The 67th annual Miami Herald/el Nuevo Herald Silver Knight Award ceremony, coined the “Oscars for High Schoolers in Miami,” took place at the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami on Wednesday, May 14th. This year, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School boasted the highest number of winners from any high school in Broward County.
The Silver Knight Award Program is open to 12th grade students who have a strong record of service to their school and community that best shows an unselfish and continuous use of that person’s talent in helping others. There is a minimum number of seven nominees and schools may nominate one student per category. If rising seniors wish to become Silver Knight nominees, they must apply through STA’s Silver Knight Coordinator, Dr. Jane Spanich.
A nominee has to submit five copies of the Entry Form–a typewritten original and four photocopies. Supporting documents must include a letter of recommendation with information about the nominee’s community service and its impact. The submission date for all Silver Knight entries is no later than the last Friday in January. The subjects students can be nominated for are music, social science, new media, speech, art, athletics, business, drama, mathematics, journalism, general scholarship, foreign language, English & literature, vocational-technical, and science.
For her Silver Knight Project (Music and Dance), Sophia Oganezov founded the Strings Ensemble, bringing together student musicians at St. Thomas and her former middle school so they could perform in concerts together. Sophia also launched the nonprofit Music of Tomorrow to teach others how to play an instrument. She built a website, produced music instructional videos for a YouTube channel she created, started a GoFundMe page and developed “Lesson in a Box” to help beginners learn how to play.
For her Silver Knight Project, Laura Aluka (Science) launched a nonprofit, Togo Together, and shared her findings with a Togo environmental group. Together, they are educating villagers about the filtration method and raising funds for electric kettles so villagers can boil their water.
For her Silver Knight Project, Arianna Allen (Athletics) took notice of Miami’s growing homeless population and took action. She founded ServPort, a nonprofit that has served hot meals to more than 4,000 people living on the streets, mostly under the I-95-South exit ramp in downtown Miami. With support from her mother and brother, she has prepped, cooked and distributed 70-100 hot meals at a time at more than 40 food distribution events, in addition to coordinating blanket, clothing and toiletry drives.
Silver Knights
Athletics – Arianna Allen
Music and Dance – Sophia Oganezov
Science – Laura Aluka
Honorable Mention
Art – Madeline Sadowski
English – Michael Bergstrom
Math – Mia Chang
Speech and Debate – Sesil McKelvey
Digital and Interactive Media – Silvia Rodriguez