Sergio Gonzalez, a senior at Maine West High School, is the Gold Medallion 2006 Chicago Regional Hispanic Heritage Youth Award recipient in Academic Excellence, sponsored by Chase & MasterCard International. Sergio is the only son of immigrants from Mexico who did not graduate high school. He has a GPA of 4.36 at Maine West, was chosen from 6,800 students to be awarded District 207’s Best for Academic Excellence, received the Science Department Award for Accelerated Physics, was a Junior Honor Guard, and a member of the High Honor Roll. Sergio is active with his high school newspaper, the Westerner, where he is the senior news editor and co-wrote a story that won first place from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He also competes for the Math Team, led the Hispanic Student Group’s fundraising efforts, and is part of the National Honor Society. During a recent summer vacation he took a clinical government class, which consisted of coursework on local governing and a volunteer component in the community that landed him at the Center for Concern, a non-profit that assists senior citizens. When Sergio attends college this fall, the sacrifices his parents made on his behalf will never be far from his mind as will his responsibility to repay his parents dedication, serving as a role model for his younger sister who he hopes will follow in his footsteps.