Mei also has aspirations of being a diabetes researcher and has worked on preclinical trials.

This young woman also has an artistic flair. The science wing at her school has painted scenes of the coral reef system and the Everglades thanks, in part, to her efforts.

She has also been named the Most Valuable Player on her badminton team.

Mei is eighth in her class of 860 and has a 6.28 (weighted) GPA. *Honorable Mentions: Eryca Schiffman, Michael Krop; Jon Ingraham, Carol City; Scott Elfenbein, Killian.

ATHLETICS

TAYLOR HARLAN

MIAMI COUNTRY DAY

Taylor is one of the state's top runners and a leading scorer in soccer with 170 goals in three years. She's had plenty of practice. She began kicking the ball around at age 4.

But when she learned some children couldn't pay for a pair of cleats, she set up a donation box.

She cleaned up the worn shoes and threaded new laces through them. Every time she collected 100, the Police Athletic League distributed them to needy children. Thanks to her "Kleats 4 Kids" effort, 400 children have received refurbished athletic shoes.

She was named MVP of her track team three years straight and MVP of her soccer team each of the last four years. She is also a five-time All-Dade County first-team player.

Taylor ranks in the top 25 percent of her graduating class with a 3.6 GPA.

* Honorable Mentions: Adrienne Horn, Northwest Christian; Nayia Moysidis, Killian; Bret Voith, Gulliver Prep.

SCIENCE

KYLE AMBER

PALMETTO

When Kyle's older brother was diagnosed with leukemia, Jackson Memorial Hospital didn't have a bone marrow transplant unit.

So Kyle, then age 5, came up with a plan: He'd raise the money to build one himself.

He started out with bake and sticker sales. A decade later, he was running Kids That Care, a nonprofit organization that has raised more than $150,000 to help critically ill children.

Kyle is team captain of the National Science Bowl team, president of the Science National Honor Society and secretary of the Physics Club/Jets.

His wide range of interests also includes playing the sitar.

Kyle is ranked fifth out of a class of 860 and has a 6.7 (weighted) GPA. But most important, his brother is a cancer survivor.

*Honorable Mentions: Iris Yi Zhang, Coral Reef; Nina Wong, Michael Krop; Nia Brisbane, Felix Varela.

MATHEMATICS

BRYAN LANDMAN

MICHAEL KROP

Bryan's passion for numbers has helped him achieve numerous awards. He was named a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search and the Siemens Science Competition.

But Bryan's interest in numbers goes beyond academics. He's also aware of Florida's startling statistics in death rates by drowning.

That's why he participates in the Learn to Swim program, where he's taught several children, including one autistic girl. Her case was challenging because he had to move her arms in a circular motion for her to understand the concept.

He earned perfect scores on the SAT Reasoning-Math, ACT Math, SAT Math Level 2 and PSAT Math tests. He is bound for Massachusetts Institute of Technology and ranks first in his class of 841 with a 6.8 (weighted) GPA. *Honorable Mentions: Anide Duval, North Miami Beach; Glory Idelfonso, Miami Jackson; Pamela Aracena, MAST Academy.

SPEECH

CARRINGTON BESTER

CAROL CITY

Carrington has used his life story to help others stay clean and sober.

He has often given speeches in front of packed halls about his mothers former drug addiction and his placement in foster homes. Through the Students Making All the Right Moves (SMART) program, he made motivational speeches to students who were deemed hopeless or had given up because of absent parents or poverty. He also organized seminars on topics ranging from pop culture to college.

As a member of the Africa Sister-School Alliance, Carrington traveled to Rwanda to represent Miami-Dade County Public Schools with School Board member Robert Ingram.

Carrington is ranked 14th out of his class of 550. He has a 4.44 (weighted) GPA.

*Honorable Mentions: Nachombe Pierre, Miami Central; Jesula Charles, Miami Senior; Katherine Concepcion, Coral Park.

VOCATIONAL - TECHNICAL

DANIELLE DORFMAN

GULLIVER PREP

Wanting to share her love of running, Danielle launched a nonprofit organization that collects and donates athletic shoes.

Known as Running Friends Forever, this organization has sent 500 pairs of gently worn shoes to the cross country team at Little River Elementary, as well as internationally to Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil and the Caribbean.

She also initiated a chapter of the Future Society of Women Engineers at her school to dispel the myth that engineering is a "man's career."

She and classmates are working with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

Danielle's project would alert a caretaker if a person has fallen out of a wheelchair.

She has a 4.95 (weighted) GPA.

*Honorable Mentions: Katrina Sharp, Coral Reef; Bruno Silva, Miami Country Day; Alfred Gonzalez, La Salle.

NEW MEDIA

WEINA SCOTT

MICHAEL KROP

Weina is the co-creator of a podcasting company, which she sold for stock worth $200,000. She has stayed on as the companys CEO with a $40,000 annual salary, spending a few hours each night running the company after shes done with her homework.

The Web service known as switchpod.com gives users space to upload audio and video programs as podcasts.

Frustrated by the lack of information about the college application process, Weina created Switch U, a website that allows students to download videos of college presentations that she videotaped and edited.

Weina created a service project that sent more than 5,000 books and school supplies to a Haitian school.

This Yale University-bound student ranks second in her class of 841 students. She has a 6.63 (weighted) GPA.

* Honorable Mentions: Deivid Rojas, Coral Gables; Husam Wahdan, Coral Reef; Evandro Gomes, Miami Beach.