Students from four nations converge on Cabrini for Northeast CWS

The 2017 edition of the Northeast CWS (Collegiate World Series), at Cabrini University, brought nearly 150 students from across the U.S., as well as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Puerto Rico. Twice as many young women as young men participated in the event, which provides students the chance to learn about the college admissions process as well as inquiry-based learning.

Students from the winning team in the college admissions competition, under the Cornell University banner, included:

Samantha Abad, Saint Vincent Ferrer High School, New York, New York
Raymundo Bello, IDEA Pharr, Pharr, Texas
Wendy Castillo Paulino, Colegio Nuevo Horizonte Del Nordeste, Sanchez Ramirez, Dominican Republic
Jared Cruz, Roy Miller High School, Corpus Christi, Texas
Wilber Dominguez, Stratford High School, Houston, Texas
Yareli Flores, Lyons Township High School, La Grange, Illinois
Jose Gomez, PSJA Early College High School, San Juan, Texas
Renata Nava, South Texas Business, Education, and Technology Academy, Edinburg, Texas
Francheli Romero, PSJA Early College High School, San Juan, Texas
Maria Takigawa, Coronado High School, El Paso, Texas

The program’s educational director, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, took a week from her campaign for a U.S. Congressional seat to help coordinate the Northeast CWS program. She said, “I often get asked at this program why I am taking a week off the campaign trail to work with 150 high school students. The answer is simple: It’s entirely centering. They are why I’m doing this. My background as an educator and working in my community is the only reason I’m running for Congress. Serving with them, and having the students serve me with their insights, and learning more about them and their passions, humanizes this race for me. It reminds me what’s important. It’s reminds me why I’m doing this and who I’m doing it for.”

Zachary Gonzalez, director of the Collegiate World Series program, praised the ongoing partnership between NHI and Cabrini. He said of the partnership, active since 2013, “Dr. Donald Taylor has been a champion of the work of the National Hispanic Institute, announcing in 2014 that this university was interested in becoming one of the largest-serving Hispanic institutions in the Northeast region of the United States. At the core of Cabrini’s philosophy is to educate from the heart.”

Gonzalez also acknowledged the sponsors who helped support the event; namely, DishLATINO, State Farm, and Union Pacific.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLCKLF1KEuo