Two Silver Knights, Two Honorable Mentions

It was the culmination of a memorable and historic high school journey. The 63rd Annual Silver Knight Award ceremony, hosted annually by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, was held virtually on May 20th. Ten Belen Jesuit seniors were nominated for the coveted award that recognizes outstanding high school seniors for their unselfish service to their school and community.

Two Belen Jesuit students won the Silver Knight award and two received honorable mentions. 

Juan “Juanchi” Tejera '21 won in the Journalism category and David Alarcon '21 won in the World Languages category. 

“In 2013, Juanchi made a personal connection with the individual who saved his mother’s life, a two-time Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma survivor,” said Claudia Basso, Silver Knight Coordinator. “He promised from that day forward he would become an advocate for “Be the Match”, which is a national bone marrow donor program ensuring that patients diagnosed with blood cancers get the stem cell transplant they need for a second chance of life. With Be the Match, Juanchi was ready to begin his journey of giving back, just like his mother’s donor had done. After speaking with the organization and learning how to recruit possible donors, they felt a huge way Juanchi could help support their organization was by creating awareness among high school students, so by the time they turned 18, they could register as donors. At the early age of 15, this became Juanchi’s personal mission. In February 2019, he set up a booth during Tombola weekend and began posting about his recruiting efforts and sharing his story throughout his social media accounts. Before he knew it, he had recruited over 100 people to receive swab kits to send over to the Be the Match registry lab, the most they have ever received from one event.”

“Service has always been at the forefront of David's existence,” said Basso. “In 2012, David joined an organization named Hope for Kasai which dedicates itself to helping bring education to the underprivileged youth of Kasai, Congo of Africa. With the organization's mission of educating the youth, David felt an instant connection. In 2017, he established a club at Belen, along with his brother and good friend Manuel Rincon, and the club has one of the largest numbers of volunteers to date. Through the project, "One Brick at a Time," he went above and beyond to speak at fundraising events and initiated cold-calling local philanthropists to educate them on the organization's mission. All in all, $45,000 was raised toward the youth of Kasai to receive a better education in a safer and healthier environment.”

The Honorable Mention recipients were Rajiv Khemlani '21 in the Athletics category and Manuel Rodríguez - Lapido '21 in Digital & Interactive Media. 

“I couldn’t be prouder of the ten young men who were nominated for the Silver Knight,” said Principal José E. Roca ‘84. “I join our community in congratulating Juanchi and David for having won and Manny and Rajiv for being recognized as honorable mentions. Their dedication and passion for service exemplify the magis and serve as an inspiration to the student body.”

As per the Miami Herald, each category has one winner and three honorable mentions from each county. Miami-Dade had 406 nominees from 65 schools and Broward had 213 nominees from 34 schools. The winners take home a $2,000 scholarship, an AAdvantage 25,000-mile travel certificate, and an American Airlines medallion. Honorable mentions receive a $500 scholarship and an engraved plaque.