Excelencia Latina: Introducing NAGC’s New Student Award

By Andres Melendez

Every parent hopes that their child will achieve excellence, whether that comes in the form of money, career, family, love, and so on. As the parent of a gifted child, I know that wherever the wind blows my daughter Kris, excellence will follow. This inspires me everyday and is why I decided to get involved in gifted education to begin with. It was quickly revealed to me that gifted students’ excellence was not adequately celebrated, especially in minority communities, which deeply saddened me as a proud Latino parent and has pushed me to make this unfortunate reality change for the better of our children.

The idea to highlight the excellencies of Latinx students began at the 2018 National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Annual Convention in Minneapolis, MN. This was the first NAGC convention that Kris and I attended, so we were both pretty anxious and overwhelmed by the scale and environment. Kris and I were running our state affiliate’s (NMAG/SCNMAG) booth when I learned that NAGC has often given student awards throughout its history. On the second day of the convention, our booth was approached by a gentleman who kindly introduced himself and thanked us for supporting gifted education. These were his parting words: “If there is any way that I can help you, please let me know.” I tested these words the following January when I reached out to him with questions about creating or supporting an award to uplift Latinx students. This is how we met Dr. Jonathan Plucker.

Over the next several years, I worked with Jonathan to propose this award. He thought it was a great step for NAGC, especially following closely behind the Latina/o Task Force created during his term as NAGC president. Many NAGC members and staff have provided helpful guidance and assistance along the way, most notably Dr. Shelagh Gallagher, who led the charge to make the award a reality. With the assistance of the NAGC Awards Committee and the Rompiendo Barreras SIG, the award will be launched on May 1, 2024.

Excelencia Latina is intended to open opportunities and celebrate Latinx gifted students first and foremost. This award recognizes those gifted students who strive for excellence in all aspects of their life and in what they are most passionate about. It’s hoped that every parent of a Latinx gifted child will encourage them to apply so we can recognize as many extraordinary children as possible. Finally, this award will shed light on the plethora of issues and barriers that our gifted Latinx students experience while navigating our education system. Although some are able to overcome these barriers, this is tragically not the case for many. Every gifted child should have ample opportunity to exhibit excellence with as few hoops to jump through as possible, especially our Latinx youth.

After a 5-year journey, my wife Christina, daughter Kris, and myself are grateful that this award is finally coming to life. We are counting down the days to celebrate our first group of students to be named Excelencia Latina Scholars this upcoming November in Seattle at the annual NAGC conference.

How to Apply

Parents of students should complete the application for Excelencia Latina scholarships which are open from May 1 to June 30, 2024 at 11:59pm. Parents of applicants must submit an online application form, a letter of recommendation from a teacher or counselor, and include a personal statement from the student describing their achievements and goals.

Support Excelencia Latina

• Donate: Make a donation to the Excelencia Latina Fund to support the inaugural class of scholars and ensure the longevity of the program for years to come.

• Volunteer: Serve as a scholarship application reviewer. NAGC is offering the scholarship application in both English and Spanish – volunteers who are native Spanish speakers or who have a high level of Spanish proficiency are especially needed.