As the John I. Leonard High School Class of 2026 valedictorian, Carlos Canales challenged himself with a rigorous Cambridge courseload while maintaining leadership positions on the swim team and debate club. And his ambition didn’t wane after graduation. Following a summer capstone with the Palm Beach County Commissioner’s office to work on a project around empowering Hispanic voices, Canales went on to attend Case Western Reserve University to study aerospace engineering
“I really don't think I would be where I am today without the support of the (Cambridge) program,” Canales said. “I'm grateful for the opportunity it's given me and the way it's shaped my growth academically and personally.”
Throughout high school, Canales learned to listen with open ears, curiosity and without judgement. The dynamic and discussion-based environment in his Cambridge courses inspired him to empathize and learn from his peers’ ideas and opinions, which gave him foundational collaboration skills and composure.
“In aerospace engineering, one very important thing is to be able to communicate,” he said. “You can have the best ideas in the world, but if you can't communicate that to a team, then they're worthless. So, the things that I've learned through Cambridge will definitely help me in the future.”
Cambridge and other advanced courses helped Canales start his post-secondary journey with a significant number of college credits, an opportunity he described as life-changing for him and his family.
“I’m a low-income student,” he explained. “So, being able to save money and also being able to see how proud my parents are that I was able to accomplish something like this without any financial help from their part, it means the world to me and I know it means the world to them.”
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