College and High School Students Honored at Annual Hispanic Heritage Achievement Awards Ceremony

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: October 22, 2008

CONTACT: Lisa Saunders

(845) 574 - 4244

SUNY Rockland Community College and High School Students Honored
at Annual Hispanic Heritage Achievement Awards Ceremony

Suffern, NY - The following SUNY Rockland Community College  and high school students were honored at the annual Hispanic Heritage Achievement Awards ceremony on October 20:

RCC STUDENT HONOREES

Yaquelin Reyes, Spring Valley--Academic Achievement - 3.95 GPA.  Reyes is a native of the Dominican Republic and spent several years in the United States Army Reserve.  Her goal is to earn an MBA and work in Human Resources.

Mario Cardoza, Valley Cottage--Artistic Talent - 3.73 GPA.  He is a native of El Salvador and is described as "skilled, articulate, intelligent and, above all, courageous."”

Enior Jiménez, Garnerville--Leadership Activities - 4.00 GPA, MTS Honors student.  Jiménez participated in a 5-week interactive science research practicum at Binghamton University in the summer.  In addition to full-time studies, he is also Senior Pastor at his church in Spring Valley.

María Belén Soraire, West Nyack--Leadership Activities - 3.73 GPA, MTS Honors student. She was born in Argentina and hopes to become a Pediatric Nurse. 

Martha Mena, Spring Valley--Personal Accomplishments - 3.4 GPA.  She is a native of Honduras and plans to become an immigration lawyer.  She also serves as President of RCC’s LUNA Club and volunteers at the Rockland Family Shelter and the Haverstraw Relief Task Force.

Marlén Benítez, Highland Falls--Personal Accomplishments - 3.59 GPA.  She is a teacher education major from the Dominican Republic. As a young girl, she says there were times when her family had no electricity so she had to rise early to finish her school work in the light of day.  She plans to become a bi-lingual teacher.

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT HONOREES

Each of the following has a minimum average of 92 and has accomplishments in one or more of the following categories:  community service, artistic talent, athletic achievement, leadership activities and/or personal accomplishments:

Kathy Guardamino - Ramapo High School

Wendell Carmona - Spring Valley High School

Alexandra Gonzalez - Suffern High School

Margaret Iliev - North Rockland High School

Ricardo Aguirre, Counsel to the Secretary of State, was the keynote speaker.

For more information about the event, contact Josephine Tarsia, Professor, Foreign Languages, at 845-574-4170.

###

Rockland Community College, a unit of the State University of New York, is located 25 miles northwest of NYC. The majority of its students transfer to four-year colleges, and many find immediate employment upon earning their associate's degree or certificate. The College also offers others, from preschoolers to senior citizens, the opportunity to simply learn something new. Quality education...at a price you can afford.