Gilberto Silva Cortes has a knack for making the most of opportunities.

Cortes was born in the United States and raised in Mexico, where he was named best student in his class in middle school, participated in state math contests, and maintained straight As in high school.  

When he set his sights on attending college in the United States, Cortes moved to San Francisco to live with relatives and enroll at Mission High School, where counselors recommended he repeat his junior year – not for academic reasons but to improve his English.

He took full advantage. “I find out the school opens at 7, so I’ll be here at 7 every morning,” he told ABC7 in San Francisco.

The youth participated in the school’s AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program and also in a career pathway program exploring entrepreneurship.

The result: Cortes developed “Deserver Art,” an art-web platform for aspiring artists. He also started “Finding Our Voice,” an after-school program at his high school that aims to support newcomers in learning English and tapping resources to pursue higher education.

“If you can’t speak English here in America, you basically don’t have a voice,” Cortes told ABC7.

Cortes was among six graduating seniors tapped to receive the Superintendent’s 21^st Century Award sponsored by Spark SF Public Schools, a nonprofit philanthropy.

In the fall, he plans to attend Stanford University.