During the past month, the College Board National Recognition Program awarded honors to seven Riverside Brookfield High School students. The program awards national recognition to students living in rural areas and small communities or to students identifying as black, Indigenous, and/or Latino who have demonstrated strong academic performance and achievement.
Those who received the National African American Recognition Award (NAARA) are Mariah Watkins-Sanders and Joseph Buckles, while those who received the National Hispanic Recognition Award (NHRA) are Patrick Hart, Katherine DeJesus, Misael Herrera Mendoza, Isabelle Hernandez, and Elizabeth Buchancow.
“The award is national recognition for having any kind of academic success, whether that being a high GPA or a high [P]SAT score. It’s for particular minority groups that are a little less represented in academic success,” Buckles, awardee of the NAARA, said.
The award presents more opportunities for students from minority backgrounds and rural areas who may be underrepresented in university populations to apply for colleges and scholarship programs and be awarded for their work.
“It’s something you apply for on the College Board website. They take your [P]SAT score automatically, and then if you have a high enough [P]SAT score and GPA then you will be eligible for it,” Buckles said.
According to the RB website, the criteria for students wishing to be eligible for the award are having a GPA of 3.5 or higher, having PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of test takers in each state, or having earned a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP exams during freshman and sophomore grade.
“I was not expecting [the award]. My counselor called me down, and then told me I got an award from College Board, so I was pleasantly surprised,” Watkins-Sanders said.
Watkins-Sanders received the African American Recognition Award. She felt as though this high honor recognized the work she has put into her education.
“To me it shows progress in what I’m doing, and it provides value in the classes I’m taking and how I’m trying to push myself in school. It’s also recognition for the work I’ve done, and it will help me in the future as just another thing I can put on college applications,” Watkins-Sanders said.
Herrera Mendoza, who received the National Hispanic Recognition Award, was awarded for his GPA and maintaining high grades throughout his years in high school. The award is both an effort to celebrate diversity among students and to award academic honors to them.
“It shows that I’m on a good track academically, so I’m doing well. I’ll be competitive for my college applications,” Herrera Mendoza said.
Buckles is also thankful for the opportunity, citing its usefulness on applications and in scholarship programs.
“I’m pretty proud to get it; it’s very prestigious. It feels really accomplishing to have all my work kind of validated,” Buckles said.
