National Recognition Program Awards

Cristina Busto | Director of College Counseling
Congratulations to the EIGHT students named Semifinalists in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program: Adrian Bodero, Zachary Garcia, Noah Levy, Santiago Martinez-Cid, Emerson Patmore, Vicent Perez Ramos, Matias Rosado, and Gabriel Sintas. 

Nationally,  about 16,000 students are named National Merit Program Semifinalists , representing the top scorers in each state. More than two-thirds (about 34,000) of high scorers are designated as Commended Students. They are named based on a nationally applied Selection Index qualifying score that may vary from year to year.

We are also proud to announce that 18 students received Commended status in the National Merit Scholarship Program:  Lucas Avino, Lucca Ballesteros-Wegener, Juan Carlos De Sautu, Lorenzo De Toro, Eduard Faus, Pablo Gomez-Peralta, Matthew Gonzalez, Elias Lapadula, Sebastian Larrauri, Luis Lasa, Matthew Lombardi, Nicolas M Lopez, Austin Mauri, Andres  Molina, Carlos Manuel Perez, Mauricio Romero, Daniel Vilella, and Jose Zequeira.

114 Belen Jesuit students have also earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. These National Recognition Programs grant underrepresented students academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications and connect students with universities nationwide, helping them meaningfully connect to colleges and stand out during the admissions process. 

“We are so proud and thrilled that our students have earned this recognition for their achievements in the classroom and on the College Board assessment,” said Principal José E. Roca ‘84. “They exemplify the core values instilled in our young men daily.” 

Colleges and scholarship programs identified the following students and were awarded the National African American Recognition Award, the First Generation Award, and/or the National Hispanic Recognition Award. Congratulations to the following Wolverines:

Cesar Aguado
Andrew Aira
Nicolas Alvarez
Lucas Avino
Lucca Ballesteros-Wegener
Nicholas Barales
Manuel Barcelo
Marco Barreneche
Nicolas Battistini
Diego Berga
Felix Caceres
Carlos Cantos Hulett
Alejandro Castillo
Alfonso Castillo
Pablo Castro
Cesar Cortes
Lucas Cruz
Christopher De Angulo
Ignacio De Toro
Lorenzo Diaz
Emilio Diaz
Lucas Diaz
Francisco Diaz
Santiago Duplat
Gustavo Eckardt
Max Erdmann
Sebastian Estrada
Santiago Felix-Padilla
David Fernandez
Adrian Fonseca
Christopher Garcia
Nicholas Garity
Luciano Garzon
Guido Gerstl
Lucas Gil-Cabada
Daniel Gomez
Raul Gomez-Pina
James Gonzalez
Andres Gonzalez
Enzo Gonzalez
Henry Gonzalez
Marcelo Granda-Scott
Magnus Gudjonsson
Jonathan Hermida
William Hernandez
Alexander Hernandez
Andres Hoyos
Christian Huynh
Vincenzo Iovine
Manuel Irurita
Jorge Jane
Anthony Kiami Gimenez
Max Klemick
Gabriel Lacayo
Gabriel Lasa
Nicolas Lopez
Peter Lopez
Daniel Lopez
Carlos Lopez-Seda
Alejandro Lurigados
Andres Madrigal
Marcelo Martel
Andres Mas
Aydan McKercher
David Mederos
Dylan Medina
Nicholas Misiunas
Andres Molina
Mattias Monge
Juan Montaner Bril
Orlando Montiel
Ray Morales
Francisco Moscoso
Zachary Muñoz
Nayib Nader
Marcel Narino
Sebastian Olaniel
Adrian Padilla
Dylan Paucar
Philip Pereira
Vicent Perez Ramos
Julian Quijano
Daniel Quiñones
Noah Quintana
Renier Quintero
Lucas Riesco
Santiago Rodriguez
Michael Rodriguez
Jose Romano
Nicholas Rotolo
Justin Ruiz
David Saumell
Max Scanziani
Noah Scott
Rafael Scott
Joseph Socarras
Luis Souto
Justin Toledo
Andre Toussaint
Myles-Edison Trapp
Nicolas Valdes
Julian Valencia
Luca Varona
Juan Vazquez
Luis Vazquez
Gabriel Vazquez
Matthew Vila
Jason Vilberg
Ian Wolstenholme
Ignacio Yanes
Aiden de Oliveira
Branden de Quesada

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 two 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 to 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.

For more information on the National Recognition Programs, click here.
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BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain.  The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline.  In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty.  The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow.  Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.