It was the first celebration of its kind for 2023, honoring South Florida students for making brave choices.
Taking honors for making good decisions, 10 students took the spotlight Thursday as winners at the Do The Right Thing Inc. ceremony. The students were selected from 800 nominees across Miami-Dade County.
Whether it was stopping a fight or saving a life, these standout students used quick thinking to avert a crisis. Like 15-year-old Brandon Sabalza, as the sophomore at Barbara Goleman Senior High School stepped in to de-escalate a potentially deadly situation last month.
“I was in school after school hanging out with my friends, when I got a text from one of my friends saying she was going to jump off the third floor of the school,” he said.
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Brandon said he ran upstairs and found his friend in danger.
“And she was on the edge. So I had to make sure she was okay, so I pushed her away from the edge and I could talk to her and I had to make sure she wasn’t jumping, he said.
Thinking back to what happened with his friend, Brandon is grateful to be honored but he's more grateful for something else.
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"I’m just glad she’s okay, that’s all,” Brandon said.
All the winners received a tablet, tickets to a Miami Marlins game and more goodies.
