Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

ORANGEFIELD —Orangefield High School students Gracie Bickham and Santiago Baca earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs.

These programs celebrate hard work in high school and showcase strong academic performance.

The academic honors for rural area, Black, Indigenous and/or Latino students are an opportunity for students to share academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs seeking to recruit diverse talent.

The criteria for eligible students include:

• GPA of 3.5 or higher.
• PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 assessment scores that are within the top 10% of assessment takers in each state for each award program or earned a score of 3 or higher on 2 or more AP Exams in 9th and 10th grade.
• Attend school in a rural area or small town, or identify as African American/Black, Hispanic American/Latino or Indigenous/Native.

“It’s becoming increasingly hard for students to be seen during the college recruitment process. We’re exceptionally proud of the National Recognition Programs for celebrating students who are at times overlooked but have shown their outstanding academic abilities,” said Tarlin Ray, senior vice president of BigFuture® at College Board. “This is a benefit not only for students but also for colleges and universities committed to recruiting diverse and talented students.”