Elsa Alvarado, right, of Glendale, accepts a prestigious National Youth Award in Education from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation as her grandmother, Maria Bermudez, looks on. Photo courtesy Hispanic Heritage Foundation/Omar Ogues
A Glendale student’s good grades helped her get her hands on $1,000 in grant money as well as a Google Chromebook.
Elsa Alvarado, a Nicaraguan senior at Bayside’s Benjamin Cardozo High School, earned national recognition earlier this month when the Hispanic Heritage Foundtation selected her for the National Youth Award in the education category, presented by Southwest Airlines.
A foundation spokeswoman said Alvarado was chosen because of her extracurricular activities and her 3.9 GPA at the high school. She was also noted for starting the Future Educators of New York Club at her school last year, which tutors students throughout the community after school. The club has since grown into a network of more than 60 students, the foundation said.
“Elsa stood out as a bright, young woman who we believe will make a deep and positive impact on the education system, said Emanuel Pleitez, chair of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Board of Directors in a statement. “We at the Hispanic Heritage Foundation are constantly searching for passionate students like her to recognize and assist in achieving their goals.”
Alvarado and five other students were recognized in at the group’s 15th annual Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards ceremony Jan. 30 in Florida. Each winner earned a $1,000 grant, a Google Chomebook laptop and a round-trip ticket to the Miami award ceremony.
They were selected out of thousands of applicants and judged based on their overall academic performance.
“We are thrilled to honor yet another class of outstanding young Latino leaders who will certainly make an impact on our communities and workforce as they move forward in their careers,” said Antonio Tijerino, president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. “We applaud the vision of our sponsors as they share our focus in what we consider priority fields for America.”
After high school, Alvarado said she was looking to further her education at Georgetown University, the University of Notre Dame or George Washington University. Throughout her journey, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation said it would be tracking Alvarado and the other youth awardees through its Latinos On Fast Track program as they transition from high school, to college and graduate school, and well into their careers.
“We truly believe they are leaders of today, not tomorrow,” Tijerino said. “Frankly, we can’t afford to wait.”
By Phil Corso
