St. Mary’s Dominican High School celebrates students awarded with academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. Seniors Amie Lewis and Jayla Montgomery, and junior Nyla Larsen received the National African American Recognition Award. Senior Taylor Christian received the National Hispanic Recognition Award. These programs celebrate the students’ hard work in high school and showcase their strong academic performance. These academic honors are an opportunity for students to share their strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs that are seeking to recruit diverse talent.

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; 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.”