Adda Avendaño
The "Bernardo Quintana Arrioja Medal" is the recognition that the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), in collaboration with the Foundations for Youth Support A.C., ICA, and the Quintana Family, awards to the five most outstanding high school-level Polytechnic students in the categories of academic excellence, leadership, patriotism, service, and valor.
At the award ceremony, the General Director of the IPN, Arturo Reyes Sandoval, emphasized that the presence of these exceptional young individuals represents "an inspiration to be better and motivates all of us around them to reach further. Thanks to their actions, we can present this medal, which honors the memory of an exemplary citizen, Engineer Bernardo Quintana Arrioja," he expressed.
Representing the Quintana Family, Bernardo Quintana Kawage, the grandson of Bernardo Quintana, stated that this medal, bearing his grandfather's name, symbolizes recognition of the values and qualities that distinguished him as a visionary leader committed to Mexico's development. It is also a reminder that young people are the agents of change.
Vicente Alejandro López Guisa, representing the Foundation for Youth Support A.C., declared that each of these stories is an example of effort, commitment, and what youth can achieve because they are the agents of change in the present and future.
Hailing from Iztapalapa, Christian learned to be independent from a very young age. When he began primary school, he already knew how to read, write, and solve basic mathematical operations. Mastering various school subjects always excited him, as did creating stories, earning him an honorable mention in the National Literary Expression Competition on National Symbols in 2015. The Robotix Faire 2017 National Robotics Competition was a life-changing event that determined the course of his higher education. Due to his outstanding grades in primary school, he was invited to participate in the 2017 National Knowledge Olympiad, where he achieved first place at the regional and later national levels. In secondary school, he maintained an outstanding average, just like at CECyT 7 "Cuauhtémoc," where he developed a mango-based face mask project that won the Best Prototypes Award in 2022. The following year, he received the Cuauhtémoc Medal for academic excellence, closing an important chapter as he embarked on his professional journey.
Emma's academic performance has always been outstanding. She has participated in mathematical rallies, mental calculation contests, chess tournaments, computer workshops, and this continued during her time at CECyT 9 "Juan de Dios Bátiz." She led the initiative of a didactic PLC module, which earned her third place at the Proyecto Aula Meeting and first place at ExpoBátiz 2023. Emma also coordinated the project "Software Server and Mobile App for Organ Donation Management" during the Second Hackathon 2022 at IPN.
She participated in the Bell II Masterclass competition at Cinvestav in 2022 and 2023, the 18th edition of the Scientific and Technological Research Summer 2023, and the Tom Global Innovation Challenge. With the Donk Pink team, she took part in the First Robotics Challenge, winning the Conect Award at the regional stage and the Control Award at the national level. She joined the EmpoWoment club to promote the participation of young girls and women in STEM fields in Mexico and served as the leader of the Donk Kerry robotics team at her school. She participated in the Make-X competition, securing third place and qualifying for the world championships in Dubai and China.
Santiago's passion for soccer began at the age of five. His commitment led him to participate in the 2016 Mundialito in Portugal with the U-11 Basic Forces and the 2017 Mundialito in Barcelona, where he reached the quarterfinals in the Gold Tournament. For his outstanding performance, he was recognized as the top player at the Liga Promess International, an event organized by the Spanish league in New York. With Atlético de San Luis, he achieved the runner-up position in the 2022 Liga Mexicana de Fuerzas Básicas tournament and reached the national semifinals in the 2022 Apertura and 2023 Clausura Liga Scotiabank Sub-17.
Santiago was also the champion of the 2023 Interpolitécnico soccer tournament and, at the same time, he won first place in the 2022 Make-X competition as the captain of the robotics club at his school, with both the Donk Pink and Donk Kerry teams. He qualified for the Make-X Challenge world stage in Bangkok, Thailand, where he received the Best Engineer Notebook Award and the Conect Award in the First Robot Competition. Furthermore, he secured first place in the inaugural IPN Hackathon in 2021 with a hydraulic generator to reduce electricity bills.
Jade is a high-performance flag football athlete, playing for the Cardenales team in the NFL Mexico league. She has also participated in altruistic activities at the Azteca Campus, such as organizing "Clean Up Mexico" brigades, fundraising for university scholarships for homeless individuals, and volunteering in the annual Juguetón toy drive in January 2020. Jade led the "Learn and Play" software project, which earned her first place in her school's science competition. She also coordinated a team for the Bioeducation competition organized by British universities, where she represented her school at the Model United Nations.
During her time at CECyT 9 "Juan de Dios Bátiz," she served as the representative at the 40th School Advisory Technical Council and was part of the Gender Network. Jade also led, organized, and established the "Tapitas por la Vida" project. In 2019, with the "Movilidad Ecosegura" project, which promotes recycling in exchange for credit on Mexico City mobility cards, she made it to the finals of the 2019 Climaton UNAM. She has also been a delegate at the National Youth for Climate Summit for three consecutive years. In 2022, she initiated a Girl-Up club under the EmpoWoment initiative to promote STEM fields among girls through free lectures and workshops.
From the time of her difficult birth, visits to parks were replaced by long stays in the hospital and confinement at home to protect her from bronchial hyperactivity and asthma diagnosed at the age of two. To improve her quality of life, she was taken to Milpa Alta, where she entered primary school with excellent grades but developed an eating disorder due to discrimination from her classmates. In her final year of primary school, she fell seriously ill with influenza and pneumonia, yet she participated in the National Knowledge Olympiad, winning first place at the state level.
With a diagnosis of Kartagener Syndrome and epilepsy, which forced her to study remotely from home, she completed secondary school with the highest average in her class and gained admission to CECyT 15 "Diódoro Antúnez Echegaray" to become a Human Nutrition technician. Now, she must be under strict monitoring due to the risk of going deaf or blind. Additionally, the scoliosis she suffers from could worsen, potentially causing her lungs to collapse, requiring a foreign doctor to perform a lung transplant. If this happens, she would become an international spokesperson for a foundation of survivors of ciliary dyskinesia.
Gaceta Politécnica #1752. (October 31th, 2023). IPN Imagen Institucional: Read the full magazine in Spanish here
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