By Teresa Martinez - Belen Jesuit Preparatory School
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Belen Jesuit Prep senior Andres Dones receives the 2018 Youth Virtues, Valor and Vision Award during the Ignatian Week Mass at the Miami high school. The award was presented by Heather Gossart, third from left, of the National Catholic Education Association. Also in the photo, from left: Belen Principal Jose Roca, Andres' father, Jorge Dones, his grandmother, and Belen's president, Jesuit Father Guillermo Garcia-Tuñon.
MIAMI | Belen Jesuit senior Andres Dones has received the 2018 Youth Virtues, Valor and Vision Award from the National Catholic Education Association for selfless service, determination, innovation and ideals that are changing the world.
Andres was chosen from more than 1.9 million Catholic school students across the country. He was presented with the prestigious NCEA Medal of Honor and Certificate at Belen Jesuit March 12, during the high school's Ignatian Week.
“This young man by his work, by his vision, by his faith and his ability to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate has become an agent of change in the world around him,” said Heather Gossart of the NCEA. “We are so very proud of this young man and his achievements. We congratulate his family, church, school and his teachers for supporting and enabling his vision and ambition for doing good.”
Spurred by his little brother Alejandro’s pain and his own longtime cinematic interest, Andres created a film entitled "Project SHIELD: Siblings Help Inform and Educate Everyone About Living with Disabilities." Alejandro, 14, has hemophilia and other physical and learning disabilities, and was often ignored and excluded by his peers.
After three years of planning and labor, the film - his first - premiered with a splash, winning a 2017 Suncoast Student Production Award for Long Form Nonfiction from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The film features Andres and Alejandro as well as three other youths and their siblings with conditions ranging from Down syndrome to cerebral palsy. The interviewees express profound family love and discuss common themes such as how their siblings want to be treated normally and have friends just like everyone else.
“As an educator for over 30 years, I have seen many excellent students and Andres is no exception,” said Jose E. Roca, Belen principal. “Andres has proven to be an exceptionally generous and caring individual. He has performed community service every year at Belen, and believes strongly in this endeavor. His most profound work has been done through the production of his film. Using this medium, Andres has been able to communicate to his peers at school and the community the importance of reaching out to those who may have some kind of handicap. Through his personal story and the stories of three other families, he has influenced the way we should all interact with those who may be handicapped. These experiences have strengthened Andres’s commitment to social justice.”
Dones has presented his film at Belen Jesuit, St. Louis Covenant School, Pinecrest; Blessed Trinity School, Miami Springs; St. Thomas the Apostle School, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, and Christopher Columbus High School, Miami; and Palmetto Middle School.
The film is available on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njZJUNhxCTA
