{"id":3974,"date":"2026-03-31T15:03:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/secretary-of-education-scholars\/2026-delaware-secretary-of-education-scholars\/ava-ruggiero\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:03:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:03:55","slug":"ava-ruggiero","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/secretary-of-education-scholars\/2026-delaware-secretary-of-education-scholars\/ava-ruggiero\/","title":{"rendered":"Ava Ruggiero"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"student_container\">\n<div role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Personal information about Ava Ruggiero\" class=\"grid\">\n\t<div class=\"grid-item grid-item-med grid-item-fixed picture\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/ruggiero_ava_h.webp\" width=\"270\" alt=\"Headshot of Ava Ruggiero\">\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"grid-item grid-item-med grid-item-fixed nomination\">\n\t\t<h2 class=\"scholar_nomination_statement\">Nomination Statement<\/h2>\n\t\tScholar of Gloria Ho Ruggiero and Robert Ruggiero, Ava Ruggiero ranks among the top students at Caesar Rodney High School, completing 12 Advanced Placement and six dual enrollment courses. As lacrosse Defensive Team MVP and Second Team All-Conference honoree, she demonstrates leadership and athletic excellence. Ava has contributed over 200 hours to community service, tutoring peers and organizing a local literacy initiative, demonstrating commitment to others. She held key roles in Science Club, Student Council, and National Honor Society, consistently displaying integrity and initiative. Ava&rsquo;s dedication and sincerity position her to excel in higher education, with a focus on mathematics.\n\t<\/div>\t\t<div class=\"grid-item grid-item-med logo\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"280\" src=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/04\/caesar_rodney_high_school.jpg\" alt=\"Logo of Caesar Rodney High School\">\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t<div class=\"grid-item grid-item-med personal\">\n\t\t\t&ldquo;For as long as I can remember, my sister has been my greatest role model. She has always been my No. 1 supporter and has pushed me to be my very best. Because of my sister, I have grown up with a strong drive for success and have learned that I can do anything I set my mind to. Now, I strive to become the best version of myself so I can change my community &mdash; and the world &mdash; for the better.&rdquo;\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t<div class=\"grid-item grid-item-med picture\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/ruggiero_ava_2.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t<div class=\"grid-item grid-item-med picture\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/ruggiero_ava_1.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/div>\t\t<div class=\"grid-item grid-item-med picture\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/ruggiero_ava_3.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have grown up with a strong drive for success and have learned that I can do anything I set my mind to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3643,"parent":3664,"menu_order":73,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"protect_children":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3974","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"school":"Caesar Rodney High School","school_logo":3226,"student_images":[3971,3972,3973],"nomination_statement":"Scholar of Gloria Ho Ruggiero and Robert Ruggiero, Ava Ruggiero ranks among the top students at Caesar Rodney High School, completing 12 Advanced Placement and six dual enrollment courses. As lacrosse Defensive Team MVP and Second Team All-Conference honoree, she demonstrates leadership and athletic excellence. Ava has contributed over 200 hours to community service, tutoring peers and organizing a local literacy initiative, demonstrating commitment to others. She held key roles in Science Club, Student Council, and National Honor Society, consistently displaying integrity and initiative. Ava&rsquo;s dedication and sincerity position her to excel in higher education, with a focus on mathematics.","personal_statement":"For as long as I can remember, my sister has been my greatest role model. She has always been my No. 1 supporter and has pushed me to be my very best. Because of my sister, I have grown up with a strong drive for success and have learned that I can do anything I set my mind to. Now, I strive to become the best version of myself so I can change my community &mdash; and the world &mdash; for the better.","add_quotes":true},"checksum":["207c5f4317acab49cf5e24db4cd5d5d0a6fa3770"],"sw_mod_date":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3974\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3664"}],"acf:attachment":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3973"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3972"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}