Silver Knight Award

Scholarship Sponsored by Miami Herald

The Silver Knight Awards, hosted by The Miami Herald, is a prestigious student recognition program in the United States. The awards aim to honor exceptional students who have not only excelled academically but have also selflessly used their unique skills and knowledge to make significant contributions to their schools and communities. The Silver Knight Awards were established in 1959 by John S. Knight, a former publisher of The Miami Herald, the founder and editor emeritus of Knight-Ridder Newspapers, and a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1968.

The awards are open to high school seniors in public, private, and parochial schools in Miami-Dade and Broward counties who have a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.2. Students can be nominated in 15 different categories, including Art, Athletics, Business, Digital & Interactive Media, Drama, English & Literature, General Scholarship, Journalism, Mathematics, Music & Dance, Science, Social Science, Speech, Vocational Technical, and World Languages. Each school is allowed to nominate one student per category.

All nominees are interviewed by an independent panel of judges on a specified day. The judges then select one Silver Knight and three Honorable Mentions in each category. The winners are announced at the Silver Knight Awards ceremony. Silver Knights receive a $2,000 cash prize, a Silver Knight statue, and a medallion from American Airlines. The Honorable Mentions each receive $500 and an engraved plaque. The cash prizes are funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Eligibility

The Silver Knight Awards are open to 12th-grade students in Miami-Dade and Broward counties who attend public, private, or parochial schools and have a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.2. Class rank or percentile is not a requirement. Nominees should have a strong record of service to their school and community.

The primary qualification for a Silver Knight nominee is service. A Silver Knight is a student who has consistently and selflessly used their talents to help others in their school and community. The service does not have to be related to the nominee's category, but some achievements must be related to the category.

Judges assess nominees based on their community service throughout high school (grades 9-12), as well as their achievements, character, leadership, and interview skills. Consistency and lasting impact of service are two major factors considered. Other factors include independent thinking, creative problem-solving, leadership in mobilizing others, and perseverance in overcoming challenges. Most nominees will have a wide range of service activities.

Achievement in the school and community is another crucial aspect of the Silver Knight profile, particularly in qualifying a nominee for a specific category. Some achievements must be related to the category, but the service does not have to be related to the category.