Polk County Public Schools
More than 370 graduates of Polk high schools were honored at the 20th Annual Minority Achievement Awards event held near the end of the 2009-2010 school year.
The event honored minority students for achieving a 3.5 grade point average and above in regular education classes. The event also included the naming of each school’s minority graduate with the highest GPA and each school’s “most improved” minority graduate. Most improved minority graduates made significant academic improvements from their freshman to senior years.
Haines City International Baccalaureate won the Vivien Lillian Postell Award for having the largest percentage of high achieving minority graduates among its student enrollment. 2009-2010 was the first year that Haines City IB had graduating seniors. Haines City IB opened during the 2006-2007 school year.
The event was organized and coordinated by the Minority Achievement Program committee of the Polk Public Schools.
Honorees with a 3.5 grade point average in regular education classes are listed alphabetically by school. Minority students with the highest grade point averages by school are noted in parentheses. Most improved graduates are listed separately.
Auburndale High: Jeehoon Kim, Elvis Le, Alessandra Parrish, Erickson Sainval, Emmetisha Sterling (highest GPA).
Bartow High: Artemio Avalos, Weedlens Beauvil, Nadia Boyd, Aujanai Brown, Olivia Dela Cruz, Carolina Flores, Maria Garcia, Sherin George, Willie Hayes, Jarell Hiller, Christal Jackson, Cynthia Jones, Adan Macias, Grace Mathew, Melody McCoy, Amerita Mohamed, Anjali Nair (highest GPA), Alexis Smith, LaShay Wardell. Bartow Most Improved – Tyre Brooks.
Bartow IB: Damilola Adeyemo, Nestor Beltre, Emily Bhutiani (highest GPA), Magdalene Dupree, Brian Gonzalez, Tatiana Hylton, Catherine Lee, Jocelyn Lee, Daniel Madrid, Alessandra Miranda, Nathaniel Phen, Deanna Reza, Margeling Santiago, Hercules Stancil.
Chain of Lakes High (Winter Haven): Mon Albert Aguiling, Miranda Alexander, Antrice Baker, Danielle Cherizard, Ariel Crockett, Jocelyn De La Mora, Alleggra Harry, Joshua Laroche, Ulda Louis-Pierre, Karla Lugo, Roberto Marcial, Ralph Michel (highest GPA), Janet Nguyen, Roma Patel, Diana Pena, Melvin Perez, Shaneeria Persaud, Carolina Ramirez, Stephen Ramirez, Jeanely Ruiz, Melissa Serrato, Genesis Solis Carrion, Janessa Vasallo. Chain of Lakes Most Improved – Alissa Floyd.
Fort Meade High: Edith Fernandez, Mariela Molina, Jannette Perez, Akaycha Robinson, Jamanda Simmons (highest GPA), Jameira Thomas. Fort Meade Most Improved – Tamilya Drayton.
Frostproof High: Ricardo Alvarado, Guadalupe Bautista, Whitney Dukes, Veronica Espinoza, Noe Gonzalez, Nichole Knighten (highest GPA), Jasmine Lewis, Matthew Saiz, Desiree Viera. Frostproof Most Improved – Nickell Robey.
George Jenkins High (Lakeland): Ashley Abraham, Maribel Aviles, Robert Bala, Kaleb Carmack, Kristin Hernandez, Finny Jacob (highest GPA), Tanya Lekhram, Raisa Lozano, Shaira Pacheco, Abhay Patel, Roshni Patel, Cristina Perez, Milton Perez, Wakesha Phidd, Benjamin Reyes, Melanie Tay, Danny Thomas. George Jenkins Most Improved – Nisha Patel.
Haines City High: Jose Alarcon (highest GPA), Francisco Alvarez, Isamara Arroyo, Rafael Concepcion, Cynthia Espichan, Stephanie Feliciano, Shalonda Frazier, Alia Khan, Katiana Louis- Jean, Alexis McDaniel, Sachoya McDonald, Jose A. Medina Jr., Andrea Northern, Brittany Ochoa, Guadalupe Ochoa, Gustavo Rincon, Diana Soriano, Chantal Wiltshire, Rakieda Williams, Shadequa Wright, Nowsheen Zaman. Haines City Most Improved – Rodney Gunter and Nicol Lopez-Zea.
Haines City IB: Franklin Aquino, Jacqueline Bantad, Krystal Blanco (highest GPA), Sanjay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Cordova, Kimberly Gomez, Roxanne Guzman, Vanessa Keverenge, Anna Marquez, Alyssa Mohamad, Samuel Olasoji, Sylva Osbourne, Nadine Perez, Daphne Renelus, Natatlie Rivera, Henrique Valim.
Harrison School for the Arts (Lakeland): Camila Araujo, AArica Ardis, Danielle Brooks (highest GPA), Jayme Brown, Demonte Cheeks, Kie’erra Dunn, Kevin Garrick, Cristina Morales, Jessica Rafaeil, Zachary Richardson, Karlyne Robinson, Brittany Santiago, Jonathan Thomas, Breiana Thompson. Harrison Most Improved – Arliesha Bell.
Kathleen High (Lakeland): Dennis Adams, Rohan Adams, Kashimah Bryant, Orlando Camargo, Shanequa Campbell, Christopher Ciceron, Marcus Cunningham, Tavarous Faniel, Shamille Hayes, Benjamin Her (highest GPA), Jameela Hosein, Crystal Hundley, Raymonda Johnson, Dixita Kotadia, D’Mia Lawrence, Erica Lewis, Christopher Ly, Norma Murillo-Oviedo, Shambria Oner, Erick Ramirez, Camille Rhodes, Javier Rodea, Ashley Rodriguez, Maryerie Rojas, Jasmine Singleton, Kristian Singleton, Brittany Smalls, Renise St. Louis, Miyisha Wall, Kimberly Watson, Antonisha Williams, De’Era Williams, Pang Xiong, James Yamano. Kathleen Most Improved – Psalms Radway.
Lake Gibson High (Lakeland): James Baviello, Gary Bell, Tevin Belford, Deliza Elizee, Alejandro Figueroa (highest GPA), Timothy Geiger, Tierny Lesueur, Frank Jesmar Palencia, Axar Patel, Nikki Patel, Andrele Rivera, Jac’Quinisha Swanson, Alonso Valenzuela, Jerorick Willis. Lake Gibson Most Improved – Samantha McCalla.
Lake Region High (Eagle Lake): Patrice Alexander, Araceli Arzate, Kelly Cai, Alexandria DeFoe, Sarah Dowudom, Fransua Estrada, Eduardo Gregorio, Ashutosh Kumar, Juan Mendez, Alaysia Miller, Shaumik Mondal (highest GPA), Tiquisha Monroe, Jeanette Perez, Evelyn Ramirez, Carlos Saca, Xing Shi, Lousson Smith, Jeanette Tovar, Cytrena Williams. Lake Region Most Improved – Reynaldo Alpizar.
Lake Wales High: Jacquia Atmore (highest GPA), Kristian Gonzalez, Jessica Lopez, Marisa McDougall, Shreya Patel.
Lakeland High: Alexxis Anthony, Tammi - Jo Budhoo, Yordy Cabrera, Nicole Craven (highest GPA), Jaima Delgado, Harshal Desai, Deann Diaz, Maynor Fontanez-Lopez, Chloe Latimer, Shankira McGowan, Emily Quinones, Alexandria Salmon, Aurora Soto, Kirelys Torres, Valnick Touloute, Rodney Watson, Grace Yano. Lakeland Most Improved – Dayne Alzugaray.
McKeel Academy (Lakeland): Dhrupal Amin (highest GPA), Brooklynne Atwell, Ashlyn Hart, Christopher Mejia, Nilska Velasquez. McKeel Most Improved – Ramona Trindade.
Mulberry High: Rodrigo Almaraz, Annabel Arevalo, Javier Figueroa, Elizabeth Guillen, Joseph Hernandez, Daniela Lucero (highest GPA), Grisbel Marcos-Sanchez, Michelle Perez, Rachel Stevens, Kayla Viera, Antoinette Williams. Mulberry Most Improved – Toney Brown.
PSC High (Lakeland): Sanah Abukhdeir, Ayanna Alexander, Alexandra Collado, Christian Colon, Shawn Crews, Oneshae Davis, Darwin Frederic, Maria Garcia, Monique Hunter, Natalia Moyano-Cucuma, Christina Newport, Brenna Parker, Kunjankumar Patel, Jasmine Rangel, Samantha Strang, Grace Tabales, Aisha Warner (highest GPA). PSC Most Improved – Ariel Willams.
Ridge Community High (Davenport): Robert Allen, Mark Berrios-Ayala, Jean Caraballo, Kayla Caraballo, Ancil Cardinal, Randy Cobena, Jorge Diaz (highest GPA), Shermiga Emilcar, Miguel Figueroa, Heidy Flores, Nicole Flores, Elizabeth Galindo, Taina Gonzalez, Nelson Guild, Fahim Ibrahim, Rhone Jadis, Christina Lopez, Kevin Malpartida, Stephanie Marquez, Victor Marrero-Colon, Cyntoria Mason, Janradliz Melo, Miguel Mendez, Trang Nguyen, Alexander Nicholas, Vanessa Olivares Velez, Joel Ramirez, Kristen Robinson, Nathalie Rodriguez, Christopher Rodriguez, Ubaldo Rosell, Nestor Rossi, Hector Santiago, Mark Seenarraine, Christopher Stewart, Amanda Tarver, Kleber Valencia, Sergio Vargas, Karina Veracierto, Taylor Williams, Nikki Wilmot, Javier Zorro. Ridge Community Most Improved – Gary Veal.
Summerlin Academy (Bartow): Lorne Baker, Joel Botardo, Oscar Cabarcas, Kezia Elfils, Daniela Fagnilli (highest GPA), Felipe Fagnilli, Marc Julia, Emily Maeda, Anthony Paz, Harsh Shah.
Tenoroc High (Lakeland): Jadell Jack, Lieter Rios Hernandez (highest GPA), Tashena Rochester, Alexandra Vanegas. Tenoroc Most Improved – Ajayi Lee.
Winter Haven High: Desi Abarca, Maurice Alls, Terry Bent, Alyna Cartagena-Colon, Jefte Chavez, Wendy Deshommes, Cassandra Dugazon, Alix Garcia, Teresa Lara, Alicia Lopez Cruz, Isaac Marquez, Larry Moffatt, Emilys Nguyen, Roshni Patel, Grecia Rios, Margarito Sanchez, Melanea Sanchez, Arlene Shi (highest GPA), Danielle Smith, Manh Tran, Demetrius Wilson. Winter Haven Most Improved – Autumn Beckton.
