Daniel Lage helps poor patients figure out their healthcare options at a Little Havana clinic, and he has authored a medical-journal article about children's heart disease.

Soon, he'll graduate from Gulliver Prep and head off to Harvard.

Lage and 14 other Miami-Dade high school seniors won The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald 2007 Silver Knight Awards at a ceremony Tuesday night in Miami.

"It's an incredible feeling. I still don't believe it," Lage said backstage after being named the winner in the General Scholarship category.

The son of Cuban immigrants, Lage said he understands the importance of helping others.

"My parents came from nothing, and now their son is a Silver Knight," Lage said. "They always taught me: What you have in your head, no one can take away from you."

Lage collected used textbooks from his peers and sold them online, using the proceeds to pay for books and supplies for an after-school program. He has logged more than 1,000 hours volunteering at the San Juan Bosco Clinic in Little Havana, taking blood pressures and counseling patients.

Lage plans to study biology and someday return to Miami as a physician.

"I'm going to go right back to the people in Little Havana and Miami," he said. "That's my calling."

Lage's accomplishments -- plus his 5.9 weighted GPA -- seem extraordinary for a teenager. But Silver Knights are no ordinary teens.

"It always amazes me to hear about their generous hearts, their desire to give and how they find the time to help others, no matter how jam-packed their schedules are with studies and homework," said Joe Oglesby, editorial page editor of The Miami Herald and Tuesday night's master of ceremonies.

Not able to hear their names called out as the winners were two students from Michael Krop High who missed Tuesday's ceremony because they had a previous obligation: a science competition in Albuquerque, N.M.

New Media winner Weina Scott sent her brother and Mathematics winner Bryan Landman sent his girlfriend to the ceremony as their representatives.

The Knight Concert Hall at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts served as the ceremony's venue for the first time. In keeping with Silver Knight tradition, the event felt like a high school version of the Academy Awards, complete with formal wear, a jazz band and bright lights.

Now in its 49th year, the Silver Knight Awards have honored thousands of students who are standouts in their academics and extracurriculars.

Former winners have gone on to win Oscars, create multibillion-dollar companies, compete in Super Bowls and get elected to office.

Tiffany Agam isn't sure what the future holds for her, but she knows it will involve helping others.

Agam, this year's Art winner and a senior at Ben Lipson Hillel, organized an art auction that raised money for children's chemotherapy treatments and created a photographic collage at her school to raise fellow students' awareness about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Her plans now that she's a Silver Knight?

"I'm writing two books right now, and all the proceeds are going to go to kids who need help," Agam said, nearly out of breath from the evening's excitement.

"I'm really in shock right now. I did not think I'd win. These other kids are all amazing."

Students are nominated by teachers at their schools for the Silver Knight award, then a panel of judges in each category chooses a winner and three honorable mentions.

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