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.

David Heffernan was goofing around with some buddies in the audience during the presentation of the Silver Knight award for athletics in 1980. The Columbus High senior didn't think he had a chance to win.

Colleen Grady can pinpoint the moment her life changed. It was September 2000. Grady, an attorney for an international law firm, was vacationing with a friend in Cambodia.

Every morning before heading off to work, Yazmany Arboleda glances at a small white notecard he keeps in his sock drawer. Scribbled down is a note he wrote to himself two years ago, when he first moved to New York: I want to be the most influential artist of the 21st Century.

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.

When Gary Eisenberg won a Silver Knight Award for Citizenship ''many moons ago,'' he said it was as if time stopped. There, presenting the awards at the 1970 ceremony, was astronaut Alan L. Bean, fresh off the 1969 Apollo 12 space mission. Eisenberg was awestruck, thinking about how special the awards must be if Bean was there to recognize the winners.

Long before he argued in front of the Supreme Court or wrote speeches for the vice president or went to Harvard (magna cum laude, national debating champion) and Harvard Law (cum laude, Law Review), and years before he won the 1966 Silver Knight Award for speech and debate, Joel Perwin could not get a word in edgewise at dinner.

Victoria Rivero Elliott spent her early childhood in Cuba speaking Spanish, started learning English at age 12, began studying French in eighth grade and by high school graduation had added German and Mandarin Chinese to her repertoire.

Music was Elaine Rinaldi's life from the first flip of her wrist. At age 7 she was tapping out Chopin melodies on a Japanese Kawai Baby Grand in her parents' Westchester living room. By 16, she had made her professional debut as a concert pianist with the Fort Lauderdale Chamber Symphony.

As an art collector, Dennis Scholl searches for cutting edge contemporary pieces from lesser known artists. He describes the works as "art made last Tuesday.''

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.