Thursday evening before the first pitch of the Spring Training game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, 16 Southwest Florida students looking to further their educational journey were honored and presented with $5,000 scholarships by the Boston Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation. Prior to the game, each recipient walked onto the JetBlue Park field to meet Sox Manager Alex Cora, receive a personalized bat and get a rousing round of applause from the crowd. CJ HADDAD

For the ninth consecutive year, local high school students were bestowed scholarships by a Major League Baseball team that calls Lee County home each spring.

On Thursday evening before first pitch, 16 students looking to further their educational journey were honored and presented with $5,000 scholarships by the Boston Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation. Prior to the game, each recipient walked onto the field at JetBlue Park to meet Sox manager Alex Cora, received a personalized bat and got a rousing applause from the crowd on hand.

The 2023 recipients are:

Perla Lozano – Bonita Springs

Christian Hernandez – Cape Coral

On Thursday evening Before the first pitch at Thursday evening's Spring Training game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, 16 Southwest Florida students looking to further their educational journey were honored and presented with $5,000 scholarships by the Boston Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation. Prior to the game, each recipient walked onto the JetBlue Park field to meet Sox manager Alex Cora, receive a personalized bat and get a rousing round of applause from the crowd. CJ HADDAD

Brianna Madore – Cypress Lake

Maria Plascides – Dunbar

Christopher Supre – East Lee County

Madison White – Estero

Kathryn Wendland – Fort Myers

On Thursday evening Before the first pitch at Thursday evening's Spring Training game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, 16 Southwest Florida students looking to further their educational journey were honored and presented with $5,000 scholarships by the Boston Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation. Prior to the game, each recipient walked onto the JetBlue Park field to meet Sox manager Alex Cora, receive a personalized bat and get a rousing round of applause from the crowd. The students were also able to meet Gov. Ron DeSantis. CJ HADDAD

Caleb Ashley – Gateway

Michael Mendez – Ida S. Baker

Lucky Daoheuang – Island Coast

Vanika Laguerre – Lehigh Senior

Kassandra Angel – Mariner

Mia Martinez – North Fort Myers

Erica Milone – Riverdale

Nashely Gabriel Cardenas – South Fort Myers

Janelle Octavien – Charter/ALS

“It’s one of my favorite days,” said Brennan Whitley, director, Florida Events and Operations at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. “To read the applications of these young men and women, it’s so impressive what they’ve been able to accomplish so far. It’s a lot of fun to see them and get to help them out.”

Once again this year, all Lee County charter and ALS schools were included, with one $5,000 scholarship also being awarded to a student from this category for a total of 16 scholarships worth a total of $80,000.

The scholarships are for academically talented students who have shown a commitment to community service and are pursuing a two- or four-year degree at any college or university.

The students plan to attend universities ranging from the University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, Howard, and more, and will major in subjects such as nursing, business and entrepreneurship, history, and other fields.

“These are the next doctors, lawyers, nurses,” Whitley said. “It’s awesome that so many are staying local and can come back to Fort Myers to take charge.”

Scholarship funds are raised annually from proceeds of the Red Sox annual Swings for the Sox Golf Tournament. To date, the Swings for the Sox has raised more than $615,000 for local charities and specifically $530,000 for the scholarship program. The event got a special visit from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was in attendance at the game Thursday night.

David Doran, principal of ReRoute Americas, was the title sponsor of the Swings For The Sox for the ninth consecutive year. Doran has donated more than $90,000 to the Red Sox scholarship program.

“Every year it’s amazing to see the groups of scholars, especially because I never graduated college,” Doran said. “We’re giving these kids a seed they can take to the next step. These kids can do anything they put their minds to. I read all of their letters, and wow, I was so impressed.”

Giving and Partnerships Manager for the Red Sox Foundation, Matt McCarthy, told the scholars, “I’m really excited for everything that’s ahead of you. I know it can be a dark and scary world right now, but you are all able to handle it, and will bring a lot of light to the world.”

Representing Ida S. Baker High School was Michael Mendez, who actually graduated early and is on track to finish his bachelor’s degree with FGCU majoring in history. He’s set to graduate from FSW, having taken on dual-enrollment, in spring of 2025. His next step is attending FGCU for his masters/doctorate.

“I was lucky to have an amazing school counselor,” Mendez said. “With dual enrollment, I excelled and worked hard. I was able to figure out what I needed to succeed in my court work and the trajectory I needed to be on.”

Of the experience Thursday night, Mendez said it “was awesome.”

“I’ve already met a couple of other students, and we’ve been able to bond,” he said. “It’s been great to talk to them and get to know them. I’m really thankful to all the donors and the Red Sox, because now I can graduate debt-free.”

Mendez said the scholarship will go towards obtaining his masters and doctorate in education leadership, with the ultimate goal of becoming a school superintendent. He already works with the district doing clerical tasks.

“I really want to get into education,” Mendez said. “It’s been enjoyable to work with the district. I’ve learned a lot there. I’ve helped kids at schools with math. I hope to teach for a few years and finish school and reach my ultimate goal.”

North Fort Myers soon-to-be graduate Mia Martinez is planning to attend UF, majoring in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. Martinez said neuroscience is something that recently piqued her interest, as last November, it was discovered she has an 18-pound tumor surrounding an ovary, which led to a long period of time in the hospital.

“Medicine was something that never really interested me, because I hadn’t spent much time in a hospital outside of a lab my mom used to work at,” Martinez said. “But spending time in a hospital and seeing how nice everyone was to me — all the nurses, my surgeon. Everyone there was really welcoming and kind. And it was also a very female-empowered environment, which is not common in STEM fields.

“That time in the hospital after my surgery, I was going through it. I couldn’t walk, and all of the women there really helped and encouraged me. It made me think, ‘Wow, maybe science is a track I want to go down. And so now I’m hoping to go pre-med and work at a hospital one day. Maybe doing some research; I really like research.”

Martinez said she’s especially interested in studying and working with patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“That is a gene that runs strong in my family, and it’s one of the saddest diseases,” she said. “So being able to research and possibly finding a cure to either of those diseases would be wonderful. I’ve been able to realize that I’d love to be able to spark a change in the medical industry.”

Coming from a single-parent home, Martinez said there have been challenges with contemplating the next step in her education. She said the scholarship will greatly help reduce the burden of a college tuition.

“Going to college was something I always wanted to do, but I didn’t know how financially able I would be to do it, considering where I come from and our financial circumstances,” Martinez said. “This scholarship, along with the Florida Bright Futures scholarship, these together are going to really help me on my journey and hopefully not have to go into debt.”

Having deep Cuban roots, where baseball is such a big part of the culture, Martinez said getting to step foot on a baseball field resembled a full-circle moment.

“Just being able to stand on the field today, I feel I was able to pay homage to my ancestors and the island that we had to leave behind,” Martinez said. “I’m so happy to be here today.”

Mariner High School’s Kassandra Angel will attend FGCU next year, majoring in health science. She said her ultimate goal is to head down the pre-med route with hopes of becoming a doctor.

“I’ve chosen this path because I’ve always had an interest in science,” she said. “I’ve always been good with that. And my personality, I feel I’m kind and have a bilingual ability.”

She said despite being a bit nervous before the game, it was an amazing experience.

“The staff was all great and treated us well,” Angel said. “All of my fellow students have been great to talk to, and we all share this bond.”

Island Coast High School student Lucky Daoheuang is looking to carve his own path of business and entrepreneurship at USF. His family owns a business in the Cape, and his vision for the future includes becoming a human resources manager.

“My family owns a business already, and I want to expand on that and take in some knowledge,” he said. “I’m the first in my family to go to college. I want to give my family that step to break apart from the norm. Coming from Asia, we’ve been working our whole life. I want to help ease that and change things for my family.”

Daoheuang doesn’t necessarily want to take over his family’s business, but wants to start something on his own. He said the scholarship is a big step towards making that a reality.

“It’s going to help me a lot,” Daoheuang said, adding the experience of getting to be recognized in front of a jam-packed crowd at JetBlue was something he won’t soon forget.

“It was an unbelievable experience,” he said. “I don’t get nervous too often, but I felt a bit of that today. This is just another stepping stone into the life that I’m choosing. And it’s great to hear what my fellow students are doing, and it inspires me to continue on.”

The Red Sox Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official team charity of the Boston Red Sox. The foundation’s primary focus locally is in serving the health, education, recreation and social service needs of children and families across Southwest Florida.