By Tracey Taylor - St. Brendan HS
Photographer: COURTESY TRACEY TAYLOR From left: Mayor of Miami Dade County, Carlos A. Gimenez; St. Brendan High School sophomore, Caterina Villavicencio; her mother, Ana Maria Perez; Miami Dade County Commission Chairwoman, Rebeca Sosa; and Miami Dade County Commissioner, Jose Diaz.
MIAMI | St. Brendan High School sophomore Caterina
Villavicencio was the recipient of the Mayor’s Shining Scholars’ Unstoppable Scholar Award, which recognizes students who have displayed
extraordinary perseverance in moving forward in their academic career. She was
November’s winner for district 10 Commissioner Javier Souto and she was
recognized by Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez Nov. 5.
Caterina’s empathetic and compassionate nature shine through. In 2010, following in her mom’s teaching footsteps, she founded a Book Bag Drive. Every summer she seeks help from friends and family to purchase school supplies for those less fortunate.
“My mom used to work at a school where students would come to school every day without book bags and supplies and I knew I wanted to help them so they could succeed,” she explained.
Last year her donation surpassed 100 book bags filled with supplies. She has also sponsored a toy drive in Homestead and collected 130 gifts to distribute at various locations throughout the community.
Caterina was recently accepted into the Law and Global Business Academy at her school. The academy will offer her not only the opportunity to participate in her area of interest, judicial system, by interning with attorneys or judges but also help her build her business structure into her community service efforts. This coming summer she will intern at a law office to gain valuable knowledge and real world experience.
