This spring, Omar Cancio graduated first in his Coral Gables High School class of more than 700 students. His weighted GPA of 8.174 is the highest in the school's history.

But then Cancio, a Silver Knight honoree, has made history before as the school's first sophomore to be designated a National AP Scholar.

His scholarship -- and his extensive volunteering -- wowed the Hispanic Heritage Foundation that chose him as one of six to receive a national Hispanic Youth Award. He and the other five emerged from 10,000 applicants from across the country.

Now he will be able to go to Harvard.

Cancio, 18, volunteers for the Miami-Dade Teen Court Program, as a ''defense attorney'' who counsels first-time youth offenders and tells youths their rights. He also helps out at the San Juan Bosco clinic in Little Havana, the only free clinic available to uninsured refugees.

And motivated by his uncle's vision loss through diabetes, he volunteers with three South Florida agencies that provide services to the blind and vision impaired, including the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and radio reading services.

Indeed, Cancio was helping his uncle move into his grandmother's house when he got the call that he had been chosen by the foundation.

''I was overwhelmed. I had to sit down for a few minutes,'' Cancio said.

He wants to become an opthamologist so he can continue helping his uncle and others with vision impairment.

''My parents do not have the resources to help me. We would not have been able to afford Harvard,'' Cancio said at the awards ceremony last month. ``There were other universities that offered me financial help. But Harvard was my dream. And now I can realize those dreams.''

He and the other five winners -- from Houston, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C. -- also got a Hewlett-Packard laptop computer and other equipment that will help them continue to succeed.

''I never had my own laptop computer, and it's a very apropos gift,'' Cancio said.

He thanked the Hispanic Heritage Foundation.

''This is important because we know someone can support us and help us reach our goals,'' Cancio said. ``It's a long road. But I will do my best to study hard and be the best I can be.''

Past winners include California's Emanuel Pleitez, a 2001 honoree who is running for Congress, and Miami's Elisa Juarez, also a 2001 winner, and David Bejar, who was honored in 2005.

''It changed my life to see and be empowered by other Latino leaders in the community and being with people who have the vision and passion to give back to the community,'' said Juarez, who lives in South Miami.

Added Bejar of Sunny Isles who wants to be a surgeon: ``It put me in contact with good people who are really active in the community and inspired me to stay connected to my roots.''

The purpose of the program is to identify young Hispanic leaders, said Dr. Joe Greer, chairman of the Foundation's board of directors.

''These kids are just stars, period,'' Greer said. ``Today, we open the doors so that these brilliant young kids who go to the best universities not only succeed, but become mentors and role models for others.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@