Catholic schools take 8 Silver Knights, 11 honorable mentions

By Ana Rodriguez Soto - Florida Catholic newspaper

MIAMI | Catholic high schools racked up eight Silver Knights and 11 honorable mentions at the Miami Herald’s 59th annual competition, with Christopher Columbus in Miami and St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale winning four trophies apiece.

This year’s total makes Columbus the winningest private school in the history of the Silver Knights in Miami-Dade County, with a total of 20 so far. For the past four years, Columbus has led Miami-Dade County as the school with the most Silver Knight Awards — 12 since 2014.

Columbus also took home four honorable mentions, and Aquinas one. Other schools earning honorable mentions were Our Lady of Lourdes Academy (3), Belen Jesuit (2) and St. Brendan High School (1) in Miami. All the awards were presented at a ceremony May 17 in downtown Miami.

Since its inception, the Silver Knights program has honored more than 1,300 high school seniors for their academic excellence and extraordinary passion for community service. The Silver Knight winners took home $2,000, 25,000 miles from American Airlines, a medallion and a Silver Knight statue.

This year’s honorees join the ranks of past Silver Knight winners, including the founder of Amazon, the composer who wrote the score to Rocky, the first female U.S. ambassador in the Middle East, and a former Surgeon General of the United States.

“The caliber of young men that Columbus churns out every year is nothing short of amazing,” said Sylvie Galvez-Cuesta, Mas Family Scholars director and Silver Knight coordinator at Columbus. “Every day I am inspired by their commitment to academics and their passion to be true agents for change in our community.” 

“We place a great emphasis on teaching our students the importance of being responsible citizens and helping them to recognize that they must use their gifts to make a difference in the world,” said Brother Kevin Handibode, president of Marist-owned Columbus. “It was an honor to see that eight of our 15 nominees were recognized on stage for their academic achievements and commitment to service. These outstanding students have made the Columbus family extremely proud.”

“Our Silver Knight nominees represent the best in teens today,” said Karen Krugman, Silver Knight coordinator at Aquinas. “Altruistic role models, they serve our community with a wide range of diverse projects.”

Krugman added that “All of the students who go through The Herald's rigorous Silver Knight application program are resourceful, tireless, and polished. It's a pleasure working with these extraordinary students. They truly are the leaders of tomorrow.”

Here are brief summaries of the winners’ accomplishments, some of them taken from the Miami Herald’s Silver Knights site, where all the winners and honorable mention recipients are listed.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

Anthony Martinez, Columbus High, Digital / Interactive Media

Anthony’s primary service project was the construction of a computer lab for the foster children living at Center for Family & Child Enrichment, Inc., a local shelter for abused and neglected children and teenagers. His project’s goal was to provide Internet access to children who would not usually have access to computers, giving them a disadvantage in their academic progress. Anthony believes that Internet access should be available to all people, regardless of their economic situation, and he saw this lab as a way to promote knowledge and experience among the young people of our community. He is also an active member of Columbus’ nationally recognized broadcast journalism club CCNN Live. He will attend Florida State University.

David Sanchez, Columbus High, Mathematics

Five years ago, David and his brothers founded a service organization named Get Smart Bimini. Their mission was to enhance the education of children who are less fortunate. After each of David’s older brothers led the project for two years, he took over three years ago. Through an annual garage sale and generous donations, David’s team raises funds to purchase supplies to fill backpacks. On Labor Day weekend, the team travels to Bimini, Bahamas, and personally delivers the backpacks to those in need, with assistance from the Bimini Police. After his first year of completing the project overseas, David decided to expand its reach and help those in Miami as well. He established a connection with the Archdiocese of Miami and through its many charitable outreach programs, David has been able to help local schools in need. Since 2012, Get Smart Bimini has delivered over 700 supplies-filled backpacks to various schools at home and abroad. He feels strongly that his organization’s purpose is “not to deliver backpacks, but to provide the necessary tools of education to those less fortunate and assist the parents who sacrifice so much for their children.”He will attend the University of Notre Dame.

Kaelen Krumich, Columbus High, Vocational Technical

Kaelen founded the White Roof Initiative, a registered 501(c)(3) organization that coordinates projects to paint roofs white, subsidizing each project’s costs while mitigating the environmental issues linked to dark roofs. He also co-founded Columbus’ Investors Club, for students interested in personal finance or pursuing a business-oriented track. Several other accolades include being in the Mas Scholars program, winning second place in the NEEF (National Environmental Education Foundation) #H20BigPicture Photo Contest, and earning a spot among the 2016 NFTE South Florida (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) Business Finalists. He will be attending the University of Michigan.

Jose Cardelle, Columbus High, World Languages

Jose founded “Voices of the Past,” an organization that aims to bridge the gaps between generations while preserving their cultural heritage. It brings together bilingual high school students with elderly people from the community who then share their Hispanic cultures and backgrounds. Students recorded the interviews through StoryCorps, an online database housed in the Library of Congress. In doing so, they learned the value of listening, and that everyone’s story matters. Jose was admitted into a BS/MD program in St. Louis, Missouri, the Honors Colleges at Georgia Tech and the University of Florida, and awarded a Presidential Scholarship at Rice University, Davidson College and the University of Miami. He chose to be part of the Johns Hopkins University Class of 2021.

Honorable mentions:

Belen

• Jovier Jimenez, Mathematics
• Kevin Simauchi, Speech & Debate

Columbus

• Eduardo Llano, Athletics
• Thomas Falcon, Business
• Christopher Vazquez, English & Literature
• Danyel De Villiers, Journalism

 

Our Lady of Lourdes Academy

• Annmarie Machado, English & Literature
• Nicole Nader, General Scholarship
• Victoria Alonso, Vocational Technical

 

St. Brendan



Photographer:

Bianca Hernandez, St. Brendan High, honorable mention in Drama

• Bianca Hernandez, Drama


 

BROWARD COUNTY

Christopher Rodriguez, St. Thomas Aquinas, Digital / Interactive Media



Photographer:

Christopher Rodriguez, St. Thomas Aquinas High, Silver Knight in Digital / Interactive Media

When Christopher Rodriguez learned his grandfather had cancer, he decided fear was not going to overpower him. Instead, fear inspired him and his childhood friend, Mary Elizabeth Allen, to create a haunted house in Miami Shores — the “Insane Asylum Haunted House” — to raise money for cancer research. In 2014, their first Halloween, they raised $1,300. With support from the Dolphins Cancer Challenge the following year, they raised $61,000 for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami. In 2016, the group raised more than $125,000 through the haunted house and a new event: a Dance-A-Thon at Hard Rock Stadium. The project, dubbed “Scaring for Caring,” has developed Christopher’s business, communication and leadership skills, which will help him in his goal to become a film director. His work has been recognized at the New York Screenplay and Short Film Festival, the Fort Lauderdale Student Film Festival, the Orlando Student Film Festival, and the Vancouver Miniature Film Festival.

 

Alanna Quitton, St. Thomas Aquinas, Drama



Photographer:

Alanna Quitton, St. Thomas Aquinas High, Silver Knight in Drama

Alanna is a chairman of the Scaring for Caring haunted house project created by classmate Christopher Rodriguez. She is responsible for designing and constructing her room in the haunted house, and for the overall marketing of the event. Last year, they expanded the project to include a block party on Halloween and a Dance-A-Thon at Hard Rock Stadium. The project is personal for her — she has lost both of her grandmothers to cancer, as well as an uncle and close family friend. Alanna has also received superior and excellent ratings for her performance of the song “Beautiful” from the hit musical Beautiful; the song “High Enough” from Rock of Ages; “How Lovely to be a Woman from Bye Bye Birdie; and “It’s a Hard Knock Life” from Annie. She is headed to Florida State University, and "I wouldn't be surprised to one day see her on Broadway," said Krugman, Aquinas' Silver Knight coordinator.

 

Courtney Butterworth, St. Thomas Aquinas, Journalism



Photographer:

Courtney Butterworth, St. Thomas Aquinas High, Silver Knight in Journalism

Courtney has learned at a young age the power of writing and the law. She is one of the youngest volunteers at Legal Aid Service of Broward County, which provides free legal services for low-income individuals. She has conducted intake interviews, scheduled appointments, typed case notes, updated court dockets and trained new interns and volunteers. She became concerned when she noticed many calls were from people experiencing homelessness. That’s when she turned to her first passion, writing, to raise awareness. As a teen columnist with the Hollywood Gazette, she wrote a series of articles about homelessness, interviewing dozens of people to tell their stories. In addition, she interviewed each mayoral candidate about their plan to address the issue, making the issue a part of the campaign. 

 

Sophia Meloro, St. Thomas Aquinas, Science



Photographer:

Sophia Meloro, St. Thomas Aquinas High, Silver Knight in Science

Sophia wants to eradicate the sea’s invasive species. She launched Liquidate Lionfish, an initiative to educate others about lionfish and their damaging effects on the Atlantic Ocean’s biodiversity and coral reefs. She began by setting up lionfish booths at Biscayne National Park and speaking with more than 500 visitors over the next two years about the invasive species. She has since presented at two major events, the National Marine Educators Association Youth Conference and the Youth Ocean Conservation Summit. Sophia was featured in a BBC report on the U.S. National Park Service’s 100th anniversary. She received the Girl Scout Gold Award for her lionfish project. As a member of her school’s marine biology club, she helped researchers at Nova Southeastern University gather information on shark species off Florida.

 

Honorable mention:

St. Thomas Aquinas



Photographer:

Nicolas Chang, St. Thomas Aquinas High, honorable mention in Vocational Technical

• Nicolas Chang, Vocational Technical