Selected for their exemplary commitment to their community, 15 seniors were nominated for the Miami Herald’s Silver Knight community service recognition program. These nominees are selected by school administrators in their categories based on their academic record, commitment to their community through a volunteer service project and overall service to the school. Dozens of South Florida High schools submit candidates.
The Herald will announce winners at a May 14 ceremony.
Nominees and their projects:
Art: Saanvi Kaul
Over the past seven years, Kaul has served Sudha Society, an organization in Gurgaon, India, that provides education to underprivileged children who had no access to formal schooling. Since 2016, she volunteered annually during summer trips to India, working directly with students who attend this program despite facing significant obstacles. What began as an “under the tree” school run by retirees has transformed into a structured educational program with a proper building serving over 150 students eager to build themselves a better future. She used her personal skills and co-ran Color-Me-Henna, a non-profit where Kaul serves as vice president and lead artist. Along with fundraising through friends and family, Kaul earned $5,000 for the society by providing henna services at weddings, cultural festivals and community events. These funds purchased essential supplies such as books and stationary and contributed to the teacher’s salaries, ensuring commitment and directly supporting the students’ educational advancement.
Athletics: Kellen Crichton
Goals for Growth began when Crichton and her friend bonded over their shared home country of Jamaica. After tearing her ACL twice, sidelining her for two years, Crichton lost that sports community. That led her to recognize how important it is for kids to feel backed, encouraged, believed in and most importantly have access to sports. This inspired Goals for Growth, an initiative focused on bringing sports equipment and field-day experiences to foster homes in Jamaica and eventually the entire Caribbean, so children can live with the feeling of having a team behind them. To fund the project, she organized car washes, ran Double Good popcorn fundraisers and sold homemade mango ice cream, ultimately raising over $3,000. With these funds, Goals for Growth donated a trampoline, two new goal posts, a swing set, 10 new soccer balls and organized a full field day for the children at the SOS Children’s Home in Stony Hill, Jamaica, a small suburb outside the capital of Kingston. Crichton also secured sponsorships from companies like Big Jo and Best Dressed Chicken and coordinated with multiple partners.
Business: Ava Weissman
As the founder of pickleball4apurpose.com, a now international nonprofit, Weissman bridged the gap between generations and combated senior loneliness. Her nonprofit, which she founded as a sophomore, fosters connections between seniors and teens through pickleball, raising funds for senior and youth groups. She organized tournaments with over 300 participants, raised more than $50,000, enlisted over 35 sponsors, including AARP Florida and the Florida Panthers, and oversaw over 200 teenage volunteers. She established 15 chapters in 11 states, including Florida, New York and Virginia, along with Puerto Rico, Bolivia and the United Kingdom. There have been tournaments in seven states and there are more than 6,000 online users across 31 countries. She also created a chapter handbook for sustainability of the organization.
Digital & Interactive Media: Aaron Pinto
Inspired by his nonprofit Bytes for Better Lives (BBL), which aims to bridge the digital divide, Pinto programmed an app “Pebl” to reach even more people. BBL began as a way to help those most heavily affected by technology: young kids and seniors. The events ranged from donating more than 1,000 board games to children’s homes to workshops at orphanages and senior homes. Along with a team of six officers, they have delivered lectures at senior homes like Palomino Gardens and at orphanages like His House Children’s Home, reaching over 1,600 people. Recently, they began “tech-help” sessions where they provide one-on-one sessions with seniors assisting with technology-related questions. That’s what inspired Pinto to create Pebl – it helps seniors with technology questions and is replete with accessibility features to make use easy and fun.
Drama: Noah Abel
Abel worked since seventh grade as a volunteer for Kids Helping KID, a nonprofit organization that supports foster children across South Florida. He organized donation drives, ran hands-on activities with the foster kids and raised money through major key events. Through his work with Kids Helping KID, Abel held many leadership positions such as vice president, president and collections and drives chair.
English & Literature: Piya Sarkarati
Founder and leader of Building Blocks, a service-based club working with neurodivergent students through hands-on STEM education, Sarkarati’s main goal is to introduce the students to STEM fields through Legos, coding and robotics. Club members tailor their programs to meet the students’ specific needs and ages. It began as an online initiative during the pandemic and expanded into a countywide program. Sarkarati also helped train volunteers in adaptive teaching strategies to ensure an inclusive and supportive learning environment. Through her efforts, she partnered with multiple organizations, including YMCA Adaptive Programs, ARC Broward, Lighthouse of Broward and Superschool. Building Blocks catalogued more than 3,000 collective service hours with a volunteer team of over 100 members. The organization also worked with more than 150 neurodivergent children, giving them access to STEM experiences often unavailable to them and helping students build confidence and explore STEM fields.
General Scholarship: Anagha Iyer
Iyer founded and led the Broward Sierra Group’s Junior Team, a youth-led environmental coalition working to advance clean energy, native biodiversity, civic engagement and climate education across Broward County. As chair, Iyer helped guide the team to pass the first-ever 100% clean energy resolution in Broward County Public Schools, which will shape sustainability efforts in one of the country’s largest school districts. With her team, she raised over $10,700 to fund youth-driven environmental initiatives, from workshops to community programs. One of her proudest projects has been distributing over 100,000 biodiverse native seeds through her Seed Library Initiative, which now have five locations. It received a $5,000 grant from Broward County and Bloomberg Philanthropies and was later featured in multiple news outlets. She managed the development of a community garden that now serves more than 250 regular users, organized over 10 presentations at Broward City Commission meetings and led lobbying trips to Tallahassee. She also coordinated a door-to-door petition campaign, collecting 2,000 signatures for the Right to Clean Water amendment. To strengthen environmental literacy, Iyer hosts monthly workshops with local leaders and tables at community events, reaching more than 5,000 residents. Working directly with the Broward School Board chair, she helped prevent the spread of climate denial videos in schools and ensure accurate climate education. To engage students creatively, Iyer launched a Plastic Waste Art Contest for high schoolers and collaborated with the City of Miramar on composting and plastic-free pilot programs.
Journalism: Nina Goncalves Vieira
When Vieira co-founded Hearts 4 Humanity, her goal was simple: to support individuals and families experiencing homelessness and food insecurity in Broward County. The project focused on partnering with local organizations such as Broward Partnership, Second Chance Society and Covenant House Florida to address their most urgent needs. She organized a hope-letter drive through school for those facing challenges of re-entering the workforce. Vieira also helped run clothing drives and food drives, raised over $500 with GoFundMe for Feeding South Florida and The Caring Place and distributed over 5,000 essential items, including hygiene products, clothing, blankets and food to homeless shelters. She also coordinated meal services and food distributions at Second Chance Society, allowing volunteers to connect directly with the people they served and understand their realities beyond the statistics. Vieira noticed that even among volunteers eager to help, many still held preconceived notions about the people they were serving. That disconnect, between compassion and misconception, pushed her toward the part of the project that became her focus, storytelling. She began profiling homeless youth within the nonprofit’s internal communication, sharing their stories and publishing articles explaining the structural roots of homelessness, rising rent, underfunded programs and the cycle of poverty. She has written articles focused on debunking misconceptions about homelessness and is working with shelters and other programs to share the stories of homeless individuals and workers at shelters, to highlight the unfiltered reality of her neighbors.
Mathematics: Kaitlyn Lee
Lee’s major service contribution has been teaching mathematics and creating instructional resources for both her school community and students across the state. Beginning freshman year, she started writing original assessments for her classes to help peers prepare for advanced coursework and competitions. Since sophomore year, Lee taught multiple mathematics classes of up to 30 students, focusing on building problem-solving skills and confidence. As a junior, she then expanded this work throughout Florida by serving on the Mu Alpha Theta state board, where she developed and published competition-level tests and study guides on the organization’s website. These materials reached more than 250 schools and approximately 5,000 students, providing equitable access to high-quality resources and strengthening mathematics preparation for students both locally and across the state.
Music and Dance: Jayden Lang
Through Imagina Children’s Foundation, Lang worked to expand STEM and music education access for underprivileged children in León, Mexico. On the operations side, he dug into the logistics of running events. He used his math and problem-solving skills to map out booth arrangements to figure out which configurations would maximize space utilization and vendor visibility. Lang ran through different profit-sharing calculations with food-truck vendors, testing scenarios to see which methods would optimize revenue while maintaining vendor participation. Lang also used math to analyze the best way to distribute funds for Imagina’s programs. He also used his music skills for Imagina’s orchestra program. As the president of Orange Chamber (OC) Apex, an eight person ensemble, he invited them and other piano friends to play along with the students coming from León, Mexico, and to perform at various fundraising events. He also proposed and is working with Lulis, Imagina’s president, to start an AI education program for León’s children. Lang has brought 10 friends to volunteer with the foundation, with some now aspiring to become Junior Ambassadors in hopes that the work continues long after Lang goes to college. Lang hopes that more kids in León experience what those orchestra students felt when they stepped onto that stage in Florida.
Science: Camila Galicia
Galicia worked to create Saving Our Sisterhood (S.O.S), a nonprofit that empowers and supports women in their fight against Breast Cancer by providing comprehensive access to medical services, education and emotional support. S.O.S envisions a world where every woman, regardless of geography, income, age or circumstance, has access to life-saving breast cancer screening, care and vital resources needed to thrive. SOS has created a community of sisterhood where early detection through mobile mammogram services is accessible for all and where every woman facing a diagnosis feels seen, supported and surrounded by compassion. Through education and access, Galicia focused S.O.S to be committed to creating a future where women will receive unwavering support to combat breast cancer.
Social Science: Samuel Danzig
Danzig started his nonprofit, WishConnect, after recognizing the barriers that unsheltered individuals face when trying to access basic resources such as identification, food, clothing, health insurance and housing. To address these challenges, he created a multiplatform initiative that combines education, outreach and direct service. He produced videos that guide people through essential processes like obtaining IDs and applying for healthcare. Danzig volunteered at meal centers where many unsheltered individuals congregate, helping them access the videos for guidance. Those people then share the information with others. He also built a hub to connect volunteers with opportunities, advertise events and share ways the public can contribute to supporting unsheltered neighbors. With social media, he promotes upcoming events, raises awareness and engages the community in ongoing service efforts. Through these efforts, Danzig helped 10 homeless individuals secure housing, collaborated with two local colleges and multiple high schools to host drives and sorting days to deliver food, clothing, electronics and household items. He collaborated with a local church to host nine weeks of summer meals that were sponsored by Chick-fil-A after he talked to the manager. Through collaboration with local organizations, friends and strangers, he raised 300,000 goods overall, including clothes, meals, electronic devices, hygiene products, household appliances, diapers, shoes and filled backpacks.
Speech: Jade Capella
Capella has managed Operation Gratitude Letter-Writing since her sophomore year. She was the only under-18 leader in Operation Gratitude and became a youth sector leader and creator. Even though only adults were accepted on the board, Capella proved she wanted to be on the team, and eventually they agreed to work with her. She scheduled multiple meetings with the outreach coordinators, Emily Weekley and Vicki Johnson, and after her experience with them, they started a youth program. Now she helps them open the door for more youth leaders and orchestrate a nationwide youth program. She recruited people from Heritage and her church, community and piano studio to write 5,000 letters and 500 drawings to be sent to active-duty service members, deployed troops and veterans to bolster their spirits. These letters are a simple way they can keep their spirits up. She also conducted qualitative research through interviews on the many challenges that veterans and active-duty service members must overcome. She identified that isolation and feeling like they are not heard when they come out of service are primary challenges faced by the veterans. She wrote an article on the struggles of five female veterans, highlighting their desire for the public to understand that they carry a significant amount of trauma that goes unnoticed once they take off the uniform.
Vocational-Technical: Anneliese Hsiao
As a Girl Scout of 13 years, Hsiao was taught to act on issues that are important to her, fulfilling her scout duty to “make the world a better place.” In her freshman year, she completed research to identify inexpensive bufo toad toxin treatments for dogs because of her passion for animal welfare. In doing this, Hsiao discovered that up to 30% of pet deaths in South Florida are preventable. Determined to take action, she focused her Girl Scout Gold Award Project on educating pet owners about the unique dangers in South Florida. Hsiao contributed more than 180 hours over the span of three years to this project. She wrote and published a book in collaboration with the local Humane Society (HSBC), then met with its surgical clinic’s veterinarian to review her book for accuracy, and arranged for the HSBC to distribute a copy with each adoption (up to 6,000 per year). She taught 10 in-person educational workshops to young Girl Scouts in her service unit and to Heritage elementary students, and she placed a copy of the book in the school’s library. To further establish sustainability, she created @petsafety.southfl Instagram, where she publicizes a free digital download of her book and shares timely pet safety reminders for holidays and seasons. Hsiao also partnered with local businesses such as pet-friendly hotels, pet stores and veterinary hospitals to display flyers with QR code links to her Instagram and digital book. Her project has impacted over 6,000 people, with 99% of them reporting they learned something new or felt more prepared to protect their pets.
World Languages: Cecilia Gonzalez-Jimenez
Jimenez founded Coastal Conservators, a youth-led environmental education and service organization dedicated to making environmental action accessible. Her beach cleanups welcome participants of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, while her educational workshops teach communities about the local impacts of marine debris and plastic pollution. To expand the organization’s reach, her group partners with nonprofits like VolunteerCleanup.org and Miami Waterkeeper, enabling larger initiatives, advocacy efforts and policy engagement for clean water policy efforts. They have participated in International Coastal Cleanup Day and other large-scale events such as the Cupid Splash: Miami, which raised $42,000 for Biscayne Bay recovery. What began as small, local cleanups has grown into regional programs appearing in local media, amplifying awareness, volunteer participation and environmental advocacy across South Florida. They also collaborated with the CLEO Institute on “Icarus: Our Present, Icarus’ Future” during Miami Art Week, using public art to illuminate the human impact of climate change. They partnered with the national tour of Dear Everything, a musical uprising for the Earth.
