The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy will honor nine teen mentors from Miami-Dade County with Teen Trendsetters Excellence Awards for their leadership and service. Students mentoring in the foundation’s program assist first through third graders with reading during weeklong tutoring sessions.
Seventh grader, Alicia Urrutia, from Bob Graham Education Center is among the Miami-Dade County School District recipients. Urrutia became a mentor when she was introduced to the Barbara Bush Foundation by her school counselor, Joel Castellanos. Urrutia was paired with elementary student, Grace Brito, for tutoring. Twice a week Urrutia and Brito met to work on literacy computer programs.
“Alicia and Grace became close as they read together and shared their favorite parts of the story. Teen Trendsetters proved to be a wonderful learning experience for both the middle-school and elementary students,” said Castellanos.
Anna Nguyen, a seventh grader at Ernest R. Graham K-8 Center, will also be honored and is the leader of the Teen Trendsetters program at her school.