Who were 2024 Silver Knight award winners in Miami, Broward?

One student used artificial intelligence to map food insecurity and detect breast cancer.

Another student used her passion for theater to perform for children who were hospitalized.

A third created a nonprofit to support children who have an incarcerated parent.

Others developed community service projects to give meals to those experiencing homelessness; founded a virtual school to help children in Nicaragua and El Salvador learn English; and worked with a legal team that helps immigrants prepare for their asylum interviews.

On Wednesday night, high school students, along their families, friends and teachers, gathered at the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami for the 66th Annual Miami Herald/el Nuevo Silver Knight Awards ceremony. In total, 788 high school seniors from 77 Miami-Dade and 29 Broward public, charter and private schools were nominated by their schools for this year’s awards.

Students were dressed in long gowns, blazers, and sparkly dresses as they ascended the escalator of the James L. Knight Center on Wednesday evening leading up to the award ceremony. Many expressed that they were nervous.

Music from the North Broward Preparatory jazz band played as each winner’s project was described and then their name was called. Winners then took to the stage to accept their award.

Emily Moreno was sitting in her seat thinking that she was not going to win when they started describing an immigrant from Colombia. “I’m feeling super excited and grateful to be here,” said Moreno, who created a website that consolidates resources for immigrants. As an immigrant herself, she realized how difficult it can be to find information on things like scholarships, and wanted to make it easier for others. She will attend the University of Florida where she will study journalism.

Mayah Hamaoui’s sister said she was calculating her chances of winning in the car on the way to the event today, but still, she didn’t expect to win. She ended up with an honorable mention in the art category for her work with a nonprofit that serves the minority community.

Some of the winners were not the first in their families to receive an award. Caillah Molas received an honorable mention for the after school program she created that helps underprivileged girls in STEM. Her older sister was a winner in 2017.

“I’m very ecstatic,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d be called up today.”

The Silver Knight Awards have a long and illustrious history in South Florida with an impressive alumni list.

Previous winners have included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who won the Silver Knight in Science in 1982 representing Palmetto High, and Ted Hendricks, a former University of Miami football standout and NFL Hall of Famer who won a Silver Knight in Athletics for Hialeah High in 1965. The newest U.S. Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, won an Honorable Mention in Drama as a Palmetto High senior in 1988.

All told, nearly 1,500 students have won Silver Knight Awards since the first…