not only the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program but the PLTW Biomedical Engineering coursework as well. He is a member of the National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, HOSA (Future Health Professionals) and PAC (student government/council). He is also the president of LN’s Dream Team, an organization that is dedicated to celebrating Latinx students regardless of their immigration status. Edgar is an impressive student and has been recognized as a Quest Bridge College Prep Scholar, a College Board National Hispanic Recognition for both 2021 and 2022, Academic Top 10, a superintendents award, and the Rising Star of Indiana Award.
With a 4.0, Edgar will study biochemistry and minor in neuroscience next year at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Chicago, or Indiana University Bloomington.
SILVER - Victoria Zambrano
Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN
High School: Canterbury School
Hispanic Heritage: Puerto Rican & Peruvian
As a child, Victoria would be captivated by her father’s stories of his experience during medical school, and she knew that career path was for her. With her physician father as a role model, Victoria has also been blessed with guiding principles of family, community, and hard work, which are all traits that will serve her well in her future in mechanical engineering. Her physics teacher can speak firsthand in how great of a student Victoria is. He notes that a lot of the students that he has come across in his thirty years of teaching physics are great at memorizing how to solve quantitative physics problems without truly understanding the why or the physical concepts, but he notes that Victoria is the exception. Besides AP Physics, Victoria has already taken other advanced AP Courses such as AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Psychology, AP Calculus AB, and AP Spanish Language and Culture.
Victoria was invited to participate in MIT Women’s Technology Program, where she got to work on an engineering-based research project of her own choosing. Her and her partner decided to create a prototype for a new type of prosthesis. This haptic prosthesis hand would allow for finer control than the current industry standard prosthesis. This is due to in upper limb prosthesis that are available, feedback to the user is limited, requiring the user to constantly watch the arm in order to control it. They are often difficult to gauge grip and the amount of force they are using which means that the damage to various objects they are holding or using is not uncommon. To fix this gap, Victoria and her partner created a hand that would have vibrotactile sensors on the thumb, pointer, and middle fingers which would not only be the most practical layout but also most realistic feeling. The palm, back of the hand, and other fingertips would contain force sensors to ensure that the wearer could always feel how hard they are gripping something. These sensors would be attached using nerve cuffs connected to a processor to accurately receive, amplify, process, and send signals to and from the hand.
Victoria has a goal to open a free medical clinic to aid in eradicating preventable diseases. She has had this goal after hearing about her father’s medical mission trip to Honduras where she would hear his stories about many of the diseases and illness that are rampant there are treatable and easily managed with modern medicine, but there they are extremely fatal. In addition, the patients would often wait too long for treatment so their health outcomes would be worse. In this clinic, Victoria hopes to not only provide care but to teach and empower and provide them the resources for a better and healthy life.
Victoria has a 3.99 GPA and will go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University, or Columbia University next year.
High School: Canterbury School
Hispanic Heritage: Puerto Rican & Peruvian
As a child, Victoria would be captivated by her father’s stories of his experience during medical school, and she knew that career path was for her. With her physician father as a role model, Victoria has also been blessed with guiding principles of family, community, and hard work, which are all traits that will serve her well in her future in mechanical engineering. Her physics teacher can speak firsthand in how great of a student Victoria is. He notes that a lot of the students that he has come across in his thirty years of teaching physics are great at memorizing how to solve quantitative physics problems without truly understanding the why or the physical concepts, but he notes that Victoria is the exception. Besides AP Physics, Victoria has already taken other advanced AP Courses such as AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Psychology, AP Calculus AB, and AP Spanish Language and Culture.
Victoria was invited to participate in MIT Women’s Technology Program, where she got to work on an engineering-based research project of her own choosing. Her and her partner decided to create a prototype for a new type of prosthesis. This haptic prosthesis hand would allow for finer control than the current industry standard prosthesis. This is due to in upper limb prosthesis that are available, feedback to the user is limited, requiring the user to constantly watch the arm in order to control it. They are often difficult to gauge grip and the amount of force they are using which means that the damage to various objects they are holding or using is not uncommon. To fix this gap, Victoria and her partner created a hand that would have vibrotactile sensors on the thumb, pointer, and middle fingers which would not only be the most practical layout but also most realistic feeling. The palm, back of the hand, and other fingertips would contain force sensors to ensure that the wearer could always feel how hard they are gripping something. These sensors would be attached using nerve cuffs connected to a processor to accurately receive, amplify, process, and send signals to and from the hand.
Victoria has a goal to open a free medical clinic to aid in eradicating preventable diseases. She has had this goal after hearing about her father’s medical mission trip to Honduras where she would hear his stories about many of the diseases and illness that are rampant there are treatable and easily managed with modern medicine, but there they are extremely fatal. In addition, the patients would often wait too long for treatment so their health outcomes would be worse. In this clinic, Victoria hopes to not only provide care but to teach and empower and provide them the resources for a better and healthy life.
Victoria has a 3.99 GPA and will go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Purdue University, or Columbia University next year.
BRONZE - Addisyn Weiland
Hometown: Le Mars, ID
High School: Le Mars Community High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
As a competitive dancer and tumbler for fourteen years, Addisyn was no stranger to medical appointments. As she got older the appreciation for this profession grew from just someone who made her feel better to a field that she wanted to be a part of. She wanted to be in a position to help others get back to the everyday activities that they loved. To do that, she would enroll into any classes that would further her path of a career in healthcare. At the local university, Addisyn already has taken Certified Nursing Assistant Theory, Certified Nursing Assistant Clinical, Issues in Healthcare and Society, Anatomy and Physiology I, and Anatomy and Physiology 11, which is quite impressive. With these classes, Addisyn was able to become a certified nursing assistant after her sophomore year. This certificate involved two-parts, the first written exam saw Addisyn pass with flying colors. Despite only needing an 80% to pass she scored an outstanding 97% making her one of her classes top scorers. The other half was the clinical portion, where she was placed in a nursing home to care for the residents there. After passing the examination and clinical portion she was able to take and pass the licensure examination, which she did. For the rest of her credits, Addisyn enrolled in a career experience class, which allows for her to leave and shadow medical professionals during the school day. With this experience she has got to see first-hand what a physical therapist, nurses, radiology technicians, and optometrist do for work. These opportunities have only reaffirmed for Addisyn a future in healthcare, a field that she looks forward to making more diverse. While blessed to have family members in this field, she knows that more representative workforces tend to have better outcomes than those who are mostly made up of homogeneous groups.
Besides healthcare, Addisyn cares a lot about the elderly in her community. Her clinical was in a nursing home and she states that her work there is her most memorable moment in healthcare so far. We also see some of her service projects serving the elderly, a group that is often left behind. Inspired by her own grandfather’s Midwest Honor Flight Mission, where veterans go on one final tour with honor, to DC to see the memorials dedicated to their service and sacrifice. This trip was extremely meaningful for her grandfather whose original welcome home was met with protestors. In an effort to thank the veterans, Addisyn started and organized a Thank A Veteran Letter Drive where she was able to collect over 140 letters to be given out on the next Honor Flight mission where each veteran could receive their own letter. Besides veterans, other ways Addisyn has given back is through the backpack program, which ensures that food insecure students will have meals to eat over the weekends, and organizations that raise cancer awareness.
In school, Addisyn does a ton of extracurriculars such has National Honor Society, Honor Roll, Central Dance Academy, Dance Team, Football Cheer, Student Council, Leadership Club, Academic Tutor, and Adaptive Physical Education Helper. She will be surely missed next year when she attends Morningside University, the University of South Dakota, or St. Luke’s College to study Radiologic Technology and minor in radiation therapy.
High School: Le Mars Community High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
As a competitive dancer and tumbler for fourteen years, Addisyn was no stranger to medical appointments. As she got older the appreciation for this profession grew from just someone who made her feel better to a field that she wanted to be a part of. She wanted to be in a position to help others get back to the everyday activities that they loved. To do that, she would enroll into any classes that would further her path of a career in healthcare. At the local university, Addisyn already has taken Certified Nursing Assistant Theory, Certified Nursing Assistant Clinical, Issues in Healthcare and Society, Anatomy and Physiology I, and Anatomy and Physiology 11, which is quite impressive. With these classes, Addisyn was able to become a certified nursing assistant after her sophomore year. This certificate involved two-parts, the first written exam saw Addisyn pass with flying colors. Despite only needing an 80% to pass she scored an outstanding 97% making her one of her classes top scorers. The other half was the clinical portion, where she was placed in a nursing home to care for the residents there. After passing the examination and clinical portion she was able to take and pass the licensure examination, which she did. For the rest of her credits, Addisyn enrolled in a career experience class, which allows for her to leave and shadow medical professionals during the school day. With this experience she has got to see first-hand what a physical therapist, nurses, radiology technicians, and optometrist do for work. These opportunities have only reaffirmed for Addisyn a future in healthcare, a field that she looks forward to making more diverse. While blessed to have family members in this field, she knows that more representative workforces tend to have better outcomes than those who are mostly made up of homogeneous groups.
Besides healthcare, Addisyn cares a lot about the elderly in her community. Her clinical was in a nursing home and she states that her work there is her most memorable moment in healthcare so far. We also see some of her service projects serving the elderly, a group that is often left behind. Inspired by her own grandfather’s Midwest Honor Flight Mission, where veterans go on one final tour with honor, to DC to see the memorials dedicated to their service and sacrifice. This trip was extremely meaningful for her grandfather whose original welcome home was met with protestors. In an effort to thank the veterans, Addisyn started and organized a Thank A Veteran Letter Drive where she was able to collect over 140 letters to be given out on the next Honor Flight mission where each veteran could receive their own letter. Besides veterans, other ways Addisyn has given back is through the backpack program, which ensures that food insecure students will have meals to eat over the weekends, and organizations that raise cancer awareness.
In school, Addisyn does a ton of extracurriculars such has National Honor Society, Honor Roll, Central Dance Academy, Dance Team, Football Cheer, Student Council, Leadership Club, Academic Tutor, and Adaptive Physical Education Helper. She will be surely missed next year when she attends Morningside University, the University of South Dakota, or St. Luke’s College to study Radiologic Technology and minor in radiation therapy.
Media & Entertainment
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Citlalic Garcia
Hometown: Shakopee, MN
High School: Shakopee High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
A young Citlalic, asking to pet her neighbor's dog, changed her life forever. This neighbor introduced her to music and played a few pieces on the violin and piano for her. Citlalic remembers running home and begging her mom to let her play. She soon began taking both piano and violin lessons with her neighbor, Heidi, and credits her for fostering her love of music. Heidi's constant support has given Citlalic the confidence to continue. What began as a love for music grew into an appreciation for all of the arts. She began dance, community theatre, and once in high school, she decided to pursue Musical Theatre through the Performing Arts Institute of Minnesota. There she got to expand her mastery of musical theatre, dancing, acting, and singing.
CeCe, as she affectionately known, got to participate in the 2022 Triple Threat on Hennepin Spotlight Program last year, where she had to compete against hundreds of students across Minnesota. The application process was intense and involved a headshot, resume, video audition, directors' references, and a personal essay, and that was just to get past the first round. The second round involved in-person callbacks. CeCe was elated to be announced among the top 24 participants, as the prize would be an all-expense-paid trip to New York to represent Minnesota in the Jimmy Awards. To prepare, all 24 top participating students were able to work closely with industry professionals who all had Broadway experience. All of this training was for the finalists' end-of-year showcase where they would announce the winner. CeCe had to learn the original Broadway choreography and vocals for A Chorus Line. The choreography did not come as easily to CeCe as it had been some years since she had danced as part of a program due to COVID-19. Even though she did not take home the prize, making it that far was outstanding, as she did not have the privileges some of the other finalists had, including private voice lessons, dance classes, and acting camps.
CeCe's talent in the arts has been recognized in various competitions. Besides being a Triple Threat on Hennepin Finalist, she won first place in the Scott County Fair Talent Contest and was a Minnesota State Fair Talent Contest semi-finalist. She has lettered in drama at Shakopee High School and is an International Thespian Society member. Cece is the current reigning queen of Shakopee, and as the Shakopee Ambassador, she volunteers with local non-profits and participates in local parades and festivals. Some of the volunteer work she has done has been with Feed My Starving Children, where she helped pack over 500 bags of rice for children in Uganda. She earned this title through her volunteer experience, her impressive written essay, and her interview. These accolades go along with numerous AP Courses and dual enrollment classes, including Japanese. Outside of school, CeCe runs and emcees district discussion meetings for her local Buddhist Center. Similar to Bible study, she leads the discussions on the monthly readings.
CeCe will attend the University of Maryland, the University of Minnesota, or the University of Michigan next year and plans to major in Musical Theatre and minor in Computer Science or Japanese.
High School: Shakopee High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
A young Citlalic, asking to pet her neighbor's dog, changed her life forever. This neighbor introduced her to music and played a few pieces on the violin and piano for her. Citlalic remembers running home and begging her mom to let her play. She soon began taking both piano and violin lessons with her neighbor, Heidi, and credits her for fostering her love of music. Heidi's constant support has given Citlalic the confidence to continue. What began as a love for music grew into an appreciation for all of the arts. She began dance, community theatre, and once in high school, she decided to pursue Musical Theatre through the Performing Arts Institute of Minnesota. There she got to expand her mastery of musical theatre, dancing, acting, and singing.
CeCe, as she affectionately known, got to participate in the 2022 Triple Threat on Hennepin Spotlight Program last year, where she had to compete against hundreds of students across Minnesota. The application process was intense and involved a headshot, resume, video audition, directors' references, and a personal essay, and that was just to get past the first round. The second round involved in-person callbacks. CeCe was elated to be announced among the top 24 participants, as the prize would be an all-expense-paid trip to New York to represent Minnesota in the Jimmy Awards. To prepare, all 24 top participating students were able to work closely with industry professionals who all had Broadway experience. All of this training was for the finalists' end-of-year showcase where they would announce the winner. CeCe had to learn the original Broadway choreography and vocals for A Chorus Line. The choreography did not come as easily to CeCe as it had been some years since she had danced as part of a program due to COVID-19. Even though she did not take home the prize, making it that far was outstanding, as she did not have the privileges some of the other finalists had, including private voice lessons, dance classes, and acting camps.
CeCe's talent in the arts has been recognized in various competitions. Besides being a Triple Threat on Hennepin Finalist, she won first place in the Scott County Fair Talent Contest and was a Minnesota State Fair Talent Contest semi-finalist. She has lettered in drama at Shakopee High School and is an International Thespian Society member. Cece is the current reigning queen of Shakopee, and as the Shakopee Ambassador, she volunteers with local non-profits and participates in local parades and festivals. Some of the volunteer work she has done has been with Feed My Starving Children, where she helped pack over 500 bags of rice for children in Uganda. She earned this title through her volunteer experience, her impressive written essay, and her interview. These accolades go along with numerous AP Courses and dual enrollment classes, including Japanese. Outside of school, CeCe runs and emcees district discussion meetings for her local Buddhist Center. Similar to Bible study, she leads the discussions on the monthly readings.
CeCe will attend the University of Maryland, the University of Minnesota, or the University of Michigan next year and plans to major in Musical Theatre and minor in Computer Science or Japanese.
SILVER - Isabella Wilson
Hometown: Clinton Township, MI
High School: International Academy of Macomb
Hispanic Heritage: Puerto Rican & Mexican
While still a high school student, Isabella has not only already sold pieces of her artwork but is also a published artist. As a freshman, she was invited to participate in the future artist tent at a local arts festival, Festival of the Senses, where she was commissioned to make art pieces including a memorial piece of a tulip watercolor for a lady who had recently lost her husband. Isabella recalls watching the lady get tears in her eyes as her art reminded the woman of her husband. In addition, Isabella was asked by a family friend to illustrate their book on the importance of positive self-talk. Isabella took the role of illustrator very seriously and spent hours a day finding the best ways to convey the story and capturing the facial expressions of the characters just right. Once Isabella finished, the book was used in counseling sessions and was positively received by the children. She wanted the kids when looking at the drawings to be better able to understand the underlying message of the book through her fun visuals. This project cemented for Isabella on how art could not only be physically appealing but also spread awareness and display important topics visually. For her second published book, Isabella illustrated a biblical story, where her art was able to depict the stories and themes of the bible. Being able to convey important emotional and spiritual messages is essential to Isabella, she is proud of the work that she has done to do that.
Besides in published and sold pieces, Isabella was able to take her art to another medium by being asked to paint a mural for her Spanish teacher. With this project, Isabella was excited to be able to research more on Spanish culture and find representative symbols to add such as the Columbus Monument and La Sagrada Familia. She also chose to add a bull, and jamón, which are all associated with Spain. She wanted to make sure that her mural included not only their popular monuments but also their food and customs. Isabella had already independently began growing her knowledge on various Latino and Hispanic cultures before the mural project as she wanted to have more of her art work represent her own Latino culture and pride but the need for equality and even social issues that Latinos face. While Isabella has enjoyed learning about other Latinx/Hispanic countries, she still has a huge sense of pride for her own Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage. Isabella was not only devasted when Hurricane Maria hit her island but again with the pandemic happening shortly thereafter and having them go without the aid that was promised to them. Isabella cannot help put think that racism played a role in the aid not being given. In order to share her feelings of grief, and anger, Isabella challenges these unfair ideologies and makes sure that her art pieces touch on racism. With her art, Isabella wants to give non-minorities the perspective into what minorities face in hopes to derive meaningful change.
Isabella started her schools art club, where she hopes to encourage creativity, members to learn from each other, and just appreciate art in general. The club makes sure to give back by creating blankets, and cards for nursing homes. In the fall, Isabella will attend Washington University in St. Louis, the College for Creative Studies, or Syracuse University to study communication design.
High School: International Academy of Macomb
Hispanic Heritage: Puerto Rican & Mexican
While still a high school student, Isabella has not only already sold pieces of her artwork but is also a published artist. As a freshman, she was invited to participate in the future artist tent at a local arts festival, Festival of the Senses, where she was commissioned to make art pieces including a memorial piece of a tulip watercolor for a lady who had recently lost her husband. Isabella recalls watching the lady get tears in her eyes as her art reminded the woman of her husband. In addition, Isabella was asked by a family friend to illustrate their book on the importance of positive self-talk. Isabella took the role of illustrator very seriously and spent hours a day finding the best ways to convey the story and capturing the facial expressions of the characters just right. Once Isabella finished, the book was used in counseling sessions and was positively received by the children. She wanted the kids when looking at the drawings to be better able to understand the underlying message of the book through her fun visuals. This project cemented for Isabella on how art could not only be physically appealing but also spread awareness and display important topics visually. For her second published book, Isabella illustrated a biblical story, where her art was able to depict the stories and themes of the bible. Being able to convey important emotional and spiritual messages is essential to Isabella, she is proud of the work that she has done to do that.
Besides in published and sold pieces, Isabella was able to take her art to another medium by being asked to paint a mural for her Spanish teacher. With this project, Isabella was excited to be able to research more on Spanish culture and find representative symbols to add such as the Columbus Monument and La Sagrada Familia. She also chose to add a bull, and jamón, which are all associated with Spain. She wanted to make sure that her mural included not only their popular monuments but also their food and customs. Isabella had already independently began growing her knowledge on various Latino and Hispanic cultures before the mural project as she wanted to have more of her art work represent her own Latino culture and pride but the need for equality and even social issues that Latinos face. While Isabella has enjoyed learning about other Latinx/Hispanic countries, she still has a huge sense of pride for her own Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage. Isabella was not only devasted when Hurricane Maria hit her island but again with the pandemic happening shortly thereafter and having them go without the aid that was promised to them. Isabella cannot help put think that racism played a role in the aid not being given. In order to share her feelings of grief, and anger, Isabella challenges these unfair ideologies and makes sure that her art pieces touch on racism. With her art, Isabella wants to give non-minorities the perspective into what minorities face in hopes to derive meaningful change.
Isabella started her schools art club, where she hopes to encourage creativity, members to learn from each other, and just appreciate art in general. The club makes sure to give back by creating blankets, and cards for nursing homes. In the fall, Isabella will attend Washington University in St. Louis, the College for Creative Studies, or Syracuse University to study communication design.
BRONZE - Jesus Flores Morales
Hometown: Painesville, OH
High School: Thomas W. Harvey High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Jesus’ interest in entertainment took hold in the sixth grade when he signed up for band and chorus. While he took chorus for two years, he dropped it as he wanted to make more room in his schedule for his love of music. His passion for music could be seen in that he has always been first row for flute and being asked to be the middle school band’s band officer. Once in high school, the opportunities for music and band were expanded. He was able to continue with concert band, marching band, pep band and wind ensemble which is school’s honors band. While similar, the two different bands offered different opportunities. In concert band, they would have both a winter and spring concert, which he looked forwarded to every year and for pep band they are in charge of playing at his school’s basketball games. In marching band, he was again asked to be a squad leader. When Jesus first tried out for this position, he did not have high hopes to secure the role as it usually reserved for seniors. Despite that Jesus wanted to try and spent weeks practicing his skills. While the role did end up going to a senior, the band director was so impressed with Jesus that they made a position just for him, Assistant Field Commander. He excelled in this role and a year later he tried out again and was awarded the Head Field Commander title. Jesus is proud of his work in this role, which becomes an extension of the marching band director and requires the individual to commit many more hours a week than the normal marching band member. All of his hard work in this role paid off when Jesus’ marching band director pulled him aside and told him that he was one of the best field commanders that he has ever had. For wind ensemble, the music play is more rigorous as they are currently learning college level pieces. Lastly this year, Jesus was invited to join his school’s media class where they produce music, host podcasts, and learn new instruments.
Jesus is a member of his school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter and he has won at the state level and also placed nationally at FBLA competitions. In addition, he sat on the State Student Council and was tapped to be the State President this year. Jesus is also a proud and active member of his school’s National Honors Society. Volunteering wise, one organization that he has spent time at has been Lake Metroparks at their Halloween Drive-thru. This event showcased just how something so simple as putting on a costume can not only put a smile on the kids face but also be a lasting memory. The impact that this event had on him, made him return two more times to give back to the local kids. Some of his other service hours come from his church, besides the normal cleaning and decorating, he is the proudest of the work he has done with their Christmas drives. There the local kids would be able to go around and shop for presents and then bring it up to the front to be wrapped to ensure that everyone not only has a gift to receive for Christmas but to also be able to give gifts to others.
With a 4.0 GPA, next year Jesus will attend Columbia University, Ohio State University, or New York University to study business administration.
High School: Thomas W. Harvey High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Jesus’ interest in entertainment took hold in the sixth grade when he signed up for band and chorus. While he took chorus for two years, he dropped it as he wanted to make more room in his schedule for his love of music. His passion for music could be seen in that he has always been first row for flute and being asked to be the middle school band’s band officer. Once in high school, the opportunities for music and band were expanded. He was able to continue with concert band, marching band, pep band and wind ensemble which is school’s honors band. While similar, the two different bands offered different opportunities. In concert band, they would have both a winter and spring concert, which he looked forwarded to every year and for pep band they are in charge of playing at his school’s basketball games. In marching band, he was again asked to be a squad leader. When Jesus first tried out for this position, he did not have high hopes to secure the role as it usually reserved for seniors. Despite that Jesus wanted to try and spent weeks practicing his skills. While the role did end up going to a senior, the band director was so impressed with Jesus that they made a position just for him, Assistant Field Commander. He excelled in this role and a year later he tried out again and was awarded the Head Field Commander title. Jesus is proud of his work in this role, which becomes an extension of the marching band director and requires the individual to commit many more hours a week than the normal marching band member. All of his hard work in this role paid off when Jesus’ marching band director pulled him aside and told him that he was one of the best field commanders that he has ever had. For wind ensemble, the music play is more rigorous as they are currently learning college level pieces. Lastly this year, Jesus was invited to join his school’s media class where they produce music, host podcasts, and learn new instruments.
Jesus is a member of his school’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter and he has won at the state level and also placed nationally at FBLA competitions. In addition, he sat on the State Student Council and was tapped to be the State President this year. Jesus is also a proud and active member of his school’s National Honors Society. Volunteering wise, one organization that he has spent time at has been Lake Metroparks at their Halloween Drive-thru. This event showcased just how something so simple as putting on a costume can not only put a smile on the kids face but also be a lasting memory. The impact that this event had on him, made him return two more times to give back to the local kids. Some of his other service hours come from his church, besides the normal cleaning and decorating, he is the proudest of the work he has done with their Christmas drives. There the local kids would be able to go around and shop for presents and then bring it up to the front to be wrapped to ensure that everyone not only has a gift to receive for Christmas but to also be able to give gifts to others.
With a 4.0 GPA, next year Jesus will attend Columbia University, Ohio State University, or New York University to study business administration.
Public Service & Social Justice
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Edgar Vilchez
Hometown: Chicago, IL
High School: Intrinsic Schools
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Edgar sees himself working in public service and social justice as there a lot of issues that he cares about, such as immigration reform, that he wants to make actionable change towards. With this goal in mind, Edgar has already had numerous public service experiences. His work has led him to have the chance to work with the State Senator of the 20th District in Chicago, was a part of the first youth council for his state senator, which cemented his passion for public service. As part of the youth council, Edgar worked on research on the shortage of counselors/mental health for students and even drafting his own bill on the matter. He then was tasked to make his own research proposal for the shortage of counselors in Illinois and got to present his work to his state senator and even the director of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus. At the more local level, Edgar has been a part of the Mayor’s Youth Commission, specifically working in their department of public health. Working directly with the Mayor of Chicago, Edgar most enjoys and appreciates the opportunity to represent Chicago youth and create new ideas from education to neighborhood development, a position that he does not take lightly. This summer Edgar will be taking part of the CHCI fellowship that takes place in Washington, D.C.
To fight for issues that he is passionate about, Edgar joined the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. He got to advocate for immigration reform/rights, a matter that means so much to him as a first-generation Latino. For Edgar, when he sees something wrong, he is not afraid to speak up. Edgar and many of his classmates all walk to school, however, to get there they had to walk under a “viaduct”/bridge. The problem was that this path was not easily accessible for an able-bodied walker and was near impossible for one with a disability. To make it worse it was riddled with waste that made breathing difficult. With the help of a teacher and friend, Edgar created the “One School, One Community Viaduct & Sidewalk Beautification Project”. There they wrote a research paper on the viaduct and sidewalks, took photos, and sent 311 requests to the city. They also reached out to their alderman by email, calls, and had a meeting with him during a town hall. He didn’t answer them, so they put in an additional 311 requests and the department of streets & sanitation of Chicago eventually came to clean it. This experience taught him that persistence pays off and he can make his community better. Next, this duo plans to make sure the sidewalks are replaced as the group’s next project.
Edgar's drive and passion for his community means that no action is too big or small for him to tackle head on. He has worked polling booths for candidates he wanted to see elected, and even voting himself, Edgar is driven by more than just civic duty. The dedication to Edgar’s community was recognized when he received the 102nd General Assembly Illinois Senate certificate of Recognition.
With goals to be a congressman, Edgar plans to attend Cornell University, the University of Chicago, or Northwestern University to study political science.
High School: Intrinsic Schools
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Edgar sees himself working in public service and social justice as there a lot of issues that he cares about, such as immigration reform, that he wants to make actionable change towards. With this goal in mind, Edgar has already had numerous public service experiences. His work has led him to have the chance to work with the State Senator of the 20th District in Chicago, was a part of the first youth council for his state senator, which cemented his passion for public service. As part of the youth council, Edgar worked on research on the shortage of counselors/mental health for students and even drafting his own bill on the matter. He then was tasked to make his own research proposal for the shortage of counselors in Illinois and got to present his work to his state senator and even the director of the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus. At the more local level, Edgar has been a part of the Mayor’s Youth Commission, specifically working in their department of public health. Working directly with the Mayor of Chicago, Edgar most enjoys and appreciates the opportunity to represent Chicago youth and create new ideas from education to neighborhood development, a position that he does not take lightly. This summer Edgar will be taking part of the CHCI fellowship that takes place in Washington, D.C.
To fight for issues that he is passionate about, Edgar joined the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. He got to advocate for immigration reform/rights, a matter that means so much to him as a first-generation Latino. For Edgar, when he sees something wrong, he is not afraid to speak up. Edgar and many of his classmates all walk to school, however, to get there they had to walk under a “viaduct”/bridge. The problem was that this path was not easily accessible for an able-bodied walker and was near impossible for one with a disability. To make it worse it was riddled with waste that made breathing difficult. With the help of a teacher and friend, Edgar created the “One School, One Community Viaduct & Sidewalk Beautification Project”. There they wrote a research paper on the viaduct and sidewalks, took photos, and sent 311 requests to the city. They also reached out to their alderman by email, calls, and had a meeting with him during a town hall. He didn’t answer them, so they put in an additional 311 requests and the department of streets & sanitation of Chicago eventually came to clean it. This experience taught him that persistence pays off and he can make his community better. Next, this duo plans to make sure the sidewalks are replaced as the group’s next project.
Edgar's drive and passion for his community means that no action is too big or small for him to tackle head on. He has worked polling booths for candidates he wanted to see elected, and even voting himself, Edgar is driven by more than just civic duty. The dedication to Edgar’s community was recognized when he received the 102nd General Assembly Illinois Senate certificate of Recognition.
With goals to be a congressman, Edgar plans to attend Cornell University, the University of Chicago, or Northwestern University to study political science.
SILVER - Melanie Garcia
Hometown: Chicago, IL
High School: Northside College Preparatory High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Melanie remembers watching the news with her parents and hearing her mother’s screams of joy when she saw President Obama on the screen and underneath him the words, “Immigration reform”. This joy was short lived as there was not enough done in that space. Confused on what happened, Melanie took AP US government and politics class, which helped explain the complexities and nuances of the US political system. But Melanie wanted to see and learn more about how our government impacted Latinos specifically. Since then, Melanie was able to travel to Washington, DC through the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes NextGen Latino Leadership Program. There she got to see first-hand how congress works and even got to sit in on a house meeting which let Melanie see herself as an elected representative in the future. She even got the opportunity to speak to the congressional members in the capital. Melanie got to share her story of gentrification and immigration with Representative Chuy Garcia and hear the policies that he was working to address those specific issues. She also got the opportunity to speak with a Republican Senator, whose stance on immigration was drastically different. Melanie remembers leaving disheartened with their conversation as someone in his position, saw her and her community in such a negative light. Melanie hopes that their conversation will at least give him pause when it comes to making future policies on immigration as he got to see a face of who his polices directly impact.
To get closer to a career in public service, Melanie has started with more local politics. She currently is an intern at a local aldermanic office, allowing her to see exactly what elected officials do and for her to serve her community by providing them with government services. Melanie enjoyed being able to communicate with the Spanish-speaking constituents and being the middleman between the alderman and his constituents as she was able to raise the concerns that they would raise during these calls. As a Latina, she got to offer personal stories to the alderman based in what the constituents said as well as be a sounding board to the proposed solutions that were going to be shared with the council. She also got to work firsthand in campaigns as the alderman was running for re-election this year. Her work with the alderman has not gone unnoticed. He highlights her ability to share her story to fight for meaningful change. Government is not for everyone and can be tough for morale, but he notes her ability to stay poised, professional, and compassionate even on the tough days.
Melanie has also volunteered at the Chicago Food Depository, where she felt great to give back to an organization that had helped her family out during rough times. There she has worked fundraising events, like the ice cream social, where she helped scoop over 10,000 ice cream cones, which raised over $10,000 for the organization.
This proud Mexicana has a 4.0 GPA and will be studying political science and Latino studies next year at Harvard College, the University of Chicago, or Georgetown University.
High School: Northside College Preparatory High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Melanie remembers watching the news with her parents and hearing her mother’s screams of joy when she saw President Obama on the screen and underneath him the words, “Immigration reform”. This joy was short lived as there was not enough done in that space. Confused on what happened, Melanie took AP US government and politics class, which helped explain the complexities and nuances of the US political system. But Melanie wanted to see and learn more about how our government impacted Latinos specifically. Since then, Melanie was able to travel to Washington, DC through the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes NextGen Latino Leadership Program. There she got to see first-hand how congress works and even got to sit in on a house meeting which let Melanie see herself as an elected representative in the future. She even got the opportunity to speak to the congressional members in the capital. Melanie got to share her story of gentrification and immigration with Representative Chuy Garcia and hear the policies that he was working to address those specific issues. She also got the opportunity to speak with a Republican Senator, whose stance on immigration was drastically different. Melanie remembers leaving disheartened with their conversation as someone in his position, saw her and her community in such a negative light. Melanie hopes that their conversation will at least give him pause when it comes to making future policies on immigration as he got to see a face of who his polices directly impact.
To get closer to a career in public service, Melanie has started with more local politics. She currently is an intern at a local aldermanic office, allowing her to see exactly what elected officials do and for her to serve her community by providing them with government services. Melanie enjoyed being able to communicate with the Spanish-speaking constituents and being the middleman between the alderman and his constituents as she was able to raise the concerns that they would raise during these calls. As a Latina, she got to offer personal stories to the alderman based in what the constituents said as well as be a sounding board to the proposed solutions that were going to be shared with the council. She also got to work firsthand in campaigns as the alderman was running for re-election this year. Her work with the alderman has not gone unnoticed. He highlights her ability to share her story to fight for meaningful change. Government is not for everyone and can be tough for morale, but he notes her ability to stay poised, professional, and compassionate even on the tough days.
Melanie has also volunteered at the Chicago Food Depository, where she felt great to give back to an organization that had helped her family out during rough times. There she has worked fundraising events, like the ice cream social, where she helped scoop over 10,000 ice cream cones, which raised over $10,000 for the organization.
This proud Mexicana has a 4.0 GPA and will be studying political science and Latino studies next year at Harvard College, the University of Chicago, or Georgetown University.
BRONZE - Zachary Sardas-Trevorrow
Hometown: Mequon, WI
High School: University School of Milwaukee
Hispanic Heritage: Brazilian & Guatemalan
Growing up in a predominately white community in Wisconsin, Zachary had to learn to navigate that reality as a young boy. This could take the form of often having to turn the other cheek in times of conflict to ensure that his actions always come off as mellow in order to not be coming off as aggressive. While this necessary survival skill is one that many BIPOC have had to learn, Zachary does find a silver lining. This reality ensured that he stayed composed and firm in his beliefs, which he believes, has made him a better communicator. Being able to communicate effectively has been vital in his advocacy work such as bringing attention to Hispanic Heritage Month and bringing awareness to the effect that negative Hispanic stereotypes have. This commitment to issues that plague Latinx/Hispanic communities specifically had led to his yearlong research project where he explores and analyzes the mental health of Latinx immigrants. His findings have showed what he expected; that Latinx immigrants suffer from survivors’ guilt and PTSD in regards to their journey to the United States. Despite dealing with serious mental health struggles they statistically will not seek any professional help once here and even once they are established. These untreated issues will not go away but will instead become generational trauma, and an overall aversion for mental health support. To combat this, Zachary wants to start a digital awareness campaign advocating for getting support and help for mental health. Outside of the digital world, he wants to create a safe space in local community centers to come together as a support group where these individuals can discuss and work through their shared experiences together. The end goal would be of course, to destigmatize mental health and having more mental health services. While he has yet to present his findings, when he does at the end of the year, he hopes the biggest takeaway is that someone not only is listening but also cares.
Other ways that Zachary has been there for his community can be seen in is weekly volunteer work with the Sea Literacy, where he provides refugees with tutoring, mentoring and support. Here he is not only able to help these communities assimilate but makes him thankful for being in the position that he is in in that he is able to support others who have had to make the difficult decision to leave their home countries. With these experiences, Zachary is always finding ways to use his voice to help others who may not have a voice. Being able to be a voice is something that Zachary takes seriously and often chooses disenfranchised groups to support and research. One instance was his historical fiction paper on the drag scene of New York in the 70s and 80s, which was so well done it won him an honorable mention at the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards.
Zachary’s future career path inspires his college choices with many being in the Washington DC area. He is applying to George Washington University, Sarah Lawrence College, and George Mason University to study political science.
High School: University School of Milwaukee
Hispanic Heritage: Brazilian & Guatemalan
Growing up in a predominately white community in Wisconsin, Zachary had to learn to navigate that reality as a young boy. This could take the form of often having to turn the other cheek in times of conflict to ensure that his actions always come off as mellow in order to not be coming off as aggressive. While this necessary survival skill is one that many BIPOC have had to learn, Zachary does find a silver lining. This reality ensured that he stayed composed and firm in his beliefs, which he believes, has made him a better communicator. Being able to communicate effectively has been vital in his advocacy work such as bringing attention to Hispanic Heritage Month and bringing awareness to the effect that negative Hispanic stereotypes have. This commitment to issues that plague Latinx/Hispanic communities specifically had led to his yearlong research project where he explores and analyzes the mental health of Latinx immigrants. His findings have showed what he expected; that Latinx immigrants suffer from survivors’ guilt and PTSD in regards to their journey to the United States. Despite dealing with serious mental health struggles they statistically will not seek any professional help once here and even once they are established. These untreated issues will not go away but will instead become generational trauma, and an overall aversion for mental health support. To combat this, Zachary wants to start a digital awareness campaign advocating for getting support and help for mental health. Outside of the digital world, he wants to create a safe space in local community centers to come together as a support group where these individuals can discuss and work through their shared experiences together. The end goal would be of course, to destigmatize mental health and having more mental health services. While he has yet to present his findings, when he does at the end of the year, he hopes the biggest takeaway is that someone not only is listening but also cares.
Other ways that Zachary has been there for his community can be seen in is weekly volunteer work with the Sea Literacy, where he provides refugees with tutoring, mentoring and support. Here he is not only able to help these communities assimilate but makes him thankful for being in the position that he is in in that he is able to support others who have had to make the difficult decision to leave their home countries. With these experiences, Zachary is always finding ways to use his voice to help others who may not have a voice. Being able to be a voice is something that Zachary takes seriously and often chooses disenfranchised groups to support and research. One instance was his historical fiction paper on the drag scene of New York in the 70s and 80s, which was so well done it won him an honorable mention at the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards.
Zachary’s future career path inspires his college choices with many being in the Washington DC area. He is applying to George Washington University, Sarah Lawrence College, and George Mason University to study political science.
Sports & Fitness
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Lily Witte
Hometown: Dexter, MI
High School: Dexter High School
Hispanic Heritage: Brazilian & Spanish
Lily Witte is an exceptional student-athlete and is held in high regard by her peers. She has been an integral part of her swim and dive team. Her talent has taken her to regionals, then to zones, then finally to Nationals. Her dream was not just to win Nationals but to make the National team. She recalls the unforgettably surreal experience as she stepped on the top podium at her National competition. Her efforts were not left unnoticed, and she was invited to join the National USA Junior Diving Team. She feels truly honored and forever grateful to represent her country not just nationally but internationally as she has competed on three different continents. Among her achievements she is a six-time junior National champion and has numerous other achievements on a national level.
At just 16 years old, Lily Witte was standing on a podium with a medal around her neck as she just won bronze at the 2021 Senior National Diving Championship. In front of her was a legendary diver and her future inspiration, Hobie Billingsley. “Good job, kid” he told her. After this moment she was inspired to learn more about him. She learned about Hobie’s unique approach to coaching, using physics and science-based methods to teach other divers about the sport. It allowed her to put together her passion for sports and her love of computer science and data. She hopes to take what she learns and create new and innovative ways to develop extraordinary athletes in multiple sports by integrating computer science and data into the training, coaching, performance analytics, and overall athlete development.
Academically, Lily is no slouch either. She boasts an incredible 3.95 GPA and challenges herself with not only AP and IB course but also takes some college level dual enrollment classes. She is part of her National Honor Society and gives back to her community as well. For the past two summers she has volunteered to help do critical repairs on vulnerable homes in Memphis, Tennessee and coaches and mentors young divers locally. Her goal has been to improve the physical and mental health of her community.
Late last year, Lily headed off to compete for two weeks for Team USA in the Jr. World Championships. She was elected captain for her team by her teammates and coaches and was thrilled to capture the bronze medal for Team USA. She is currently ranked first in the US and third in the world on 3m. Though her athletic commitments often cause Lily to miss quite a bit of school, it is not a deterrent for this exceptional student. She stays on top of her work, managing her academics herself, including making arrangements to take a college Calculus 1 final while competing for a week at the USA Senior Nationals last December.
Lily is of Spanish and Brazilian descent, and in the fall, she'll begin her studies in Computer Science and Sports Data Analytics with a minor in Sports Medicine at Indiana University (IU), one of the three Olympic podium centers for USA Diving, which has produced the most Olympians. Lily has the Olympic dream and hopes to chase it at IU, as well as develop ways to integrate computer science into sports.
High School: Dexter High School
Hispanic Heritage: Brazilian & Spanish
Lily Witte is an exceptional student-athlete and is held in high regard by her peers. She has been an integral part of her swim and dive team. Her talent has taken her to regionals, then to zones, then finally to Nationals. Her dream was not just to win Nationals but to make the National team. She recalls the unforgettably surreal experience as she stepped on the top podium at her National competition. Her efforts were not left unnoticed, and she was invited to join the National USA Junior Diving Team. She feels truly honored and forever grateful to represent her country not just nationally but internationally as she has competed on three different continents. Among her achievements she is a six-time junior National champion and has numerous other achievements on a national level.
At just 16 years old, Lily Witte was standing on a podium with a medal around her neck as she just won bronze at the 2021 Senior National Diving Championship. In front of her was a legendary diver and her future inspiration, Hobie Billingsley. “Good job, kid” he told her. After this moment she was inspired to learn more about him. She learned about Hobie’s unique approach to coaching, using physics and science-based methods to teach other divers about the sport. It allowed her to put together her passion for sports and her love of computer science and data. She hopes to take what she learns and create new and innovative ways to develop extraordinary athletes in multiple sports by integrating computer science and data into the training, coaching, performance analytics, and overall athlete development.
Academically, Lily is no slouch either. She boasts an incredible 3.95 GPA and challenges herself with not only AP and IB course but also takes some college level dual enrollment classes. She is part of her National Honor Society and gives back to her community as well. For the past two summers she has volunteered to help do critical repairs on vulnerable homes in Memphis, Tennessee and coaches and mentors young divers locally. Her goal has been to improve the physical and mental health of her community.
Late last year, Lily headed off to compete for two weeks for Team USA in the Jr. World Championships. She was elected captain for her team by her teammates and coaches and was thrilled to capture the bronze medal for Team USA. She is currently ranked first in the US and third in the world on 3m. Though her athletic commitments often cause Lily to miss quite a bit of school, it is not a deterrent for this exceptional student. She stays on top of her work, managing her academics herself, including making arrangements to take a college Calculus 1 final while competing for a week at the USA Senior Nationals last December.
Lily is of Spanish and Brazilian descent, and in the fall, she'll begin her studies in Computer Science and Sports Data Analytics with a minor in Sports Medicine at Indiana University (IU), one of the three Olympic podium centers for USA Diving, which has produced the most Olympians. Lily has the Olympic dream and hopes to chase it at IU, as well as develop ways to integrate computer science into sports.
SILVER - Ellie Sanchez
Hometown: Barrington, IL
High School: Barrington High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
From swimming, dance, gymnastics, softball, volleyball, track, CrossFit, basketball, and soccer, Ellie Sanchez has done it all. This all-around athlete enjoys all of them. Her dad is a football coach, and her mom is a gymnastics coach, so this athletic ability just runs in her blood. Notably she has been competitive especially in gymnastics, soccer, and track. She and her team have competed and across the board. From finishing 3rd in a 4x100 relay race to being a level 9 gymnast and even finishing 2nd in the Illinois High School State Soccer Tournament, she is a highly decorated athlete. She was also named one of the “Top XI” soccer players in the state of Illinois. Though her team finished in second at the state level, her focus did not waver on being the best. You would still find her setting the standard in practice, in the weight room, and sharpening her skills in speed and agility training. On-season and off-season, Ellie is constantly raising the bar of fitness for her team.
Off the field she has discovered another passion as well, marketing and media. She wanted to encourage her classmates to get more involved in all the goings on of her school sports and started an Instagram account to publicize all school sporting events. She also volunteers her time at her community Summer Spirit Sports Camp where she teaches and mentors younger students in different sports and trains them. This is also incredibly important to her since the camp opens their doors to all minority populations where she can make a difference for her community. Aside from the camp she is also involved in other volunteer opportunities, one of which is a group called “Hope’s In”. This group is dedicated to improving the Guatemala City Garbage Dump communities. They volunteer and fundraise to help the people living in those garbage dump communities by helping to provide shelter, healthcare, and education.
With a perfect 4.00 GPA, a whole slew of honors, AP, and dual enrollment classes, Ellie is hoping to attend North Dakota State University, Clemson University, or Auburn University and major in Marketing and Media with a minor in Sports Marketing.
High School: Barrington High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
From swimming, dance, gymnastics, softball, volleyball, track, CrossFit, basketball, and soccer, Ellie Sanchez has done it all. This all-around athlete enjoys all of them. Her dad is a football coach, and her mom is a gymnastics coach, so this athletic ability just runs in her blood. Notably she has been competitive especially in gymnastics, soccer, and track. She and her team have competed and across the board. From finishing 3rd in a 4x100 relay race to being a level 9 gymnast and even finishing 2nd in the Illinois High School State Soccer Tournament, she is a highly decorated athlete. She was also named one of the “Top XI” soccer players in the state of Illinois. Though her team finished in second at the state level, her focus did not waver on being the best. You would still find her setting the standard in practice, in the weight room, and sharpening her skills in speed and agility training. On-season and off-season, Ellie is constantly raising the bar of fitness for her team.
Off the field she has discovered another passion as well, marketing and media. She wanted to encourage her classmates to get more involved in all the goings on of her school sports and started an Instagram account to publicize all school sporting events. She also volunteers her time at her community Summer Spirit Sports Camp where she teaches and mentors younger students in different sports and trains them. This is also incredibly important to her since the camp opens their doors to all minority populations where she can make a difference for her community. Aside from the camp she is also involved in other volunteer opportunities, one of which is a group called “Hope’s In”. This group is dedicated to improving the Guatemala City Garbage Dump communities. They volunteer and fundraise to help the people living in those garbage dump communities by helping to provide shelter, healthcare, and education.
With a perfect 4.00 GPA, a whole slew of honors, AP, and dual enrollment classes, Ellie is hoping to attend North Dakota State University, Clemson University, or Auburn University and major in Marketing and Media with a minor in Sports Marketing.
BRONZE - Matthew Gomez
Hometown: Chicago, IL
High School: Lane Technical High School
Hispanic Heritage: Puerto Rican
For Matthew, what stands out the most in sports is their essence, their pageantry, and the magic of competition. This love for baseball in particular has been a family tradition. His father whose dedication for the sport started with being taken to White Sox games by his father. Since then, Matthew’s father has become a major baseball history buff and is always sharing his knowledge of the sport with Matthew. What Matthew enjoys the most about these moments with his father is not only the stories and knowledge of the history of the sport he loves so much being passed down to him but acknowledging the bonds and memories that baseball has formed in his own family.
Playing wise, Matthew has of course played baseball starting in kindergarten through park district leagues, basketball, and soccer, before he focused on bowling in middle and high school. Bowling is usually a predominately white sport, and Matthew remembers growing up being the only Hispanic player amongst all the bowlers at tournaments. While he described the experience as intimidating and isolating, and noting it would sometimes impact his performance as he was not only representing himself and his family at tournaments but his heritage and culture, he powered through. Luckily, in his varsity high school team, the opposite is true, and his team is Hispanic dominant. This shared bond and culture has made him more comfortable in tournaments and has overall allowed for the team to play better collectively than they did individually. This teamwork and understanding, Matthew and his team were able to utilize during the Chicago Public School League City Championship during his sophomore year. In that game, Matthew’s team was down by over 100 pins in the first of three rounds. For their second round, a captain bowled an outstanding 297, which quickly raised everyone’s confidence, and they began to feed off each other’s success and wins and were able to come back and win the entire championship with a 16-pin margin. What Matthew took away from this, was to never give up, to fight until the very end; even if the odds are stacked against you, to always try your best. This trait can also be seen in his academics. His AP Computer Science teacher, notices that Matthew is driven to always do his best, he will quadruple check all assignments, review every mistake to ensure he fully understands all material.
As a camp counselor this summer, Matthew was responsible for a group of fifteen 6-7 year old boys in a multitude of different field games and activities. Due to the campers’ young age, Matthew was responsible for teaching things like the rules of the game, following the rules and not cheating, and teamwork. In the role, Matthew wanted to serve as a positive role model that was outside of their homes to replicate what he experienced growing up with his older sister’s friends and his church’s younger youth pastors.
Matthew currently attends the prestigious Lane Technical High School and has a 4.0. Next year he will be going to the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, or Purdue University to study computer science.
High School: Lane Technical High School
Hispanic Heritage: Puerto Rican
For Matthew, what stands out the most in sports is their essence, their pageantry, and the magic of competition. This love for baseball in particular has been a family tradition. His father whose dedication for the sport started with being taken to White Sox games by his father. Since then, Matthew’s father has become a major baseball history buff and is always sharing his knowledge of the sport with Matthew. What Matthew enjoys the most about these moments with his father is not only the stories and knowledge of the history of the sport he loves so much being passed down to him but acknowledging the bonds and memories that baseball has formed in his own family.
Playing wise, Matthew has of course played baseball starting in kindergarten through park district leagues, basketball, and soccer, before he focused on bowling in middle and high school. Bowling is usually a predominately white sport, and Matthew remembers growing up being the only Hispanic player amongst all the bowlers at tournaments. While he described the experience as intimidating and isolating, and noting it would sometimes impact his performance as he was not only representing himself and his family at tournaments but his heritage and culture, he powered through. Luckily, in his varsity high school team, the opposite is true, and his team is Hispanic dominant. This shared bond and culture has made him more comfortable in tournaments and has overall allowed for the team to play better collectively than they did individually. This teamwork and understanding, Matthew and his team were able to utilize during the Chicago Public School League City Championship during his sophomore year. In that game, Matthew’s team was down by over 100 pins in the first of three rounds. For their second round, a captain bowled an outstanding 297, which quickly raised everyone’s confidence, and they began to feed off each other’s success and wins and were able to come back and win the entire championship with a 16-pin margin. What Matthew took away from this, was to never give up, to fight until the very end; even if the odds are stacked against you, to always try your best. This trait can also be seen in his academics. His AP Computer Science teacher, notices that Matthew is driven to always do his best, he will quadruple check all assignments, review every mistake to ensure he fully understands all material.
As a camp counselor this summer, Matthew was responsible for a group of fifteen 6-7 year old boys in a multitude of different field games and activities. Due to the campers’ young age, Matthew was responsible for teaching things like the rules of the game, following the rules and not cheating, and teamwork. In the role, Matthew wanted to serve as a positive role model that was outside of their homes to replicate what he experienced growing up with his older sister’s friends and his church’s younger youth pastors.
Matthew currently attends the prestigious Lane Technical High School and has a 4.0. Next year he will be going to the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, or Purdue University to study computer science.
Sustainability (Green)
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Guadalupe Vazquez
Hometown: Waukegan, IL
High School: Loyola Academy
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Guadalupe credits her Mexican roots to her and her family’s ability to reduce the amount of waste they produce. Their innovativeness has turned finished sour cream containers to Tupperware that is able to store leftovers. In addition, as a family they avoid fast fashion stores, which are not only poorly made but also often made in inhumane conditions, for better quality goods at thrift store and garage sales. When Guadalupe and her family have outgrown the clothes, they make sure to send them to Mexico where they can be enjoyed by their relatives there. From this family commitment, when Guadalupe started school she joined the Student’s Against Violating the Environment Club, which introduced her to the pressing issues of the Climate Crisis such as water pollution. An example that impacted her was the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and how there are few sustainable ways to discard waste. The club was just the tip of the iceberg, and Guadalupe learned even more through the Eco Circle International Fellowship. In the fellowship, they learned that even small communities contribute to environmental problems and was tasked to come up with a plan to be more sustainable in their community. Guadalupe chose to make a plan for her local grocery store to be more sustainable. Going into her junior year, Guadalupe participated in Inspirit AI, a coding program through Stanford & MIT Alumni, which taught Artificial Intelligence. Guadalupe made her first project on sustainable farming, and her code was able to detect early signs of plant disease in crops. The benefit of this was the preventing of having to throw away food that had gone bad. Her other project used satellites to analyze the impact of humans on the Amazon rainforest. Both of these projects cement her goal to ensure companies are more sustainable.
Guadalupe is a very caring individual; one issue that she is passionate about is eradicating food deserts and food insecurity. To combat this, she would recommend urban vertical farming by renovating abandoned buildings into high-tech farms. As she is tech-minded Guadalupe thinks there are ways to have these buildings run by code programming and machinery that not only grows fresh food right in an urban community, reducing the costs and times of transportation making more fresh, diverse produce readily available to low income, Hispanic communities.
She has been awarded the Science Award-Top Junior in the Sciences, a College Board AP Scholar with distinction, College Board Hispanic Recognition Award, Loyola Scholar, and a Hispanic Scholar Fund.
With classes such as AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus, AP Biology, & AP stats, Guadalupe will continue her studies to major in Environmental Science and Wildlife biology at Stanford University, the University of Arizona; or the University of California, Berkeley.
High School: Loyola Academy
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
Guadalupe credits her Mexican roots to her and her family’s ability to reduce the amount of waste they produce. Their innovativeness has turned finished sour cream containers to Tupperware that is able to store leftovers. In addition, as a family they avoid fast fashion stores, which are not only poorly made but also often made in inhumane conditions, for better quality goods at thrift store and garage sales. When Guadalupe and her family have outgrown the clothes, they make sure to send them to Mexico where they can be enjoyed by their relatives there. From this family commitment, when Guadalupe started school she joined the Student’s Against Violating the Environment Club, which introduced her to the pressing issues of the Climate Crisis such as water pollution. An example that impacted her was the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and how there are few sustainable ways to discard waste. The club was just the tip of the iceberg, and Guadalupe learned even more through the Eco Circle International Fellowship. In the fellowship, they learned that even small communities contribute to environmental problems and was tasked to come up with a plan to be more sustainable in their community. Guadalupe chose to make a plan for her local grocery store to be more sustainable. Going into her junior year, Guadalupe participated in Inspirit AI, a coding program through Stanford & MIT Alumni, which taught Artificial Intelligence. Guadalupe made her first project on sustainable farming, and her code was able to detect early signs of plant disease in crops. The benefit of this was the preventing of having to throw away food that had gone bad. Her other project used satellites to analyze the impact of humans on the Amazon rainforest. Both of these projects cement her goal to ensure companies are more sustainable.
Guadalupe is a very caring individual; one issue that she is passionate about is eradicating food deserts and food insecurity. To combat this, she would recommend urban vertical farming by renovating abandoned buildings into high-tech farms. As she is tech-minded Guadalupe thinks there are ways to have these buildings run by code programming and machinery that not only grows fresh food right in an urban community, reducing the costs and times of transportation making more fresh, diverse produce readily available to low income, Hispanic communities.
She has been awarded the Science Award-Top Junior in the Sciences, a College Board AP Scholar with distinction, College Board Hispanic Recognition Award, Loyola Scholar, and a Hispanic Scholar Fund.
With classes such as AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus, AP Biology, & AP stats, Guadalupe will continue her studies to major in Environmental Science and Wildlife biology at Stanford University, the University of Arizona; or the University of California, Berkeley.
SILVER - Xenia Diaz Castillo
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
High School: New Berlin Eisenhower High School
Hispanic Heritage: Salvadoran
Growing up in El Salvador spoiled Xenia, as she grew up in one of most beautiful countries in the world. Her home was full of color, wonderful people, and all the nature a little girl could want. It would have been hard to not fall in love with nature considering her countries natural beauty, variety of trees and animals and of course one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Growing up she always wanted to be outside and would spend her days volunteering in activities like releasing baby turtles back into the ocean or planting trees. These experiences sparked her curiosity on nature and how it works so she would find opportunities to learn more. In these studies, she learned about the threats that nature faces and she made it her mission to try to help.
Xenia noticed that her school was lacking any clubs promoting sustainable or green initiatives, so she took it up on herself to create one. In IKE Earth Club, they educate her peers on the current climate crisis facing the planet and empower students to find ways to make meaningful impact. As the founder and president, she has not only grown the club to its current 45 members, but she has found ways for the club to make the community a better place. Xenia has led volunteer work at parks, and at animal shelters, and even creating a community garden. Besides the tangible things that Xenia has done to better the environment, she ensures that they educate others as well which is equally as important. Xenia credits her Latino culture for not only being to spread the word on green initiatives here in the US but also with other Latinos worldwide.
Xenia’s ability to self-motivate and be a leader is evident in her ability to start her own environmental club, but in that she also holds leadership positions in numerous other clubs on campus such as the Vice President of Ike Change of Mind, co-president of Spanish Honors Society, and leader of marketing and design for the school yearbook. In addition, Xenia is a member of many other clubs where she just is an active member. In Spanish Honor Society, Xenia helps foster important conversations on racism and talk about shared experiences. She wants each student to have a safe space where they feel comfortable sharing their stories and to show pride in where they came from. At her school, there are not many Latinos, and hearing ignorant comments like “speak English and “hide your flags’ are commonplace. She wants to change that.
During her first two years of school, Xenia was advised to not take any AP courses as she was ESL student but has made up for it in the last two years. She has taken some of the hardest AP courses dealing in a variety of subjects such as AP Literature & Composition, AP Psychology, AP Microeconomics, and AP Language & Culture. With the rigorous course load and numerous clubs, Xenia is also a member of her school’s cross count team. This year she has done extremely well, and was 4th place at the Conference Championship, and 6th Place at the Whitnall Invite, and top 25 a the W.A. Bulldog invite.
Xenia plans to study graphic design next year at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of North Carolina, or the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.
High School: New Berlin Eisenhower High School
Hispanic Heritage: Salvadoran
Growing up in El Salvador spoiled Xenia, as she grew up in one of most beautiful countries in the world. Her home was full of color, wonderful people, and all the nature a little girl could want. It would have been hard to not fall in love with nature considering her countries natural beauty, variety of trees and animals and of course one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Growing up she always wanted to be outside and would spend her days volunteering in activities like releasing baby turtles back into the ocean or planting trees. These experiences sparked her curiosity on nature and how it works so she would find opportunities to learn more. In these studies, she learned about the threats that nature faces and she made it her mission to try to help.
Xenia noticed that her school was lacking any clubs promoting sustainable or green initiatives, so she took it up on herself to create one. In IKE Earth Club, they educate her peers on the current climate crisis facing the planet and empower students to find ways to make meaningful impact. As the founder and president, she has not only grown the club to its current 45 members, but she has found ways for the club to make the community a better place. Xenia has led volunteer work at parks, and at animal shelters, and even creating a community garden. Besides the tangible things that Xenia has done to better the environment, she ensures that they educate others as well which is equally as important. Xenia credits her Latino culture for not only being to spread the word on green initiatives here in the US but also with other Latinos worldwide.
Xenia’s ability to self-motivate and be a leader is evident in her ability to start her own environmental club, but in that she also holds leadership positions in numerous other clubs on campus such as the Vice President of Ike Change of Mind, co-president of Spanish Honors Society, and leader of marketing and design for the school yearbook. In addition, Xenia is a member of many other clubs where she just is an active member. In Spanish Honor Society, Xenia helps foster important conversations on racism and talk about shared experiences. She wants each student to have a safe space where they feel comfortable sharing their stories and to show pride in where they came from. At her school, there are not many Latinos, and hearing ignorant comments like “speak English and “hide your flags’ are commonplace. She wants to change that.
During her first two years of school, Xenia was advised to not take any AP courses as she was ESL student but has made up for it in the last two years. She has taken some of the hardest AP courses dealing in a variety of subjects such as AP Literature & Composition, AP Psychology, AP Microeconomics, and AP Language & Culture. With the rigorous course load and numerous clubs, Xenia is also a member of her school’s cross count team. This year she has done extremely well, and was 4th place at the Conference Championship, and 6th Place at the Whitnall Invite, and top 25 a the W.A. Bulldog invite.
Xenia plans to study graphic design next year at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of North Carolina, or the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.
BRONZE - Reyna Duffy
Hometown: Indian Head Park, IL
High School: Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
During her summer breaks, Reyna loved leaving Illinois and going back to her mom’s hometown of Martinez de Arriba, Mexico. What the village would lack in size, it would make up in its rural, natural beauty. Her days would be spent eating the locally grown pomegranate seeds, playing in the sand, hiking the mountains, and even swimming in the streets when they would flood. This love and appreciation for the environment made making her class schedule a no-brainer, as she would fill her classes with ones on the environment. One of the more enlightening courses was, History of the Environment, which taught Reyna exactly how human actions impact the environment and the consequences of those actions have led us to our current climate crises. The goal was to teach student to analyze the past so that we can learn from our past behavior so to avoid the same harmful actions in the future.
Another passion for Reyna has been technology and she has found ways to implement the two. Reyna has pursued her own research through a tiny drone lab. By experimenting with numerous software, coding languages, and machine learning techniques she was able to document endangered plant species. Reyna would then share her research to scientists who were able to take her data and implement methods to help these endangered plant species thrive and recover. Next on her list is to incorporate technology and sustainable initiatives that will be used to reduce human waste. Reyna’s physics and engineering teacher applauds her ability to not only successfully manage a group but her drive as well. He would find her in the classroom long after everyone else had left making sure that her work was to perfection and could not be improved. This hard work was rewarded when her group’s balsa wood crane was the best one of the semesters, which was a testament to her hard work specifically. He also applauds her ability in not getting discouraged. In another project, her and her group were running into some technical issues, instead of letting this get the best of her, her teacher was proud of how she was able to take the reign of the group, ensure they did not give up and brainstorm new ideas. This leadership and direction paid off, as the finished project was better than the original plan.
She will be attending, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, or the University of Arizona to study Landscape Architecture with a minor in Sustainability.
High School: Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
During her summer breaks, Reyna loved leaving Illinois and going back to her mom’s hometown of Martinez de Arriba, Mexico. What the village would lack in size, it would make up in its rural, natural beauty. Her days would be spent eating the locally grown pomegranate seeds, playing in the sand, hiking the mountains, and even swimming in the streets when they would flood. This love and appreciation for the environment made making her class schedule a no-brainer, as she would fill her classes with ones on the environment. One of the more enlightening courses was, History of the Environment, which taught Reyna exactly how human actions impact the environment and the consequences of those actions have led us to our current climate crises. The goal was to teach student to analyze the past so that we can learn from our past behavior so to avoid the same harmful actions in the future.
Another passion for Reyna has been technology and she has found ways to implement the two. Reyna has pursued her own research through a tiny drone lab. By experimenting with numerous software, coding languages, and machine learning techniques she was able to document endangered plant species. Reyna would then share her research to scientists who were able to take her data and implement methods to help these endangered plant species thrive and recover. Next on her list is to incorporate technology and sustainable initiatives that will be used to reduce human waste. Reyna’s physics and engineering teacher applauds her ability to not only successfully manage a group but her drive as well. He would find her in the classroom long after everyone else had left making sure that her work was to perfection and could not be improved. This hard work was rewarded when her group’s balsa wood crane was the best one of the semesters, which was a testament to her hard work specifically. He also applauds her ability in not getting discouraged. In another project, her and her group were running into some technical issues, instead of letting this get the best of her, her teacher was proud of how she was able to take the reign of the group, ensure they did not give up and brainstorm new ideas. This leadership and direction paid off, as the finished project was better than the original plan.
She will be attending, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, or the University of Arizona to study Landscape Architecture with a minor in Sustainability.
Technology
Please select a recipient name to read their bio.
GOLD - Alexandria Balde
Hometown: Bloomfield Township, MI
High School: Bloomfield Hills High School
Hispanic Heritage: Filipino
Alexandria does not let class capacity stop in her academic pursuits. As a junior she took AP Calculus AB and AP Physics Calculus, and when there wasn’t enough registrations for AP Physics Calculus for the class to be offered, she advocated for herself with the school to let her take the course through an outside source. That same year, she was one of two students, and the only junior, to be up for the challenge of AP Computer Science A. Her academic capabilities and achievements meant that Alexandria is one of two students that her AP Physics teacher has ever recommended for an additional Summer Study Program through Harvard. Last summer she was invited to take part in the Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Scholar Program all while being able to handle another work project in exploring technology startup businesses by writing application programming interfaces for Discord, a communication software. If that was not enough for one summer, Alexandria also used languages and libraries like Python and Matplotlib, to design her group’s research project based on computational data analysis of music genre trends over time under doctorate facilitators at the University of Michigan.
As an avid fan of hackathons, she wanted to create a workshop that would give tech individuals who were interested in hackathons a place to start. On her live for the SuperPOSITRON hackathon, she had over 120 tune-in as she explained the ins and outs of hackathons. When she first started doing hackathons, she noticed that there were not too many people who looked like her on and she wanted to change that. This led to her founding a computer science education nonprofit organization that writes and teaches website development on their free, online coding editor. She then works with these hackathons in effort to increase their diversity, especially in uplifting female and other gender minorities in computer science. This work has led to her receiving a National Honorable Mention from the National Council of Women in Technology’s Aspirations in Computing. Earlier in her tech journey she began participating in FIRST Robotics for over five years and led her team to a spot in the Worlds Championship. For their project, her team partnered with a local children’s pediatrics to donate modified child-sized rideable cars that we made to be more accessible for children with motor disabilities.
Her dedication to helping others has earned Alexandria some admirable recognition. She has been awarded as a Yale Young Global Scholar, earned College Board National Hispanic Recognition, received the UN National Honor Award for Community Service, and the Madame Curie Award: Excellence in Math and Science.
With a 4.0 GPA, Alexandria plans to study Data Science and Spanish at the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or Yale University.
High School: Bloomfield Hills High School
Hispanic Heritage: Filipino
Alexandria does not let class capacity stop in her academic pursuits. As a junior she took AP Calculus AB and AP Physics Calculus, and when there wasn’t enough registrations for AP Physics Calculus for the class to be offered, she advocated for herself with the school to let her take the course through an outside source. That same year, she was one of two students, and the only junior, to be up for the challenge of AP Computer Science A. Her academic capabilities and achievements meant that Alexandria is one of two students that her AP Physics teacher has ever recommended for an additional Summer Study Program through Harvard. Last summer she was invited to take part in the Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Scholar Program all while being able to handle another work project in exploring technology startup businesses by writing application programming interfaces for Discord, a communication software. If that was not enough for one summer, Alexandria also used languages and libraries like Python and Matplotlib, to design her group’s research project based on computational data analysis of music genre trends over time under doctorate facilitators at the University of Michigan.
As an avid fan of hackathons, she wanted to create a workshop that would give tech individuals who were interested in hackathons a place to start. On her live for the SuperPOSITRON hackathon, she had over 120 tune-in as she explained the ins and outs of hackathons. When she first started doing hackathons, she noticed that there were not too many people who looked like her on and she wanted to change that. This led to her founding a computer science education nonprofit organization that writes and teaches website development on their free, online coding editor. She then works with these hackathons in effort to increase their diversity, especially in uplifting female and other gender minorities in computer science. This work has led to her receiving a National Honorable Mention from the National Council of Women in Technology’s Aspirations in Computing. Earlier in her tech journey she began participating in FIRST Robotics for over five years and led her team to a spot in the Worlds Championship. For their project, her team partnered with a local children’s pediatrics to donate modified child-sized rideable cars that we made to be more accessible for children with motor disabilities.
Her dedication to helping others has earned Alexandria some admirable recognition. She has been awarded as a Yale Young Global Scholar, earned College Board National Hispanic Recognition, received the UN National Honor Award for Community Service, and the Madame Curie Award: Excellence in Math and Science.
With a 4.0 GPA, Alexandria plans to study Data Science and Spanish at the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or Yale University.
SILVER - Nathalia Olivarez
Hometown: Saginaw, MI
High School: Carrollton High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
While Nathalia has enjoyed all of the computer classes she has taken since kindergarten, it took her first scratch project that she did in the coding club she joined in the fifth grade that her fascination fully kicked in. Once in middle school, she joined the schools robotics team where she was able to build up her programming skills and even got to take a one-semester computer science course. While the class was only a semester, Nathalia remembers wishing it were longer so that she could learn even more. In her junior year, Nathalia was finally able to attend the Saginaw Career Complex, the Information Technology, and Cybersecurity program where she was able to receive the IT Fundamentals Pro certification. In order to receive this certification, she had to prove her knowledge on all aspects of using basic technology. After earning the certificate, Nathalia was excited to try her hand on programming but realized it was not for her. Instead, she is planning to focus more on cyber security and earning her PC Pro Certification.
Last year, Nathalia participated in Business Professionals of America and has had several big successes there. In the Business Meeting Management Concepts exam she placed first regionally. Then she entered the virtual event for BPA, Mobile Application. This competitions prompt said the participants had to create any type of review application. Her app, Illuminate Z, was for IOS devices, a reviewer app designed to review teen interests. This app added the extra challenge of having to be done in a programming language that she has never used before called Swift. After creating the app, she had to present the ins and outs of her app to a panel of judges. A couple of weeks later, Nathalia got the call that her app placed first in the state, and she was invited to the national competition in Dallas. At the award ceremony, Nathalia was elated to learn that she had placed fifth in the nation. What made these wins particularly rewarding for Nathalia was that she not only had to a program in a language with which she was not familiar but create an app start to finish which she had never done before. Despite these challenges she pushed through even when it seemed impossible.
Part of why Nathalia works so hard and always aims to overachieve is because of how under-represented Hispanics are. Hispanics make up only 10% of tech workers, and being a female makes that number significantly less. She feels that odds are already against her before she even starts. This mindset has led for her to always work 110% and seek leadership roles. Part of what drives Nathalia is the belief that one group of people should not be the representation of that one job/profession. She remembers growing up and all white-collar jobs whether it be in ads, commercials, newspapers all had no minorities depicted. This led young Nathalia to believe these jobs were not for her. Now she knows that is untrue and wants to be a role model for younger students who can see a Latina in these roles.
Next fall, Nathalia will study computer science at Ferris State University, Saginaw Valley State University, or Delta College.
High School: Carrollton High School
Hispanic Heritage: Mexican
While Nathalia has enjoyed all of the computer classes she has taken since kindergarten, it took her first scratch project that she did in the coding club she joined in the fifth grade that her fascination fully kicked in. Once in middle school, she joined the schools robotics team where she was able to build up her programming skills and even got to take a one-semester computer science course. While the class was only a semester, Nathalia remembers wishing it were longer so that she could learn even more. In her junior year, Nathalia was finally able to attend the Saginaw Career Complex, the Information Technology, and Cybersecurity program where she was able to receive the IT Fundamentals Pro certification. In order to receive this certification, she had to prove her knowledge on all aspects of using basic technology. After earning the certificate, Nathalia was excited to try her hand on programming but realized it was not for her. Instead, she is planning to focus more on cyber security and earning her PC Pro Certification.
Last year, Nathalia participated in Business Professionals of America and has had several big successes there. In the Business Meeting Management Concepts exam she placed first regionally. Then she entered the virtual event for BPA, Mobile Application. This competitions prompt said the participants had to create any type of review application. Her app, Illuminate Z, was for IOS devices, a reviewer app designed to review teen interests. This app added the extra challenge of having to be done in a programming language that she has never used before called Swift. After creating the app, she had to present the ins and outs of her app to a panel of judges. A couple of weeks later, Nathalia got the call that her app placed first in the state, and she was invited to the national competition in Dallas. At the award ceremony, Nathalia was elated to learn that she had placed fifth in the nation. What made these wins particularly rewarding for Nathalia was that she not only had to a program in a language with which she was not familiar but create an app start to finish which she had never done before. Despite these challenges she pushed through even when it seemed impossible.
Part of why Nathalia works so hard and always aims to overachieve is because of how under-represented Hispanics are. Hispanics make up only 10% of tech workers, and being a female makes that number significantly less. She feels that odds are already against her before she even starts. This mindset has led for her to always work 110% and seek leadership roles. Part of what drives Nathalia is the belief that one group of people should not be the representation of that one job/profession. She remembers growing up and all white-collar jobs whether it be in ads, commercials, newspapers all had no minorities depicted. This led young Nathalia to believe these jobs were not for her. Now she knows that is untrue and wants to be a role model for younger students who can see a Latina in these roles.
Next fall, Nathalia will study computer science at Ferris State University, Saginaw Valley State University, or Delta College.
BRONZE - Zachary Kirkeby
Hometown: Eden Prairie, MN
High School: Eden Prairie High School
Hispanic Heritage: Ecuadoran
Zachary is the first in his family to have an interest or background in computers or advanced mathematics. Despite not having someone to turn to for advice or guidance, he does not let it keep him from his goals. This interest started after learning to code for middle school robotics with his first project being able to program a mechanical claw that was able to pick up a can and move it. What he likes the most about coding and programming in that it forces him to break down a complex task into shorter smaller tasks that get coded. After learning basic Java in another class, Zachary wanted to learn more and see how it was used in real life. To do that, he found the competition called Advent of Code where he was shocked and impressed with how so quickly others were able to complete all of the puzzles. While he may not have been able to progress as quickly as some of the other competitors he was able to see how there was real logic to solve each of the puzzles. The puzzles encouraged Zachary to increase his entry-level Java knowledge and tangible code. Despite going up against coders who are more advanced, Zachary was proud that he was able to complete 2/3 of the puzzles by the end of the program. From this experience he was able to find new ways of applying his programming knowledge, developed new problem-solving skills, and learning new commands. Besides the competition, Zachary is always finding new learning materials. On his own, he has found new ways to learn programming through tutorials, books, and GitHub repositories.
While always finding ways outside of class to increase his knowledge he also makes sure to take advantage of every opportunity offered in school. He has taken AP Computer Science Principles, AP Calculus BC & AB, AP Computer Science A and AP Statistics. He even started work as a technology intern for his local library. As an intern he gets the opportunity to learn new languages and add to his technical skills. So far, he has added C, Python, and more advanced Java to his repertoire. With this knowledge he develops STEM-based programs for young people as well as all tech and software questions for the library. He is a member of the computer science Honor Society, tutors other students in STEM courses, as well as outreach work at local elementary schools where he gets them excited about computer science.
Besides programming, Zachary has been a member of the varsity debate team for the past three years often acting as a role model and mentor to the younger members who look up to him. He has also been a member of the boy scouts since he was six years old and has recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout. With the scouts, he has completed over fifty community service hours a year and recently finished his Eagle Scout project where he planned and organized the plans to fix a rotting staircase on a popular hiking trial. With the cooperation of the Eden Prairie Department of Natural Resources they were able to improve the trial, which had long had the staircase as a safety hazard.
Next year, Zachary will study computer science at Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison; or the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
High School: Eden Prairie High School
Hispanic Heritage: Ecuadoran
Zachary is the first in his family to have an interest or background in computers or advanced mathematics. Despite not having someone to turn to for advice or guidance, he does not let it keep him from his goals. This interest started after learning to code for middle school robotics with his first project being able to program a mechanical claw that was able to pick up a can and move it. What he likes the most about coding and programming in that it forces him to break down a complex task into shorter smaller tasks that get coded. After learning basic Java in another class, Zachary wanted to learn more and see how it was used in real life. To do that, he found the competition called Advent of Code where he was shocked and impressed with how so quickly others were able to complete all of the puzzles. While he may not have been able to progress as quickly as some of the other competitors he was able to see how there was real logic to solve each of the puzzles. The puzzles encouraged Zachary to increase his entry-level Java knowledge and tangible code. Despite going up against coders who are more advanced, Zachary was proud that he was able to complete 2/3 of the puzzles by the end of the program. From this experience he was able to find new ways of applying his programming knowledge, developed new problem-solving skills, and learning new commands. Besides the competition, Zachary is always finding new learning materials. On his own, he has found new ways to learn programming through tutorials, books, and GitHub repositories.
While always finding ways outside of class to increase his knowledge he also makes sure to take advantage of every opportunity offered in school. He has taken AP Computer Science Principles, AP Calculus BC & AB, AP Computer Science A and AP Statistics. He even started work as a technology intern for his local library. As an intern he gets the opportunity to learn new languages and add to his technical skills. So far, he has added C, Python, and more advanced Java to his repertoire. With this knowledge he develops STEM-based programs for young people as well as all tech and software questions for the library. He is a member of the computer science Honor Society, tutors other students in STEM courses, as well as outreach work at local elementary schools where he gets them excited about computer science.
Besides programming, Zachary has been a member of the varsity debate team for the past three years often acting as a role model and mentor to the younger members who look up to him. He has also been a member of the boy scouts since he was six years old and has recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout. With the scouts, he has completed over fifty community service hours a year and recently finished his Eagle Scout project where he planned and organized the plans to fix a rotting staircase on a popular hiking trial. With the cooperation of the Eden Prairie Department of Natural Resources they were able to improve the trial, which had long had the staircase as a safety hazard.
Next year, Zachary will study computer science at Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison; or the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
