Barbara Goleman's seniors were nominated in different categories for the The Miami Herald’s Silver Knight Award program. The nominees were a handful among dozens throughout the county.The winners were awarded in late May.
Goleman's Silver Knight nominees included:
Bryan Benaiges has a weighted GPA of 6.167. Some of his accolades include receiving the Outstanding Student Award in subjects like AP World History, Language Arts and AP Calculus. Benaiges is a National Hispanic Scholar, a Scholar Athlete, and an AP Scholar with Distinction. He has been accepted to Georgia Institute of Technology and plans to attend in the fall.
He decided to participate in the Silver Knight program for the chance to receive the prestigious award while competing with the brightest, young minds of South Florida. Benaiges’ major service project included tutoring low-performing math students for the End-Of-Course (EOC) examinations.
Ryan Franquiz has a 5. 3 GPA, is in the top five percent of his class, and is the vice president for the Class of 2014. Ryan is the recipient of the Posse Foundation scholarship and will attend Hamilton College on a “full ride” scholarship. Franquiz decided to apply for the Silver Knights program because he wanted to show the community the service he undertook during his high school career, specifically his volunteer hours in a nonprofit summer camp.
Julian Colina has taken honors and advanced placement courses all throughout his high school career in order to achieve his 4.9 GPA. He has completed over two hundred community service hours through various school clubs and organizations. As the school’s Key Club president, Colina was instrumental in organizing several national service campaigns, including the fundraising drive for the March of Dimes.
Cristian Jimenez's strong passion for music and curiosity for sound has earned him the position of Drum Major for the school’s marching band for the past four years. He was the first freshman to pass AP Music Theory and promoted to wind ensemble, the highest performance level. Jimenez's major service project included creating a transitional band camp where students from the feeder pattern schools felt welcome and willing to participate in the band.
For Celeste Mohan, English has always been one of her strongest subjects and her passion. She is constantly reading and improving her writing skills. As president of the Book Club and Best English Student nominee, Mohan has a genuine love for reading and English.
Jordan Thompson was nominated for the speech category and it fits his personality. Thompson enjoys speaking to audiences and capturing people’s attention. Thompson ran for Silver Knights because he knew it would be a great opportunity to showcase his community service. As the school’s Youth Empowerment Summit facilitator, Thompson held several workshops to raise awareness about teen and cyber bullying.