Every year, the Miami Herald recognizes outstanding high school seniors all across South Florida through the prestigious Silver Knight Awards. This year in particular, five STA students brought home honorable mentions. According to Ms. Jessica Basi, the moderator who is in charge of guiding STA students through the complex process, being named a Silver Knight Honorable Mention is no small feat. Honorable mention recipients are selected based on a number of individual attributes, such as their commitment to community service and academic excellence. Each Honorable Mention winner takes home a $500 award from the Miami Herald Silver Knight Committee. This year’s honorable mention recipients are:
fundraising for those who are affected by blood cancer. (Smug Mug )
ABIGAIL JONES – MATHEMATICS
As a proud member of Mu Alpha Theta, Abigail Jones has gone above and beyond by dedicating a huge part of her service project to fundraising for those who are affected by blood cancer. So far she has raised well over $90,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This feat is extremely impressive, especially for a high school student.
The Florida Fish Mission (Smug Mug)
TYLER BLAKE – SCIENCE
Tyler has been deeply involved with the Florida Fish Mission, a conservation initiative which focuses on protecting Florida’s natural ecosystems by removing any harmful invasive species that threaten the native wildlife. On top of his hands-on experience, Tyler has also conducted his own independent research in this area, demonstrating just how serious he is about making a real difference for the environment.
founded her own program called Big Steps 4Kids (Smug Mug)
ARANTXA GIL – SOCIAL SCIENCE
Arantxa Gil took matters into her own hands when she founded her own program called Big Steps 4Kids. This program is centered around providing donations and reaching out to children who have been diagnosed with developmental delays. What makes her work so very impressive is that she built this program from the ground up all by herself, showing that a single person can make a difference no matter how small one person may seem.
running an ongoing Mothers Day hygiene program for expectant mothers who are participating in the Broward Healthy Start coalition. (Smug Mug )
VICTORIA ALVAREZ – MUSIC/DANCE
Victoria is an active member of the dance team here at STA. She has been running an ongoing Mother’s Day hygiene program for expectant mothers who are participating in the Broward Healthy Start Coalition. This organization works to promote the health and well-being of women, families, and infants so that they can have a successful pregnancy with no complications. This is truly a touching project in which makes a menaingful impact on the community.
Tracey created her very own program called the Language bridge, which was created specifically to help Haitian immigrants learn English so that they can integrate into everyday life in America (Smug Mug)
TRACEY ALEXANDRE – WORLD LANGUAGES
Tracey created her very own program called the Language Bridge, which was created specifically to help Haitian immigrants learn English so that they can integrate into everyday life in America. Language barriers can be one of the most difficult challenges for immigrants to eventually overcome, and Tracey has dedicated herself to helping others for the better.
The competition this year was very intense. STA’s nominees went up against a number of students from different schools and counties, such as Monroe and Broward. Over 940 students attended and were recognized. Ms. Basi noted, “Each year the process becomes more competitive.” To even be considered for these categories, students need a minimum of a 3.2 GPA and a long-standing service project in their category. STA nominates students in all 15 different categories, which is something that not every school does. This year’s projects ranged from a variety of different activities, for example, writing legislation for marginalized communities in order to raise money for cancer research, as well as teaching English to new immigrants. Ms. Basi specifically emphasized that the community involvement is the very heart of the entire selection process. She said, “The Silver Knight committee likes to see that students are intrinsically motivated and have a passion for their project.” Ms. Basi’s advice for underclassmen that hope to earn this recognition one day is simple: get started early. While it is never too late to become involved in ways to improve the human condition, the longer you have been involved in your service project, the better your chances of being nominated and winning. Congratulations to all five recipients.
