Arcadia High School is very proud to recognize the achievements of five AHS College Board National Recognition Awardees. These five Arcadia awardees are juniors Flora Recendez, Isaac Offstein, Kendall Gonzalez, Noel Wesen, and senior Robert Meli. 

There are four recognition award programs: the National African American Recognition Program (NAARA), National Indigenous Recognition Program Award (NIA), National Rural and Small Town Award (NRSTA), and National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRA). These academic awards are honors to underrepresented students in America. 

Congratulations to Recendez, Offstein, Gonzalez, and Meli, who won the National Hispanic Recognition Program, and Wesen who won the National African American Recognition Program Award. Eligible students can also earn National Rural and Small Town Award and National Indigenous Recognition Program Award, which were not earned last school year, but are now available for the upcoming school year. 

“This is a very honorable award to get! It’s amazing!” stated junior student Emily Yen. 

As Winnie Chin, junior counselor, stated, “It is always exciting to see our students recognized by various programs.  These individuals should be proud of their performance on the PSAT as well as their continued hard work and dedication in their academics.  This is definitely an honor they could highlight on their future college and scholarship applications.”

College Board National Recognition is a “program for all students considered as African American/Black, Indigenous, Hispanic/Latinx, or those who attend high school in a rural or small town.” According to the requirements, “all students eligible for PSAT, NMSQT, AP Exams, or PSAT 10”, as stated on the official College Board website,” are considered for the awards. Even though this award is not a scholarship award program, students are still able to include the award in the Recognition Award in their college and other scholarship applications. Colleges and scholarship programs use these honors to identify students from underrepresented groups through College Board’s Student Search Service.

Students who earned any of the listed recognitions received them for “ their outstanding performance on PSAT, NMSQT, PSAT 10, and/or AP Exams or of their excellent academic achievements,” as stated by the official College Board website. All sophomores and juniors who meet these requirements are eligible for earning the awards listed above. 

Recendez, Offstein, Gonzalez, Wesen, and Meli are just five of the total 62,000 students across the country to earn academic honors from the College Board’s National Recognition Programs. This is a very outstanding and honorable award, as well as amazing news for Arcadia High School to hear about! 

Other eligible students who meet the requirements are also invited to apply during their sophomore or junior year and are awarded at the beginning of the next school year. Specific guidelines and requirements can be found on the College Board’s official website. All eligible students are highly encouraged to apply for the following school year.