Apple Valley students awarded academic honors from national college board

Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press
·2 min read
2
From Apple Valley High School, left to right, Principal Brian Goodrow, counselors Adrian Mullikin and Erika Perrine. Also, students Natalia De Leon, Matthew Renteria, Isabella Acevedo, Trinity Cisneros, and counselor Amber Burdi.
From Apple Valley High School, left to right, Principal Brian Goodrow, counselors Adrian Mullikin and Erika Perrine. Also, students Natalia De Leon, Matthew Renteria, Isabella Acevedo, Trinity Cisneros, and counselor Amber Burdi.

Eight Apple Valley Unified School District students have earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs.

These programs celebrate the hard work of high school students and showcase their strong academic performances, district officials said. Academic honors for rural area, Black, Indigenous, and/or Latino students are an opportunity for students to share strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs that are seeking to recruit diverse talent.

Students honored included Apple Valley High School seniors Isabella Acevedo, Trinity Cisneros, Natalia De Leon, and Matthew Renteria, who earned the National Hispanic Recognition Award.

Granite Hills High School seniors Ayden Conrad, Connor Faber, and junior Hayden Rice earned the National Rural and Small Town Award and senior Mia Espinoza earned the National Hispanic Recognition Award.

Student, district voices

“I hope that this recognition will show colleges how hard I’ve worked throughout my high school career,” Acevedo said.

Conrad said he hopes this recognition will aid him in getting into a good college engineering program and, ultimately, his goal of helping people with disabilities.

“It is my hope that this recognition places these students in select company among the top students in the nation," Apple Valley High School Principal Brian Goodrow said. "They deservedly set themselves apart from other college applicants and hopefully gain access to additional scholarship opportunities.”

From Apple Valley High School, left to right, students Ayden Conrad, Mia Espinoza, Connor Faber and Hayden Rice.
From Apple Valley High School, left to right, students Ayden Conrad, Mia Espinoza, Connor Faber and Hayden Rice.

Granite Hills High School Principal Adam Powell also expressed his thoughts on the recognition.

“My hope is that our students will gain the confidence to realize they can compete with the brightest and best in the nation, and be inspired to continue to challenge themselves and change the world,” Powell 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 program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams in 9th and 10th grade.

  • 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 the 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," said Tarlin Ray, senior vice president of BigFuture at College Board. "We’re exceptionally proud of the National Recognition Programs for celebrating students who are at times overlooked but have shown their outstanding academic abilities.”

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Apple Valley students awarded academic honors from college board