Academic Awards | East Texas Review

Pine Tree ISD recognizes College Board National Recognition Program recipients

The College Board's National Recognition Program recognizes over 90,000 high-performing students to help them advance into the future.

Longview, TX – Pine Tree High School students received academic awards from the College Board National Recognition Program. The programs recognize the hard work of thousands of high school students across the country and help them showcase their outstanding academic achievements.

For the first time, the academic awards recognize first-generation students in addition to rural, small-town, Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic/Latino students. The program opens college access to more students as many institutions use the awards in their recruitment efforts. Six Pine Tree High School students received academic awards from the @CollegeBoard National Recognition Program.

Jennifer Chen, First Generation

Diamonique Francis, African American, first generation

Brandon Hayes, Indigenous

Ivan Legarda, Hispanic (pictured above)

Stanford O'Quinn, African American, first generation (pictured below)

Matthew Sprague, First Generation

To qualify, eligible students must meet the following criteria:

• Achieve a GPA of B+ (equivalent to at least 3.3 or 87%–89%) or higher.
• PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 exam scores that rank in the top 10% of test takers in each state for each honors program, or have achieved a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP exams by the end of 10th grade.
• Attend a school in a rural area or small town, or identify as African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous/Native American, or one of the first in your family to attend college.

The program expanded this year to include a fifth award. Over 35,000 students across the country received the first National First-Generation Recognition Program Award.

Each year, students can check their eligibility on BigFuture® during their second or third year of college. At the beginning of the next school year, students receive their awards so their communities can celebrate them and colleges can recruit them when they return to school for their third or fourth year. Thousands of nonprofit colleges and organizations that use the College Board's Student Search Service™ can contact award winners during the recruitment process to tell them more about their postsecondary programs.

“This year, the National Recognition Programs are recognizing more students than ever before, ensuring that the outstanding academic abilities of more than 90,000 deserving students are not overlooked as they plan for the future,” said Amy Reitz, senior vice president of BigFuture at the College Board. “We are proud to support colleges and universities that are committed to advancing the education of all students, and our program provides them with a way to strengthen their recruitment efforts for students who will succeed on their campuses.”