United Independent School District (UISD) is celebrating the achievements of 137 outstanding students who have earned recognition through the College Board National Recognition Programs. These prestigious honors highlight students who have demonstrated exceptional academic performance and dedication to their studies.

These honors include the National Hispanic Recognition Award, the National First-Generation Recognition Award, and the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Award. They are presented to students who maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher and either rank in the top 10% of PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 testers in their state, or earn a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP exams.

“This recognition is a direct result of the grit and determination shown by our students,” said Mario Rosales, UISD Director of Advanced Academics. “By earning these honors, our students are opening doors to prestigious universities and significant scholarship opportunities across the country.”

More than 180,000 students from all 50 states were eligible to apply for this year’s cycle of the College Board National Recognition Programs. Through College Board’s Student Search Service, colleges and scholarship programs are able to identify students who have earned National African American, Hispanic, Indigenous, First-Generation, and Rural/Small Town recognition.

“The National Recognition Programs were created to take a tangible step toward addressing the systemic barriers to higher education faced by underrepresented students,” said Arielle Ford, Director of Strategic Engagement and Programs during her Forum presentation.

The origin of the Recognition Programs is the National Hispanic Recognition Program, which the College Board launched 40 years ago to increase access to higher education for academically competitive Latino students. Research showed that awarded students who also opted into Student Search Service had improved college enrollment and received additional funding. The first program’s success led the College Board to expand the Recognition Programs in 2019 to include African American Recognition, Indigenous Recognition, and Rural/Small Town Recognition.

Since the expansion, the programs have continued to grow in impact. This year, 90,000 students nationwide earned honors from the National Recognition Programs.

“This work is about building connections between students and higher ed institutions,” Ford said. “It’s also about growing awareness and exposing students to schools that they may not have otherwise been aware of. We want these programs to create pathways to college for underrepresented students and we want awardees to explore a diverse set of college options.”

In addition to receiving academic honors, awardees receive personalized outreach from colleges if they opt into Student Search. This allows institutions to find awardees and conduct intentional, tailored outreach, encouraging them to apply to colleges and specific scholarships based on their Recognition Program honor.

United ISD is honored to recognize the following students for their outstanding academic achievements:

J B Alexander High School (45 Students):

 Camila Abrego, Alejandro Cruz, Gabrielle Del Angel, Bruno Diaz Lopez, Oscar Dominguez, Alexa Equihua, Stephanie Fernandez, Emilio Garcia, Karyme Garcia, Tabatta Garcia, Avery Gerard, Ashmita Ghosh, Johan Gonzalez Gutierrez, Regina Gonzalez-Parra, Jacquelyn Hernandez, Alejandro Leal, Valentina Lozano, Christopher Luna, Camila Marroquin, Juan Mendiola, Farrell Meng, Valeria Minarro, America Montalvo, Valentina Nolasco, Oded Oviedo-Villarreal, Javier Pena, Balthazar Perez, Natalia Quezada Reyna, Juan Ramirez, Alyna Rios, Santiago Rocha, Roberto Rueda, Azael Ruiz-Baldazo, Matthew Salinas, Alexia Sanchez, Nicolas Sanchez, Andrea Santos, Margot Santos, Isabella Solares Salazar, Javier Soto, Sofia Tietzsch Victorino, Alexa Tinoco, Michelle Vasquez, Paloma Vazquez, and Alina Zhou.

United High School (49 Students): Eduardo Aguirre, Andrea Alcaraz, Elizabeth Ayala, Avery Becerra, Jena Castillo, Julia Castillo, Jacob Elizondo, Daniela Escorza Herrera, Axel Flores, Domingo Flores, Isaac Gomez, Diego Hernandez, Joseph Landa, Gilberto Lara, Isaac Larumbe, Sebastian Lopez, Jose Martinez III, Carlos Martinez, Angel Mata, Diego Medina Jimenez, Matthew Medina, Emmanuel Medrano, Leonardo Mejia, Marcos Mendiola, Monique Molina, Derek Munoz, Gea Nunez-Cazares, Mariana Ortiz, Dannesh Owrang, Roxanna Paez, Diego Pastrana, Luis Perez, Sebastian Perez, Ciro Ponce III, Nehemias Ramirez, Andres Rodriguez, Emilio Samaniego, Priscilla Sandoval, Santiago Uribe, Karla Vargas Torres, Sofia Vargas, David Vasquez II, Ezra Vasquez, Adrian Vazquez, Sebastian Villanueva, Gavin Villarreal, Enoch Weight, Zyla Wilkinson, and Joaquin Zaragoza.

Lyndon B. Johnson High School (27 Students): Osmar Alvarado, Humberto Arriaga, Gerardo Avila, Andrea Benavides, Alexandra Cortez Torres, Adriana Cruz, Jennifer Cundapi, Rogelio Fuentes, Diego Garcia, Bianca Gaytan, Diego Gonzalez, Florentino Guel, Emma-Sofia Guerra, Idela Gutierrez, Alessandra Lara, Jesus Martinez, Alexander Medina, Jesus Miron, Maria Morales, Hector Nava, Destiny Olvera, Ricardo Palomares, Alisson Ramirez Sanchez, Jessica Rebollar, Mario Sanchez, Sofia Solis, and Briana Vela.

United South High School (16 Students): Isabella Castillo, Guillermo Cervantes Benavides, Luis Estevis, Heber Fabela, Ayleen Gonzalez, Andrea Guerrero, Brody Gutierrez, Cesar Huerta, Alejandro Isaac, Daniel Llera, Kayla Lopez, Genesis Martinez, Rafael Mendoza, Bianney Ramirez, Elaisha Vela, and Samuel Villarreal.