2024 Rocky Mountain CWS helps aspiring college students tell their stories

More than 130 students, including a contingent from Mexico and a number of students from across the United States, converged on the University of Denver from June 24 to 28 for the Rocky Mountain Collegiate World Series (CWS), the first of two capstone programs for National Hispanic Institute students to be staged this summer.

This year’s Rocky Mountain CWS, as is now tradition with the CWS programs, was a five-day immersive learning experience split into two distinct halves. The League Series focused on the college application process, placing students into 10 teams via a draft, led by representatives from participating colleges and universities (including members of the NHI College Register). The Thought Series, which followed, focused on inquiry-based learning.

“I think the program went really well,” said education director John F. Lopez. “The first few days were so much fun with the colleges doing the draft and competing in those games, and we really got them to spend some time in self-reflection, asking themselves questions about who they are and their beliefs and values and passions, with the idea that college admissions is all about telling your story to somebody, but that it’s very difficult to do that if you don’t know your story yourself. So the first step would be that self-reflection. So we had some good discussions about that.

“And then, as far as the second half, the inquiry-based learning part, the students really showed a lot of progress over the course of the different games,” he added. “It’s not unusual to have them struggle a little bit on the first challenge, because using the IBL process was so new to them with this group, by the time they got to the later challenges, they really seemed like they had a good understanding for the process and how to use it. And I tried to give them some real world examples so they could see, you know, this isn’t just theoretical. You can actually use this to make decisions in your everyday life.”

Isabella Lininger, from Uplift Summit International Preparatory in Arlington, Texas, served as valedictorian for the awards ceremony, the first of two commencements that CWS participants experience in their senior year.

At the ceremony, the following students were acknowledged for their performance during the competition.

The League Series MVPs

Marcus Crockett, St. Michael’s High School, Santa Fe, N.M. (Bucknell University team)
Lorieliz Homs Lorenzo, John Paul Stevens High School, San Antonio, Texas (Case Western Reserve University team)
Aiden Gonzalez, Central Catholic High School, San Antonio, Texas (Claremont McKenna College team)
Eli Abeyta, Valley High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Colorado State University team)
Lillian Lucero, Valley High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico (St. Edward’s University team)
Mara Flores, Instituto de Ciencias, Zapopan, Mexico (Texas A&M University team)
Elaine Tennant, Pueblo Central High School, Pueblo, Colorado (University of North Texas team)
Jonathan Sanchez, St. Michael’s High School, Santa Fe, New Mexico (University of Denver team)
Michael Castillo, Central Catholic High School, San Antonio, Texas (University of Houston team)
Taylor Luna, Mountain View High School, Los Altos, California (Vanderbilt University team)

Major Leaguers

Milla Balandran, Instituto Lux A.C., León, Mexico
Ellie Burris, Goddard High School, Roswell, New Mexico
Mario Cassina, La Salle College Preparatory, Pasadena, California
Rowan Duncan, Health Careers High School, San Antonio, Texas
Noelia Esquivel-Rodriguez, Caldwell High School, Caldwell, Idaho
Taylor Luna, Mountain View High School, Los Altos, California
Elizabeth Macaraig, Cristo Rey St. Viator College Preparatory, Las Vegas, Nevada
Gavin McAtee, St. Pius X High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Brooke Perez, North Side High School, Fort Worth, Texas
Nevina Sand, St. Michael’s High School, Santa Fe, New Mexico

The Rocky Mountain CWS was made possible in part by support from Sands.