A total of 26 high school students from schools all around “the World’s Borough” were recently honored for their outstanding persistence and academic and extracurricular successes.
At the 2017 Remarkable Graduates Awards at Flushing‘s Citi Field, the NYC Department of Education (DOE) honored 99 recent grads from the five boroughs who showed the most determination and improvement in their 12th year.
One awardee, Jessica Fong Ng, who attended the High School for Construction Trades, Engineering, and Architecture in Richmond Hill, has lived away from her parents in China for years and struggled learning English. In spite of her obstacles, she has excelled: Fong Ng was part of the National Honor Society, Skills USA and music club and even conducted DNA research alongside a professor from York College.
“I’ve been a counselor for six years and I’ve never met a student like her, ever,” said Nindja Castro, Fong Ng’s guidance counselor. “Because her parents are in China, Jessica learned to take initiative for her own education. She really struggled with English when she started here but has worked so hard over the years, and it has been amazing to see her grow and succeed.”
All students at the July 17 event were honored with the Remarkable Achievement Recognition of Excellence Award and will go on to pursue post-secondary education. Honorees were nominated by teachers, guidance counselors, principals and other school staff members.
Queens students from the following schools were honored as Remarkable Grads:
Queens Collegiate High School; P.S. 811 at Queens High School for Teaching; Queens Metropolitan High School; Pan American International High School; Middle College High School at LaGuardia Community College; High School for Law Enforcement and Public Safety; Long Island City High School; High School for Construction Trades, Engineering, and Architecture; Robert F. Wagner Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology; Hillside Arts and Letters Academy; Bard High School Early College, Queens; Voyages Preparatory High School, South Queens; Veritas Academy; Baccalaureate School for Global Education; Benjamin N. Cardozo High School; Hillcrest High School; Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School; Channel View School for Research; The International High School for Health Sciences; High School for Arts and Business; Excelsior Preparatory High School.
“The students receiving these awards bring stories of resilience, passion, and hope from across all five boroughs, and it is an honor to celebrate them and their families,” Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said. “They are a testament to the power of public education, and to the potential of all our New York City public school students.”
