Each year, along with the National Merit Scholar awards, the College Board grants recognition to the National Hispanic Scholars.

Senior Stephen Burt was one of the few Oak Park High School students to receive this title.

“It puts you at an advantage over other kids,” Burt said. “It’s an extension of affirmative action because it puts me on a priority list for colleges.”

To qualify through the National Hispanic Recognition Program, students must take the PSAT in October of their junior year and pass at or above a certain index, accumulate up to a 3.5 or higher GPA midway through junior year, and be at least a quarter Hispanic/Latinx.

“My Hispanic heritage is somewhat of a burden, but thank God we live in California,” Burt said. “I live in an area where Spanish is spoken a lot and it’s something that’s welcome and invited. There’s not really an American culture, there are so many different races here. When I say I’m Chilean, there’s culture there.”

Over the summer before his senior year, Burt traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, then stayed in Chile for a month.

“I have the language, I have the Chilean accent,” Burt said. “It’s great because it gives you a home away from home.”

Spanish teacher Cynthia Lavanchy taught Burt in Spanish III Honors his junior year and currently teaches him in AP Spanish IV.

“Stephen has a passion for the language, which actually makes my job much easier,” Lavanchy said. “Prior to his trip to Chile, he felt that he was fluent and didn’t really need another year of Spanish. Being there he realized he has a passion for it and really wants to get better at it, so I feel like I connect with him in the cultural sense.”

Lavanchy’s family heritage traces back to Argentina, where many of her relatives still live. She speaks Spanish fluently even though she grew up in the United States.

“It doesn’t really matter if you’re raised with a language or not. I have a situation in my family where my sisters and cousins were all raised the same way I was and none of them speak fluently,” Lavanchy said. “You have to have the passion for the language, you have to want to speak the language because you have to want it, but you also love the culture.”

Seniors Max and Jake Freeman also received the scholar recognition. Their grandfather lived in Brazil, allowing them to qualify.

“This whole year is really bittersweet,” Max Freeman said. “It’s exciting to think about college and the future but sad to think about leaving OPHS.”

Burt hopes to major in Latin American studies in college. Upon graduating with that major, he said he’d gladly “go live somewhere else besides America.”

According to Burt, his grandmother was born in Chile in rural Los Cabras, about an hour outside Santiago, Chile’s capital. After having Burt’s mother in 1962, his grandmother crossed the Rio Grande into Texas, later moving to California for immigration purposes. Burt grew up spending weekends at his grandmother’s house, drinking tea and speaking, what he called, broken Spanish.

“She never really became an American, she was always a Chilean,” Burt said. “She never wanted to learn English.”

Burt’s grandmother passed away in 2015 during his freshman year.

“When she died I promised I would learn how to speak Spanish fluently,” Burt said.

In the future, Burt plans on traveling to Mexico and Chile again, also adding Spain to his list of Spanish-speaking destinations.

“Spanish is a gateway into so many different cultures and each one is so unique and beautiful in its own way,” Burt said.