Celebracion honors top presenters and Fundamentals exemplifiers

More than 350 students came to San Antonio last weekend for Celebración. Though the summer programs are certainly at the heart of NHI’s leadership education programs for high school students, Celebración is becoming increasingly important for the future leaders who learn through NHI.

This year, Celebración’s recent move toward encouraging student presentations to include video — that the students filmed and edited themselves — continued. Another throughline from recent competitions was the concept of branding and how to put forth a meaningful brand. This year’s competition, involving teams created from each of the three cohorts gathered, was built around the idea of equity and equity building.

The top two teams from each cohort, presenting for the traditional Saturday night Celebración finals event, featured some innovative presentations of the NHI brand.

Realtopia, the team who won the LDZ competition, centered its video around a book that team members wrote in, starting with one who inscribed “home away from home” to describe NHI. The Great Debate second-place team, Infinite 8, featured a video that captured the fun of belonging to NHI. CWS winners Juan 7 featured NHIers who “rose to the occasion,” challenging the audience to do that, and ending the video with a “Para nosotros, para ellos” (“for us, for them”) motto.

Saturday’s Celebración presenters included:

Great Debate finalists

Winners: Los Carnales
Isabel Aldrete-McIntosh, Lake Highlands High School, Dallas, Texas
Diana Granados Guardiola, Colegio Ignacio Zaragoza, Saltillo, Mexico
Sergio Monarrez, Cathedral High School, El Paso, Texas
Hizau Morales, Round Lake High School, Round Lake, Illinois
Nicole Parada, Rangeview High School, Aurora, Colorado
Elena Rojas, Waxahachie High School, Waxahachie, Texas
Genoveva Seidel, Cotulla High School, Cotulla, Texas
Isabella Zapata, Palmview High School, Mission, Texas

First runners-up: Infinite 8
Lizandro Bustamante, YES Prep White Oak, Houston, Texas
Reagan Davis, TMI-Episcopal, San Antonio, Texas
Jonathan Diaz, Energy Institute High School, Houston, Texas
Isabella Hernandez, John Paul II High School, Plano, Texas
Jose Maria Guajardo, Central Catholic High School, San Antonio, TexasJohnathan Diaz
Lily Thorson, Ursuline Academy, Dallas, Texas
Annel-Fernanda Wipachit, Hoffman Estates High School, Hoffman Estates, Illinois

LDZ finalists

Winners: Realtopia
Avarie Ávila-Dickson, Regents School of Austin, Austin, Texas
Allyson Eddy, Poudre High School, Fort Collins, Colorado
Yarselyn Flores, Challenge Early College High School, Houston, Texas
Ariana Palomo, McKinney High School, McKinney, Texas
Iñaki Romero-Garza, John Paul II High School, Plano, Texas
John Venegas Juarez, YES Prep Southeast, Pasadena, Texas
Anevay Ybanez, IDEA Quest College Prep, McAllen, Texas
Hunter Ybarra, Cypress Woods High School, Cypress, Texas

First runners-up: Somos El Futuro
AnaMarie Cordova, Loretto Academy, El Paso, Texas
Natasha Flores-Acton, Central High School, San Angelo, Texas
Viviana González, Colegio Brader, Panamá, Panamá
Yulene Hernandez, El Paso High School, El Paso, Texas
Raul Montoya, Palmview High School, Mission, Texas
Juliana Reyes, YES Prep West, Houston, Texas
Justin Rodriguez, Central Catholic High School, San Antonio, Texas
Preston Salazar, Garcia Early College High School, Laredo, Texas

CWS finalists

Winners: Juan 7
Sarah Eckenroth, Judson HS, Converse, Texas
Airam Alvarado, Challenge Early College High School, Houston, Texas
Benjamin Sanchez Mendez, Cypress Falls High school, Houston, Texas
Jareth Quintero, Judson Early College Academy, San Antonio, Texas
Geraldine Ramos, Windermere High School, Winter Garden, Florida
Emilio Garcia, Bellarmine College Preparatory, San Jose, California
Lazaro Garza, Palmview High School, Mission, Texas
Fabián Valerio, School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, Texas

First Runners-Up: Imagineers
Alexis Alvarado, IB at Lamar Academy, McAllen, Texas
Joseph Decilos, Harlingen South High School/Performing Arts Conservatory, Harlingen, Texas
Mia Sara González, Goose Creek Memorial High School, Baytown, Texas
Alissa Hernandez, Veterans Memorial High School, Corpus Christi, Texas
Carina Martinez, Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, Kansas City, Missouri
Brisa Salazar, School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, Texas

This year, NHI created s a special new category of awards to honor students. Dubbed the Fundamentals Awards, it celebrates the newly-introduced NHI Fundamentals that guide NHI staffers and alumni through their interactions with each other and all they meet. (Fundamentals were also featured in the finalists’ presentations.)

Eight students from each cohort were honored for exemplifying key Fundamentals that were key to teams working through their Cele challenges. They included:

Great Debate winners

Fundamental 5 (Engage with enthusiasm and rigor): Isaiah Davis, John Paul II HS, Plano, Texas
Fundamental 7 (Behave like a stakeholder): Mariana Camacho Pérez, ITESM CSF, Ciudad de México, Mexico
Fundamental 9 (Proceed only on faith): Gabriel Gomez, Raymond and Tirza Martin High School, Laredo, Texas
Fundamental 12 (Reflect, adapt, and execute): Vanessa Morales, Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest, Illinois
Fundamental 14 (Treat people like family): Izabela Jimenez, Round Lake High School, Round Lake, Illinois
Fundamental 15 (Free your mind to create): Valentina Hernandez, John Paul II High School, Plano, Texas
Fundamental 17 (If it is to be, it is up to me): Bella Rodriguez, John Paul II High School, Plano, Texas
Fundamental 21 (Lead by serving and inspiring others): Juan José Maza Nava, Instituto Lux, León, Mexico

LDZ Winners

Fundamental 1 (Act with integrity): Alexander Lain, Oxford International School of Panamá, Panamá, Panamá
Fundamental 3 (Celebrate and cherish our Latino culture): Julia Calzada, Prepa Tec de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
Fundamental 7 (Behave like a stakeholder): Leonardo Uriarte, Jack C. Hays HS, Buda, Texas
Fundamental 17 (If it is to be, it is up to me): Alyza Taveras, Harlem Village Academies High, New York, New York
Fundamental 18 (Practice blameless problem solving): Evan Kerr, Robert E. Lee High School, Baytown, Texas
Fundamental 21 (Lead by serving and inspiring others): Annalissa Garcia, Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Austin, Texas
Fundamental 22 (Seek common ground): Nicole Castro, John F. Kennedy The American School of Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico
Fundamental 25 (Approach people with humility and courage): Cesar Rodriguez, Rosie Sorrels School of Education and Social Services, Dallas, Texas

CWS Winners

Fundamental 1 (Act with integrity): Omar Arias, All Hallows High School, Bronx, New York
Fundamental 3 (Celebrate and cherish our Latino culture): Sarah Sandoval, School for the Talented and Gifted at Townview, Dallas, Texas
Fundamental 5 (Engage with enthusiasm and rigor): Miguel Alvarez, Round Lake High School, Round Lake Beach, Illinois
Fundamental 6 (Have fun and be positive): Santiago Ruiz, Eastwood High School, El Paso, Texas
Fundamental 7 (Behave like a stakeholder): Yamilex Romero, Albuquerque High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Fundamental 14 (Treat people like family): Regina Romero-Garza, John Paul II High School, Plano, Texas
Fundamental 21 (Lead by serving and inspiring others): Miriam Manzano, East Austin College Prep, Austin, Texas
Fundamental 24 (Create the opportunity): John Antowan, Cathedral High School, El Paso, Texas

The Great Debate and CWS cohort programs at Celebración are supported in part by a grant from State Farm.