Congratulations to Carver senior Gustavo Garcia Perez who has received the Princeton Prize in Race Relations in Alabama award. He will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship, and he has the opportunity to take part in a Symposium on Race in Washington, D.C. this Spring.
The Princeton Prize in Relations recognized Gustavo for the body of work he has accomplished during high school to advance racial equity and understanding both at school and in his community. In addition to earning the distinction of the first Hispanic Drum Major at Carver High in 2021, he raised just under $65,000 for blood cancer research during the 2021 Lymphoma and Leukemia Society Student of the Year Program.
This same year he helped make recycling more accessible to his peers by serving as a leader on the school's Altec Innovation Challenge Team and YouthServe School Changemakers Council that won $10,000 to launch the school's recycling program.
Gustavo has been a member of Carver's social justice club, Heritage Panel, since 9th grade. Now President in his senior year, he has led many student panels and activities centered around inclusion and celebrating diversity. In addition to his responsibilities in band and Heritage Panel, he serves as President of Carver's National Honor Society, and he is a leader on the Ram's boys soccer team. Gustavo is an alum of the Youth Leadership Forum and the Anytown Alabama Leadership Summit. A scholar in Carver's Academy of Engineering, he will graduate with the Seal of Biliteracy in English and Spanish this June. He plans to attend Miles College in the fall and major in Computer Information Sciences.