Special to the Times-Free Press
Latino Youth Recognition Day honoree Laila Rojas, from the Umana Middle School in East Boston, highfives Red Sox mascot Tessie during the celebration.
On Monday, June 30, Fenway Park was filled with cheers that went beyond baseball, as the historic stadium celebrated Latino Youth Recognition Day, an event that has honored top-achieving Latino middle school students from East Boston and Chelsea Public Schools for the past 30 years. An event hosted by El Mundo Boston in partnership with the Boston Red Sox, and proudly sponsored by NeighborHealth, the evening spotlighted academic excellence with a heartwarming pre-game ceremony before the Red Sox took on the Cincinnati Reds.
Students from the Umana and Excel Academy in East Boston, and the Excel Academy, Browne Middle School, Clark Avenue School, and Eugene Wright Middle School in Chelsea were recognized on the field as academic “all-stars,” hand-selected by their teachers for outstanding performance in the classroom. The honorees were presented with certificates of achievement during a special on-field celebration featuring several Red Sox players, including Romy Gonzalez, Brennan Bernardino, and Liam Hendriks.
The student honorees include:
Umana Academy,
East Boston
Jose Martinez Portillo, 6th grade
Laila Rojas, 7th grade
Jeuriel Santana Tejeda,
8th grade
Excel Academy, East Boston
Sophia Peraza Rivera, 6th grade
Marcos Tejeda, 7th grade
Brian Urquilla Fajardo,
7th grade
Excel Greenway, East Boston
Andrea J. Mercado Santiago, 7th grade
Cesc N. Moran, 7th grade
Elizabeth V. De Leon, 6th grade
Excel Academy, Chelsea
Adrian Quinonez Hernandez, 6th grade
Breno Colon Miranda, 7th grade
Katsya Ariza Miranda,
8th grade
Browne Middle School,
Chelsea
Carlos Gutierrez Romero,
8th grade
Brayan Montenegro Sanchez, 7th grade
Clark Avenue School,
Chelsea
Diamelys Rodriguez Burgos, 8th grade
Kevin Nolasco Sandoval,
6th grade
Stacey Games Gonzalez,
6th grade
Issac Munoz, 7th grade
Eugene Wright Middle School, Chelsea
Skye Herrera Mendez, 6th grade
Alessandro Lara, 6th grade
Melissa Guerra, 7th grade
Jeheli Perez Garcia, 7th grade
Jamie Hazard, Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer of NeighborHealth, congratulated the top-performing students during the ceremony, emphasizing the broader impact of celebrating youth achievement.
“NeighborHealth believes that investing in the next generation means showing up to celebrate the achievements of our young people, while also creating pathways to opportunity,” said Hazard. “It is a joy to stand alongside these incredible students in such an iconic space. Recognitions like these not only honor their hard work but help nurture pride, confidence, and community.”
Also speaking at the event was El Mundo Boston President and CEO Alberto Vasallo III, who highlighted the long-running tradition of Latino Youth Recognition Days and the importance of affirming Latino students’ success publicly and proudly.
Other sponsors in attendance included Massport, Beth Israel Lahey Health, VitraHealth, Bank of America, Comcast, State Street and International Grains and Cereal. This is the second of three youth recognition day celebrations at Fenway this season.
NeighborHealth, formerly East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, is one of the nation’s largest Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and the largest community-based primary care health system in Massachusetts, serving over 130,000 people and recognized by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as a National Quality Leader. For more than 50 years, NeighborHealth has offered access to comprehensive primary care, specialty care and emergency care for patients in the Commonwealth. In a first-of-its-kind merger in 2020, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center joined forces with the South End Community Health Center and expanded services to patients who live and work in Boston’s South End and Roxbury neighborhoods. NeighborHealth champions innovative care models to actively bridge health equity gaps in our low-income and immigrant communities with services unique from other healthcare providers in our state. For more information, visit www.neighborhealth.com.