Awards recognize high-performing students and help them stand out to colleges

EVERGREEN PARK, IL – Two students at Evergreen Park Community High School earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. These programs celebrate students' hard work in high school and showcase their strong academic performance.

The academic honors for rural area, Black, Indigenous, and/or Latino students are an opportunity for students to share their strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs that are seeking to recruit diverse talent.

At EPCHS, Erin Wade and Xalani Mitchell received the academic honor. Wade received the National African American Recognition Award and Mitchell received both the National African American Recognition Award and National Hispanic Recognition Award.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate Erin and Xalani and recognize their outstanding academic accomplishments both in the classroom and on College Board assessments,” EPCHS Director of Curriculum Megan Schillo said. “There’s so much that makes our students unique, and receiving this honor certainly reinforces the great work they’ve done and will continue to do in the future.”

The criteria for eligible students include:

• GPA of 3.5 or higher.
• PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams in 9th and 10th grade.
• Attend school in a rural area or small town, or identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino, or Indigenous/Native.

Eligible students are invited to apply on BigFuture during their sophomore or junior year and are awarded at the start of the next school year in time to share their achievements in high school as they plan for the future. At the same time, colleges and organizations using College Board’s Student Search Service™ can connect directly with awardees during the recruitment process.

“It’s becoming increasingly hard for students to be ‘seen’ during the college recruitment process. We’re exceptionally proud of the National Recognition Programs for celebrating students who are at times overlooked but have shown their outstanding academic abilities,” said Tarlin Ray, senior vice president of BigFuture® at College Board. “This is a benefit not only for students but also for colleges and universities committed to recruiting diverse and talented students.”