Junior Achievers 2019 - they're back!

“A part of me always thought that by being Hispanic and from a low income family, I wouldn’t be able to go out of state for college or even just travel. But this scholarship really made me realize that there is so much our world has to offer and that I want to experience it.

When I came back from our trip many of my neighbors said “I bet now she wants to go to Greece and France and many more” as a joke, but the truth is, I really do and now I can see myself traveling in the future.

In addition, before this trip colleges in London weren’t even on my list, but now I’m looking into other colleges out of state and even out of the country.”

— Edna Gutierrez, Junior Achiever 2019

Our Junior Achievers are back from their British Studies Summer Program and fired up with the possibility of spreading their wings for college.

Yet again, this first overseas experience shows young people just what is out there for them and what they can experience just by stepping outside their comfort zone. Already aiming for college, our Junior Achievers are smart, gifted and driven…. But with no blueprint for college, as mostly first generation Americans and all first generation college students, their ambitions are often misaligned with their potential. They are often Ivy League material, capable of study and achievement at the highest levels. Our Junior Achiever program shows them that by aiming higher, they will achieve more.

We could not be more proud of these future leaders as they set their sights higher and embark on incredible adventures. We’ll keep you posted on their achievements.

"I’m going to Brown University"

Diana OLMOS

BAFTX Junior Achiever 2018

I’m going to Brown University.

That’s how BAFTX Junior Achiever Diana Olmos closed her speech at the Wine, Women and Song luncheon. A celebratory afternoon filled with laughter, wine and dancing to the Fab 5 Beatles cover band, the most memorable part for me were those words:

I’m going to Brown University.

The benefits of BAFTX’s traditional scholarships that end with a college degree are tangible. After four years you see the success of these bright young minds as they move into jobs and start to make their mark on the world.

You have to look closer to appreciate the impact of the BAFTX Junior Achievers grant, which awards students with a two-week summer program in the UK. Some have never left the US, or even Houston. But as they get their first passports and get on their first plane, this experience is actually helping them take the first tentative step into a world of what’s possible.

As Diana began her trip last summer, she was homesick and filled with doubt -- reluctant to join in or speak up. But as she was exposed to history, politics, art and new friends, over the course of the two-week trip something happened. She began to join in and change her perspective on what her future could hold. She gained the confidence to speak up. 

And months later in front of room full of 200 people at a celebratory lunch, as she thanked BAFTX supporters for her experience she did just that:

I’m going to Brown University. 

Post written by Kathy Sauvé, BAFTX Board Member and Wine Women and Song 2019 Sponsor

Junior Achievers 2018 - they're back!

Our 6 intrepid Junior Achievers spent two weeks in the UK this July and had the most incredible time.  They visited Portsmouth, Windsor, Oxford, Brighton and Stonehenge .... as well as Althorp Estate, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Tate Modern, the Globe Theater (to see Hamlet), Eton College, Imperial War Museum, Southbank Center, the London Eye and finally the British American Business Council for a talk on Brexit.  Not bad for 12 days....

Our student attend a British Studies Summer program hosted by ACS International Schools.  This program is in its 20th year and welcomes 20 students a year from across the USA. BAFTX is the only Texas-based organization that participates in this program.

Thanks to our donors, we are able to ensure that no student has any financial outlay for this scholarship.  BAFTX funds travel, transfers, accommodation, entry fees, passport fees etc.  Our scholars come from very low income households and it's important that this program is accessible to those who deserve it the most.

For anyone with the slightest doubt as to the incredible value of this program, read what our Junior Achievers say here.  

Ngoc, one of this year's Junior Achievers told us "the biggest takeaway was certainly that I can excel at being independent. This trip has been life-changing not only that I was seeing pretty sights around me but it was more confidence in myself and my abilities to rise above my insecurities and self-consciousness. My future feels brighter and I feel brighter."

Junior Achievers 2015

Four HISD students will travel free to Great Britain this summer, thanks to the British Foundation of Texas's (BAFTX) Junior Achievers award. The students will travel for nearly two weeks learning about British culture.

Juniors Ziwei Guo (Bellaire HS), Yazmin Hurtado (Davis HS), David Jasso (Reagan HS), and Donald Peacock (Reagan HS) wrote compelling essays, obtained strong teacher recommendations, and demonstrated the academic excellence to stand out among the more than 100 applicants.

HISD juniors comprise four of the six winners from Texas and will be honored at an awards banquet in Houston on May 12, 2015. The students will visit sites of historic and artistic importance, such as the Tower of London, as well as attending a play in London's West End.

Junior Achievers 2014

The selection for the Jr Achiever Scholarship 2014 was a tough one as always! The review panel finally made the choice. 6 students are outward bound to England on 22nd June, 2014.