Valleywide : National Hispanic Scholars Honored

Recognizing their “exceptional academic achievements,” two dozen high school seniors from the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys have been named National Hispanic Scholars, the College Board has announced.

Evelyn Davila, who directs the 13-year-old program out of an office in Washington, D.C., explained that this year’s applicants were drawn from a pool of about 105,000 students nationwide who identified themselves as Hispanic when taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test last fall.

More than 2,000 scholars were selected from students with the top 3,000 test scores and grade point averages of 3.5 or better, Davila said.

“It’s purely merit-based,” she said of the honor, describing the typical scholar as a high-achieving, well-rounded student.

This year’s National Hispanic Scholars from Valley-area schools include Alicia Nieves, Elizabeth Sanchez and Patricia Sanchez of Alemany High School in Mission Hills, Andres Filomia of Antelope Valley High in Lancaster, Victor De La Cruz and Robert Silva of Birmingham High in Van Nuys, Eric Gamonal and Yvonne Goodson of Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills, Denis Delja and Brian Miehm of Crespi Carmelite High in Encino, Eldar Brodski of El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills, and Jaime Martinez of John Burroughs High in Burbank.

Also: Cesar Martinez and Eli Naduris-Weissman of North Hollywood High, Monica Ayhens of Palmdale High, Melissa Mark of Quartz Hill High, Lucy Rimalower and Jesse Wodin of Oakwood Secondary in North Hollywood, Ilan Benhanan of Van Nuys High, Joseph Bravo, Maria Keegan, Kevin Kelly and Michael Wagner of William S. Hart High in Newhall, and Monica Campos of William Howard Taft High in Woodland Hills.