North Miami graduating seniors awarded $3,000 scholarships

Students at North Miami Educational Foundation received $3,000 scholarships during this month’s North Miami city council meeting.

The program aims to recognize graduating seniors or recent graduates in North Miami who have been accepted into a college or university. Each year, students will be considered for additional funding as an undergraduate for up to four years. The 2018 winners include Rodrigue Bichotte, Ydreillina Jean Francois, Edna Pierre, Tashae Austin, Abraham Arróliga, Radjeanny Bouzi, Ashley Gil, Shama Torchon, Krystell Michel, Joshua Delva, Cedrick Joseph, Dieudonne Saint-Georges and Samara Joly.

Scholarship applications are available each year in February and, since 2014, the foundation has awarded more than $150,000 to about 45 students. For information, visit www.northmiamifl.gov.

Hialeah Miami Lakes Technical Magnet School

Ray Parris of Hialeah-Miami Lakes Technical Magnet School recently placed first in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s Model Teacher Challenge — earning $20,000 for himself and $5,000 for resources that support entrepreneurship curriculum at his school.

The inaugural challenge is a national competition that challenges educators to promote student achievement, demonstrate effective classroom management strategies and data-driven decision making, and encourage students to think like entrepreneurs. Parris was recognized during NFTE’s Entrepreneurial Teacher Summit, July 8-12, in Philadelphia.

For information, visit nfte.com.

The School for Advanced Studies

Jazmin Baez, Julian Perez-Doval, Regina Gallardo and David Hernandez of the School for Advanced Studies participated in the Hispanic Scholarship Fund’s 2018 Youth Leadership Institute at Princeton University, July 12-15.

The four-day program is a college empowerment conference for Latino high school juniors and was created to equip students with the tools to apply to the top universities, gain access to scholarship and financial aid opportunities, and to set career and academic success plans.

Gabe Toja, a SAS alumnus and 2018 Miami Herald Silver Knight winner for world languages, also participated in the program as a graduate mentor for the students.

For information or to apply, visit hsf.net/youth-leadership-institute.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Edwin López, an alumnus of Southwest Miami High School, was recently sworn in as the new police chief for Miami-Dade County Public Schools during a ceremony at a school board meeting.

López has worked for Miami-Dade County for more than 20 years as a physical education teacher and a police officer. He is now the first Hispanic to be the department’s chief. The ceremony was officiated by Circuit Court Judge Orlando Prescott and School Board Members Lubby Navarro, Lawrence Feldman, Mari Tere Rojas and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

This story was originally published July 18, 2018 at 2:24 PM.