175 students receive national academic awards from College Board | News, Sports, Jobs

The Lee County School District is proud to announce that 27 students in the class of 2024 have earned the AP Capstone Diploma. The AP Capstone Diploma program helps students develop critical thinking, research, collaboration, and presentation skills essential for academic success.

To earn the AP Capstone Diploma, students must earn a score of 3 or higher on AP Seminar, AP Research, and four other AP exams of their choice. Recipients of the AP Capstone Diploma for the class of 2024 are:

Cypress Lake High School:

* Emerson Antunes Black

* Aubrey Barnhouse

* Kaelyn Bernaldo

* Ava Binkowski

* Anthony Cardenas

* Cora Henderson

* Naya James

* Abigail Johnson

* Anna Jones

* Emma Justice

* Kalyssa Kennelly

* Brianna Madore

* Benjamin Manekin

* Isabella Moon

* Evelyn Mufalli

* Griffin Myers

* Jack Perera

* Summer shed

* Jordan Smith

* Meadow Stanley

* Neveah Stanley

* Ryan Turner

Ida Baker High School:

* Gia Serrano

Mariner High School:

* Joshua Eddy

* Ivanna Espinosa

* Daliany's smile

* Kailyn McLeod

The district is also proud to announce that 148 students have received academic awards through the College Board's National Recognition Programs.. These national recognition programs give underrepresented students academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications and connect students with universities across the country so they can make meaningful connections with colleges and excel in the admissions process. Colleges and scholarship programs identify the students through the College Board's Student Search Service.

The College Board Recognition Program honors students in five categories: National African American Recognition Award, National Hispanic Recognition Award, National Indigenous Recognition Award, National Rural/Small Town Recognition Award, and/or National First Generation Recognition Award. More than 90,000 students received a recognition award this year.

The following Lee County students received the National Hispanic Recognition Award:

Bonita Springs High School

* Juan Lobo

* Arden Loftus

* Brandon Lopez Lopez

* Yaresly Maqueda

* Gabriela Rivera

* Marcus Sarabia

Cape Coral High School

* Preston Alicandri

* Melanie Cubelis

* Alexandra Souto

* Olivia Toro

* Juliana Verzi

Cypress Lake High School

* Danielle Barsheshet

* Sofia Ramirez-German

* Alyssa Vargas

Dunbar High School

* Magdalena Abella

* Brenna Hiss

* Joselyn Landin

* Pamela Padilla Santillan

* Ann Gracy Satyr

East Lee County High School

* Angel Candelario

* Daniela Jimenez-Martinez

Fort Myers High School

* Sarah Acosta

* Rafael Alcalde

* Ahniya Alicea

* Michael Briseno

* Sebastian Canizares

* Madison Chinchilla

* Gabriel Cintron

* Lorenzo DeSouza

* Eden Elmakias-Acosta

* Christopher Kozlowski

* Kylie Land

* Marcus Martinez

* Juan Martinez

* Katherine Ortega

* Sophia Pacheco

* Isabelle Rose

* Nicholas Santana

* Ana Smoot

Gateway-Gymnasium

* Jayden Banos

* Liam Contreraz

* Justin Garcia Del Busto

* Gabriella Reyes-Criollo

Ida Baker High School

* Ethan Zonnebelt

Island Coast High School

* Derick Bento

* Caleb Cruz

* Alexandra Flores

Lehigh Senior High School

* Anahy González-Mata

* Dalila Ramos

* Marlexis Ruano

North Fort Myers High School

* Dalilah Arias-Esler

* Valeria Gonzalez

* Kaylin Gonzalez

* Eduardo Hernández

* Martha Martinez

* Sandro Morales

Riverdale High School

* Calmia Frederic

* Edwin Jimenez-Medina

* Jaylene Tavarez

The following Lee County students received the National African American Recognition Award:

Bonita Springs High School

* Keegan O’Connell

Cape Coral High School

* Rebecca Lozandier

* Esther Saintilien

Cypress Lake High School

* Keishna Philippe

Dunbar High School

* Yozeline Garius

* Ashleigh Green

* Kennard Harijono

* Kristin Spence

* Jaden White

East Lee County High School

* Karina Alexandre

* Ryanna Ameer

Fort Myers High School

* Sarah Acosta

* Royce Bynum

* Za’Nyri Mays

* Anouluwa Onawumi

* Misha Soubiron

Gateway-Gymnasium

* Stephanie Cuevas

* Bobbieann Levat

* Olivia Mason

Ida Baker High School

* Thorn Neely

* Ethan Zonnebelt

Lehigh Senior High School

* Isabel Adu-Amanfoh

* Lensy Devariste

* Serenity Jackson

* Jeanella Jacotin

North Fort Myers High School

* Izabella Cancel

* Alija Gaines

* Sebastian Jeanpierre

Riverdale High School

* Calmia Frederic

* Aniya Laney

* Rayshaun Lindor

* Kesleine Mesidor

* Janaya Toussaint

The following student was awarded the National Indigenous Recognition Award:

Fort Myers High School

* Kiera Adkins

*Tegan Webb

North Fort Myers High School

* Jeremiah Cordero

The following Lee County students received the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Award:

Bonita Springs High School

* Alena Augustine

* Julianna Bendeck

* Mason Burks

* Bethany Davis

* Gregory Davis

* Veereshwar Gupta

* Jeffrey Jiang

* Juan Lobo

* Brandon Lopez Lopez

* Jesse Loukonen

* Yaresly Maqueda

* Spencer Ortyl

* Gabriela Rivera

* Lennon Sangster

* Marcus Sarabia

* Kayla Thrasher

Riverdale High School

* Calmia Frederic

* Skylar Hubbard

* Edwin Jimenez-Medina

* Rayshaun Lindor

* Elisabeth Maavich

* Holden Meade

* Kesleine Mesidor

* Evan Mintz

* Jaylene Tavarez

* Joshua Vonderwell

The following Lee County students received the National First-Generation Recognition Award:

Bonita Springs High School

* Jeffrey Jiang

* Brandon Lopez Lopez

* Yaresly Maqueda

* Lennon Sangster

* Marcus Sarabia

* Kayla Thrasher

Cape Coral High School

* Melanie Cubelis

* Sabrina Dong

* Dakota Downey

* Rebecca Lozandier

* Jordan Manning

* Esther Saintilien

* Juliana Verzi

Dunbar High School

* Magdalena Abella

* Joselyn Landin

* Sarah Redford

* Re'Niyah Band

East Lee County High School

* Angel Candelario

* Daniela Jimenez-Martinez

Estero-Gymnasium

* Leo Lin

Fort Myers High School

* Ahniya Alicea

* Kiera Barbant

* Sebastian Canizares

* Jennifer Dong

* Mia Gilbert

* Jaxon Gustafson

* Tasnia Hossain

* Lorena Huang

* Henry Lin

* Margaret MacDiarmid

* Alexander Matei

* Za’Nyri Mays

* Katherine Ortega

* Sophia Pacheco

* Mattie Community

* Aashi Patel

* Nicholas Santana

* Jackie Tang

* Tyler Ticket

*Tegan Webb

* Skylar Wentworth

* Shenard Williams

* Mason Wolnik

* Anastasia Yanpolskaya

* Ivan Yu

* Owen Zou

Gateway-Gymnasium

* Justin Garcia Del Busto

* Simpson Lin

* Gabriella Reyes-Criollo

Island Coast High School

* Derick Bento

* Allison Cabrera

* Caleb Cruz

Virtual School Lee

* Christina Tanner

Lehigh Senior High School

* Anahy González-Mata

* Marlexis Ruano

Mariner-Gymnasium

* Alexander Lamb

* Isabella Torres

North Fort Myers High School

* Dalilah Arias-Esler

* Izabella Cancel

* Fernando Ferragut

* Brianna Gaeta

* Valeria Gonzalez

* Eduardo Hernández

* Grayson Jones

* Amy Lam

* Martha Martinez

* Michael Naehring

Riverdale High School

* Ayden Balma

* Calmia Frederic

* Edwin Jimenez-Medina

* Aniyah Laney

* Rayshaun Lindor

* Elisabeth Maavich

* Jaylene Tavarez

* Janaya Toussaint

“We are very excited to celebrate our students and recognize them for the great work they have done,” said Chief Academic Officer Dr. Nathan Shaker. “We are proud of their strong academic performance in the classroom and on the College Board exams. There is so much that makes our students unique, and this award highlights that as an advantage for their future.”

Students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher, who have excelled on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10, or who have achieved a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP exams; who are African American or Black, Hispanic or Latinx, or Native American, and/or attend a school in a rural area or small town are eligible for an award. Eligible students may apply in their sophomore or junior year, and awards are given at the beginning of the next school year. Students will receive their awards in time to include them in their college and scholarship applications.

“This year, the National Recognition Programs are recognizing more students than ever before, ensuring that the outstanding academic abilities of more than 90,000 deserving students are not overlooked as they plan for the future,” said Amy Reitz, senior vice president of BigFuture at the College Board. “We are proud to support colleges and universities that are committed to advancing the education of all students, and our program provides them with an opportunity to increase their recruitment efforts to attract students who will succeed on their campus.”