With the end of graduation, Charter sent off the talented and amazing class of 2025, with two students as PPCHS’ Jaguar Pride winners. Jag Pride is when two students are selected from the top 5% of the graduating class through a tough and long selection process that includes two essays, a letter of recommendation, and an interview with the administration. These two students, alongside, delivered the graduation speech to their peers, family, friends, and mentors. With much excitement and congratulations, the Jag Pride winners of the 2025 graduating class are Annabelle Acevedo and Aarohi Bali.
Both Acevedo and Bali have long ago left their mark at Charter by involving themselves in numerous activities and earning many leadership positions as well.“I am the President of HOSA, Spanish National Honor Society, a Co-President for Science Olympiad, and Vice President of Blue Missions… [I also] co-founded a non-profit called Crochet for a Cause,” Acevedo comments. Her dedication to her community made her an outstanding contestant, in addition to her academic achievements, like becoming valedictorian of her class. “I balanced academics with extracurriculars and my job by learning to compartmentalize my activities,” she states.
For Bali, it was important for her to be a part of clubs and teams that she was deeply passionate about. “Paired with my ambitious and driven personality, [it] made the perfect recipe for me to make an impact in each of my commitments,” she describes. As President of Mu Alpha Theta (MAT), she has helped increase efficiency and bring new events to the school, such as the Math Mental Bee, to encourage more engagement with mathematics. She has also made school history by becoming the first PPCHS student to win the national Mu Alpha Theta scholarship.
Along with MAT, she played an active role in Model UN, helping her team become national champions and co-founding JAGMUN, the school’s first high-level MUN conference. She made sure to include everyone in the school with this conference by “inviting many schools and partnering with many clubs, such as NHS and SGA, to host our successful event!” Her leadership extended to Village Mentors, where the school gained global recognition through the Books and Beyond initiative, where she and her team collaborated with various clubs to donate books and bookmarks to Florida’s Kids in Distress.
To become Jag Pride, the interview with the administration is a task that influences whether or not they become it. For Acevedo, her familiarity with public speaking skills helped her the most. “I wrote one of my statements about how I grew up being the family translator, and that forced me to mature and learn to use my voice.”
However, for Bali, completing and submitting the application on time was a challenge as she was a part of so many school events that were taking place during this time. She explains, “I was managing several after-school KPop practices for Pep Rally, researching and competing in really important Debate and Model UN competitions on weekends, and working on the Jaguar Pride essays.” In order to overcome this challenge, she made sure to break down her time and create a schedule where she could be present in everything while also giving enough time to her application. With this, she completed all her activities and submitted the Jag Pride application on time.
When the time came for the Senior Award Ceremony, Bali heard her name being announced to receive the Jag Pride award and was “honored to receive such a meaningful opportunity to represent my class. It felt so surreal, ” she expresses. As Acevedo heard her name being said by Mr.Bayer, she comments that she was “extremely surprised” and “incredibly honored” that she got it. She has a lot to say, but people will had to wait until graduation to hear it.
One thing that made high school easier and will stick with Bali forever is “making sure that people are committing themselves to things they are passionate about and don’t forget to set goals for school, life, and extracurriculars.” To survive in high school, “the main thing is discipline—motivation is fleeting, but discipline is consistent,” expresses Bali.
For future Jag Pride contenders, Acevedo has one thing left to say: “It is never too late to change your mentality and how you approach school. If you have procrastination issues, which most of us do, start by setting a time when you have to start your homework. But at the same time, above all, enjoy high school. Your grades matter, but they are not everything.”
