Senior Ana Victoria Alfonso is the Coral Gables High Silver Knight nominee in the Vocational/Technical category.
Alfonso’s goal is eventually to work with the United Nations in social and educational development. She already has made a start — this past summer she went to Costa Rica for eight weeks with Amigos de las Americas.
“I stayed with in a community with a family,” she said.
“We worked with a local youth group teaching leadership qualities and putting together activities to strengthen the youth group. Our goal was to empower the youth group.”
She and the others on the trip also did community service work at three of Costa Rica’s national parks.
Overall, the trip was a great experience for her and helped her grow as a person.
“I learned how much I’m capable of,” Alfonso said.
At Gables, Alfonso is a member of the International Baccalaureate Honor Society. IBHS sponsors the Bridge 4 Peace fundraiser where she sells food donated by her mom’s restaurant, the Green Gables Café.
“All the profits go to our sister school that we are supporting,” she said.
Her community service includes starting a club to work with teens who attend Schoolhouse Preparatory, a high school for high functioning teens with learning differences.
“We started it so we could involve these kids in doing community service,” she said.
They partnered with Dr. Gigi’s Raise Me Up Foundation and got involved in events such as Dr. Gigi’s Easter Egg Hunt and the A Night at the Museum gala.
“We’re trying to come up with something this season — either another Easter egg hunt or a field day,” Alfonso said.
Next year, Alfonso will attend Occidental College in Los Angeles — one of its most famous alumni is President Barack Obama.
“It’s small; it’s very global. It has a percentage of international kids,” she said. “It’s a very globally aware school and internationally involved. They have a program that’s unique, an internship with the United Nations.”
— Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
