Summer Science Program Provides College Experience Benito Juarez Community Academy is a typical Chicago public high school. 97% of the students are from low-income families, 14% have disabilities and 13% do not speak English as their first language. The school is remodeling and expanding its facilities, but students still enter through metal detectors.
Nora is a sophomore and an “A” student at Juarez. Farther Foundation awarded Nora a scholarship to attend the Carleton College Summer Science program where she will engage in classroom and hands-on science learning in collaboration with top students from around the country and the world at one of the most academically rigorous colleges in the country.
Nora has a great understanding of how her experiences can be a benefit to her and those around her, “Growing up as a first generation American with parents of Mexican descent, I have had the privilege of experiencing two cultures unfold. Both of these cultures have different things to offer me. I have learned the importance of perseverance and a strong work ethic from Mexico and gained an appreciation for an innovative mind, pioneering attitude, and diversity from America. Through experiences, challenges and accomplishments, I am able to see how all of these qualities have shaped who I am. This is imperative because in America exposing others to different cultures and ideas helps create a learning atmosphere where ideas are interchanged and both groups are able to learn from each other.”
She also has an appreciation for the opportunities her summer program will provide and a desire to be a leader in her community back home,
“For as long as I can remember I have had a strong interest in science and research, an aptitude for analysis and problem solving and a fascination with challenges. This has encouraged me to apply to the Carleton Summer Science Institute. I believe that this program will unlock the gates of opportunity to delve deeper into research, investigation, and clarifying science. It will also enhance my research skills, enabling me to do research thoroughly and conscientiously. Also, attending Carleton Summer Science Institute will help me with my personal goal which is to create a Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) club in my school for Latina girls. In particular, I want to involve girls because most of these fields are currently male-dominated. I do not want girls in my school to feel oppressed by gender, ethnic, or economic barriers. Rather, I want them to be part of a small and comfortable social setting where they are able to ask questions and learn for the sake of learning.”
Nora is one of the most impressive students we have had the opportunity to support at Farther Foundation. We expect her to take full advantage of her summer opportunity and to be inspired toward great academic and career achievement. Go Farther!
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Olympics-Like Opportunity At Farther Foundation, we are Olympic fans. We like the competition and definitely cheer for the home team. However, when not pulling for the home team, there is no venue I can think of where we have such interest in, and open-hearted appreciation for the people and customs of the rest of the world. Olympic-class athletes have such a wonderful opportunity to travel the world and develop friendships with their counterparts. We hear stories of the joy and camaraderie of living in the Olympic Village, trading flags, pins and souvenirs, and establishing relationships that become lifelong friendships and opportunities.
Luckily, international opportunities are not just for Olympic athletes. Last summer, Farther Foundation scholarship recipients traveled to five continents, visited nine countries and met fellow students from several more. Here’s what some of our intrepid travelers learned and said: Jazmin participated in a college prep program at Choate Rosemary Hall School in Connecticut. “My summer was the best this year. I had the opportunity to go to Choate Rosemary Hall a boarding school in Connecticut. It was a great experience for me; it gave me a chance to see what it would be like living on my own. I was really surprised at how many different people from around the world and from across the country knew about this program. I met people from Africa, China, Japan, Korea, Spain, Turkey, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia, etc. I made a lot of new friends from all around the world and it as so much fun.” |
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Farther Alumnae Heading for College  Farther Foundation recently received the news that the first member of our inaugural alumni class (2010) has been accepted to college. Not only will Diamond be heading off to University of Wisconsin – Madison in the fall, but she was awarded a Posse Foundation Scholarship. The Posse scholarship is a full four-year scholarship that offers the best and brightest urban high school students the opportunity to excel at top-tier colleges and universities.
In 2009, Diamond was awarded a Farther Foundation scholarship to travel to Costa Rica on a one-month service program with Putney Travel. Here is an excerpt from the essay Diamond submitted to Farther Foundation after her experience abroad:
When I stayed in Costa Rica for a month, I lived in a small three room house with eighteen other people. We all slept and sheltered ourselves from the rain there, but most of our time was spent outside.
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 Our students share their stories
Our scholarship recipients traveled to 5 different continents this past summer. Each had a unique, inspiring and life changing experience -- and each described it in their own way. Anna hiked the Inca Trail to have this vantage point over Machu Pichu. Take a look at our Reflections, 2009 book to see and read about what it was like for our student travelers to take a bold step beyond the familiar. Go Farther!
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Student traveler returns home inspiredElizabeth received a Farther Foundation scholarshp to travel to Vietnam with Putney Student Travel. Here are excerpts from her essay. Before my trip to Vietnam, I believed that people's lives from the other side of the world were entirely different. I was convinced that their sense of style, their taste in music, the food they consumed, the parties they held, and their telling of jokes was different from what I'm accustomed to. But after my one month stay in Vietnam, I was surprised at how similar people's lives are compared to where I live. "This looks like what my mom makes back home," is what I told my group every time I ate or saw food that looked like my mom's cooking. I was stunned at the number of times Vietnamese food reminded me of the cultural foods I'm use to eating. But to my surprise, the food wasn't the only thing that looked familiar. Their clothing wasn't much different. The village people wear more conservative clothes than the city people. Yet both of their styles are similar to what I wear on an every day basis. We even bought ourselves t-shirts, skirts, and dresses to take home. The things they do for fun are not much different from what I do. The best thing to do when you're bored is tell jokes. On our daily brakes we would pull out our translation books and tell jokes. There were many times when I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. As we told jokes, we taught them English and they taught us Vietnamese. We even got as far as teaching them Spanish and French! The people are not much different either. Take for example Tien. Tien is a little Vietnamese boy that I was helping build a house for. He reminded me of my nephew. It was the way he smiled and played with people. Then there was a little girl who reminded me of my niece. The little girl had a little brother and she was really protective of him, the way my niece is towards my nephew. Anne Frank once said, "We all live with the object of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same." The lives of Vietnamese people are the same compared to where I live, with just a little twist. I noticed more similarities than differences. We all have goals, expectations, jokes, fears, needs, desires and strive to live a happy life. I use to say that part of home was in Vietnam but now I say that part of Vietnam is here at home. Go Farther!
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 Farther Foundation Blog - link and subscribe
16 well deserving students have been awarded Farther Foundation Scholarships to participate in educational travel programs this summer.
Congratulations to Lawrence, Chelsea, Jazmin, Maritza, Anna, Paula, Monica, Natasha, Diamond, Elizabeth, David, Nitza, Brenda, Cynthia, Myriam and Eddie.
They will participate in programs that take them to five different continents and give them the opportunity to learn, grow, engage in service, broaden their horizons and develop greater expectations and aspirations for their lives.
Our scholars have chosen several dynamic programs that will provide a variety of unique, challenging and life changing experiences for them.
• Lawrence traveled to Ghana, Africa and attended Kokrobitey Institute to learn about Ghanaian history, arts and culture.
• Chelsea will be in an intensive pre-college medical program at Vanderbilt University.
• Maritza and Cynthia will travel to Italy with AFS, live with host families and immerse themselves in language and culture. Nitza will join AFS in Argentina, and Brenda will go to Japan.
• Jazmin will join top national and international students for an academic summer at Choate Rosemary Hall prep school in Connecticut.
• Paula will be in Hawaii with the Road Less Traveled pursuing outdoor adventure, eco-system restoration and home building projects.
• Monica will learn outdoor leadership skills at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).
• Natasha will spend the summer at Putney School in Vermont developing her artistic skills in a pastoral setting.
• Diamond, Elizabeth and David will journey with Putney Student Travel to Costa Rica, Vietnam and El Salvador respectively where they will learn about native cultures and engage in service projects.
• Anna will combine service, language and culture in Peru on her program with Visions Service Adventures.
• Myriam and Eddie will travel to the Pacific Northwest with OpenRoads where they will learn documentary arts while experiencing outdoor adventure.
Check out these program providers and the wonderful experiences they offer. Here at Farther Foundation we are proud to work with these great companies and organizations who believe in the talents and promise of students from underserved communities and partner with them and us to make these experiences possible.
Go Farther!
Read more on our blog. |
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Usually, when Farther Foundation awards a scholarship, it supports a student to engage in a first time educational travel opportunity. With Justice, we have taken another approach.