College Board bestows Inspiration Award on PSJA North High School

PHARR — Adriana Rodriguez is exactly the type of student Pharr-San Juan-Alamo North High School likes to talk about.
Rodriguez, a senior, moved to Pharr from Monterrey, N.L., at age 15 not speaking any English. Now, she is about to graduate with enough Advanced Placement and dual-credit courses under her belt to enroll as a junior in the fall at the University of Texas-Pan American.
“Many people told me it was impossible (to complete high-level courses) because I did not speak the language,” Rodriguez said. “Yesterday, college was a dream. Now it is a reality.”
Rodriguez spoke Friday at a celebratory assembly at PSJA North, 500 E. Nolana Ave., where the College Board named the school one of the three most inspiring secondary schools in the nation.
The College Board, a nonprofit group designed to help students go to college, grants the Inspiration Award to schools based largely on helping underserved students achieve higher education. The honor comes with $25,000.
College Board Senior Vice President Peter Negroni said he was impressed by the enthusiasm during the award ceremony, as pom-poms waved and students frequently jumped to their feet in ovations.
“I had prepared remarks that I’m not going to give because I was inspired by you,” Negroni said, proclaiming PSJA North “the best school in Texas.”
Principal Narciso Garcia called the award a team effort. He said the school has expanded its Advanced Placement program from six to 19 courses in recent years and greatly expanded its dual-credit, early-college and dual-language programs.
More than 60 PSJA North seniors are set to graduate with 30 or more hours of college credit. Other speakers at the gathering included A.J. Rodriguez, a junior who said he had a rough upbringing and, at 17, has a child. He said he was inspired by teachers to become the first in his family to get a diploma.
Negroni said increasing diversity and accessibility in higher education was the College Board’s major consideration. The other 2011 award-winners are Mater Academy in Hialeah Gardens, Fla., and Ebbert L. Furr High School in Houston.
Four other Rio Grande Valley schools have won the award in past years: Hidalgo High School in 2009, Edinburg High School in 2008, Harlingen High School in 2005 and Edinburg North High School in 2004.