While corraling errant shopping carts in the parking lot of a West Little River grocery store, Estanley Baptiste dreams of Harvard. He works the late shift every night but Thursday, helping people unload their groceries and scouring the parking lot for trash. On a recent night, the parking lot empties early, and Estanley is called upon to mop the floors. This, he thinks to himself, should be part of his admissions essay.
He helped defuse the United States' biggest prison uprising, spent a decade restoring an iconic Key West cultural center and is now proposing to create a federal historical park around Miami's Freedom Tower.
Nancy Franks McCue marked a series of firsts before retiring from the North Miami police department in 2000: the first female office, sergeant, lieutenant and commander. But her ''firsts'' started at Hialeah High School, as the school paper's first female Boys' Sports Editor. And in 1962, she became her school's first Silver Knight winner.
Before winning the Silver Knight in foreign languages, Nadeige Laleau, nee Elusma, doubted she would live to see her 18th birthday.
On Aug. 15, 2007, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Peru, leveling swaths of the port cities of Pisco, Ica and Chincha. Hundreds of people were killed, thousands left homeless.
Through his wins and losses, the 1980 Silver Knight for athletics has maintained a sense of humor
The 1988 Silver Knight for general scholarship took a chance and gave a home to poverty-stricken children
The 2000 Silver Knight for social science says he wants to inspire, provoke people
He says he relishes obstacles. The first came at age 6, when he left his native Rio de Janeiro for the United States not knowing a word of English.
The 1970 Silver Knight for citizenship once said ''If we benefit ourselves, we must first benefit others.''
The 1966 Silver Knight for speech and debate has worked as a prosecutor, speechwriter in Washington and ran for president in 1972
The 1968 Silver Knight for foreign language lost most of her hearing at 4, but learned the foreign languages by reading lips
A car accident may have ended Elaine Rinaldi's career as a pianist but she found her second calling -- as a conductor.
The 1973 Silver Knight for science combines his passion for art collecting and winemaking
Lorrie Selby Bennett has won several grants for her classroom in the field of early childhood literacy. She's also taken part in a three-day breast cancer event the past two years. But her proudest achievement is being a wife and mother.
Johnita Due, daughter of civil rights activists John Due and Patricia Stephens Due, has come full circle. A Silver Knight award winner in journalism, she is now making sure the voices of people who often aren't heard get their say.
Paula Rubin is an attorney with the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she works on behalf of people with disabilities. ''There is no amount of money and no corner office with lots of windows that beats out the satisfaction I get doing the work that I do,'' Rubin says.
Jeff Lynn has always had a passion for the arts, and now he is the administrative and development coordinator for the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood. He has also coordinated preview screenings of 100 films in 30 days at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Irvin Lustig is one of the original developers of software used to run major airlines, telecommunications companies, manufacturing, transportation, financial services and the U.S. defense program. In some sense, he says, his software touches you every day -- you just never knew it.
Dan Kamin is a writer and performer who has toured throughout the world with symphony orchestras and as a solo artist. He has written a book on Charlie Chaplin and trained Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp for their movie roles. He also created the comedy scenes for the movies Chaplin and Benny and Joon.
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