By Jessie Ferguson | Program Associate
Edu-Futuro is celebrating its 15th anniversary on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at its annual gala and talent show, Reach for the Stars! The talent show will feature immigrant youth who are graduates of our programs who embody our education-focused mission. Some of the students are in secondary school while others are in college or are recent college graduates. In the spirit of Edu-Futuro’s mission, and thanks to the generous donations from our supporters, the first, second, and third place winning performances will receive college scholarships of $1,000, $500, and $250 respectively.
Talent show contestants include last year’s grand prize winner, Ryan Huaman, a dancer who is a 9th grade student at Yorktown High School. Other acts include Diana Calderon, a singer from Williamsburg Middle School, and Carlos and Mayra Flores-Valverde, a brother and sister dance team who are graduates of Wakefield High School. Other acts include Josie Cuellar from Annandale High School, Rebeca Orellana and Lorena Villarroel from Washington-Lee High School and Annandale High School respectively, and Hareth Andrade-Ayala a recent graduate of Northern Virginia Community College.
While in high school, Hareth was involved with Edu-Futuro for several years through its college prep and leadership development initiative, the Emerging Leaders Program. She continues to stay involved with Edu-Futuro as a volunteer and shares, “Edu-Futuro provided me with caring mentors who helped me cultivate my leadership potential. Edu-Futuro believes in me and my dreams, and remains a pillar of support to this day for me and my family.”
The gala will also feature a silent auction with decorative items from around the world and a live auction that will include lithographs from the famous Bolivian artist Roberto Mamani Mamani and a Caribbean vacation. Reach for the Stars! will be held at the Artisphere located at 1101 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia. The doors will open at 6:00pm and complimentary parking will be available for guests. To learn more and to purchase tickets for the gala, please visit the organization’s event website at www.edu-futuro.org/talentshow.
In other news
On Saturday, April 20, 2013 we graduated our spring 2013 class of the Emerging Leaders Program, which consisted of 22 students grades 8 through 12 from both our Arlington and Falls Church program sites. The graduation ceremony was held at Arlington Central Library where we were able to award six college scholarships thanks to your support!
This year marks the 15th anniversary of our flagship program, the Escuela Bolivia Program. On Saturday, May 18, 2013 we celebrated the end of the 2012-2013 school year with a beautiful closing ceremony at Claremont Elementary School. Each class showcased the language skills and cultural knowledge that they developed over the course of the year with a song or dance from a Latin American country. Dr. Emma Violand-Sanchez, Chair of the Arlington Public Schools Board, attended the event as our guest. She was one of the founding members of Escuela Bolivia and through the years has remained supportive of our language and academic enrichment efforts.
Upcoming events
Each year, Deloitte staff members set aside their office duties for the day to volunteer in their community as part of a worldwide initiative called IMPACT Day. On Friday, June 7, 2013 a team of Deloitte consultants will be providing graduates of the Emerging Leaders Program with a series of professional development workshops geared toward high school students, college students, and recent college graduates at their Rosslyn offices. Participants will also have the opportunity to work one-on-one and in groups with Deloitte professionals from diverse educational, career, and cultural backgrounds during this special opportunity.
The Emerging Leaders Program will be launching its summer 2013 session at the end of June. This semester we’ve got a lot of exciting activities and events planned for both our Arlington and Falls Church sites, including college visits to several Virginia universities and Steps for College Success, an all-day conference consisting of a college fair and breakout workshops for both students and parents organized by ELP graduates!
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