A total of 77 Laredo ISD students from Cigarroa, Martin, Nixon, and Hector J. Garcia Early College High Schools received academic recognition from the College Board. This elite group of students were awarded the National African American Recognition Award (NAARA), National First-Generation Recognition Award (NFGRA) National Hispanic Recognition Award (NHRA) and/or the National Indigenous Award (NIA).
These recognitions celebrate students' hard work in high school and showcase their strong academic performance. The academic honors for rural area, Black, Indigenous, and/or Latino students are an opportunity for students to share their strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs that are seeking to recruit diverse talent.
Students who earned College Board Recognition from Cigarroa High School include the following:
Miriam Bahena, NFGRA, NHRA
Gael Esquivel (CHS/Sabas Perez ECHS), NFGRA, NHRA
Jedidiah Fipps, NFGRA
Kevin Frayde (CHS/PTECH), NFGRA, NIRA, NHRA
David Gonzalez (CHS/Sabas Perez ECHS), NFGRA. NHRA
Yandiel Hernandez (CHS/Sabas Perez ECHS), NFGRA, NHRA
Christopher Jasso (CHS/Sabas Perez ECHS), NHRA
Kevyn Palomares, NHRA
Aiden Rodriguez Carrero, NHRA
Students who earned College Board Recognition from Garcia Early College High School include the following:
Jose Alvarez, NFGRA, NHRA
Jose Arredondo, NHRA
Alessandra Barberena, NFGRA, NHRA
Caleb Benavides, NHRA
Gaspar Castellanos, NFGRA
Jaqueline Ciriaco, NFGRA, NHRA
Aidan Contreras, NFGRA, NHRA
Richard Deschampe, NFGRA
Robert Estrada, NIRA, NHRA
Giselle Figueroa, NFGRA, NHRA
Amador Flores, III, NHRA
Mikayla Flores, NHRA
Sara Flores, NHRA
Lezly Flowers, NFGRA, NHRA
Miranda Galvan, NHRA
Alice Garcia, NFGRA, NHRA
Giorgy Guzman, NFGRA, NHRA
Pablo Guzman, NFGRA, NHRA
Melina Hernandez, NFGRA, NHRA
Marcos Hernandez Flores, NFGRA, NHRA
Alicia Jimenez, NFGRA, NHRA
Valeria Luis, NHRA
Sofia Madrigal, NFGRA, NHRA
Karmen Manzanares, NFGRA
Isabella Mendoza, NHRA
Gina Montoya, NFGRA, NHRA
Mario Mora, NHRA
Sophia Moreno, NFGRA, NHRA
Mark Muñoz, NIRA, NHRA, NAARA
David Narvaez, NAARA
Yuliet Parra, NFGRA, NHRA
Christopher Ramirez, NHRA
Isabel Reyna, NHRA
Marcos Rodriguez, NHRA
Viktorya Salas, NFGRA
Zachary Smith, NHRA
Michelle Soto, NFGRA, NHRA
Jasmine Vasquez, NFGRA, NHRA
Alfredo Zavala, NFGRA, NHRA, NAARA
Students who earned College Board Recognition from Martin High School include the following:
Gabriel Benavides (MHS/Cantu ECHS), NHRA
Keyla Deleon (MHS/Sabas Perez ECHS), NFGRA, NHRA
David Gamboa (MHS/Cantu ECHS), NFGRA, NHRA
Natalie Gonzalez (MHS/Cantu ECHS), NFGRA
Michael Hernandez, NFGRA, NHRA
Daniella Lopez, NHRA
Yarumi Martinez, NFGRA, NHRA
Jesus Martinez, NFGRA, NHRA
Rene Martinez, NFGRA, NHRA
Briana Morales (MHS/Sabas Perez ECHS), NFGRA, NHRA
Rodrigo Peralta, NFGRA, NHRA
Julian Selvera (MHS/Cantu ECHS), NHRA
Students who earned College Board Recognition from Nixon High School include the following:
Vanessa Alba (NHS/VMT), NFGRA, NHRA
Veronica Cadena (NHS/VMT), NFGRA
Jose Castañeda (NHS/BIPS), NFGRA, NHRA
Sayuri Garcia (NHS/BIPS), NHRA
Manuel Gomez (NHS/BIPS), NFGRA
Adriana Gomez (NHS/VMT), NFGRA, NHRA
Gerardo Guerra (NHS/BIPS), NHRA
Oscar Jimenez (NHS/VMT), NFGRA, NHRA
Maya Lopez (NHS/VMT), NHRA
Jaime Lozano, NHRA
Diego Marines (NHS/Sabas Perez ECHS), NFGRA, NHRA
Brian Portillo, NFGRA, NHRA
Austlynn Quiroz (NHS/BIPS), NHRA
Mathew Ramon (NHS/BIPS), NIRA, NHRA
Christian Reyes (NHS/Sabas Perez ECHS), NHRA
Rodrigo Rodriguez (NHS/BIPS), BFGRA
Zoe Sifuentes (NHS/BIPS), NFGRA
"Laredo ISD takes immense pride in the commitment and aspirations of our students towards a promising future. We extend our gratitude to the College Board for acknowledging the diligence of our students. Over the duration of this recognition initiative, we've witnessed a consistent rise in the number of qualified students. This serves as a testament to their dedication in excelling in college preparatory assessments, upholding stellar academic records, and consistently pursuing avenues to become influential leaders within our community and beyond. We eagerly anticipate their forthcoming achievements and triumphs," Cindy Dominguez, LISD Director of Guidance and Counseling/At-Risk Population said.
The criteria for eligible students include: GPA of 3.5 or higher, PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams in 9th and 10th grade, and attend school in a rural area or small town, or identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino, or Indigenous/Native.
Eligible students are invited to apply on BigFuture during their sophomore or junior year and are awarded at the start of the next school year in time to share their achievements in high school as they plan for the future. At the same time, colleges and organizations using College Board’s Student Search Service™ can connect directly with awardees during the recruitment process.
“It’s becoming increasingly hard for students to be ‘seen’ during the college recruitment process. We’re exceptionally proud of the National Recognition Programs for celebrating students who are at times overlooked but have shown their outstanding academic abilities,” said Tarlin Ray, Senior Vice President of BigFuture® at College Board. “This is a benefit not only for students but also for colleges and universities committed to recruiting diverse and talented students.”
