De Zavala Elementary Student Selected For Lone Star Leadership Academy

De Zavala Elementary principal Elena Villanueva reports that De Zavala student Ellie Hurtado has been selected to participate in the summer 2016 Lone Star Leadership Academy camp in Dallas/Fort Worth. Ellie is the daughter of Eddie and Barbara Hurtado. Nominated by her teacher Kayla Shook, Ellie’s selection was based on her “outstanding academic success, demonstrated leadership ability, and involvement in school and community activities.”

According to a press release from Education in Action, Ellie joins a delegation of outstanding students across the state to develop leadership skills while learning more about Texas and its leaders. The group will visit significant sites in the Dallas/Fort Worth area such as U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Texas Civil War Museum, the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, and the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

In addition, Ellie and the other delegates will participate in activities at the Summit Climbing Gym and the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, and they will tour the Dallas Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Throughout the tours, delegates will learn about future career and internship opportunities through career speaker presentations at sites visited.

Education in Action says that Texas educators facilitate the Lone Star Academy camps and include leadership groups to examine qualities of effective leaders, to practice leadership skills, and to discuss what they have learned at the sites they visited.

Ashley Barnes of Education in Action says, “Ellie will have fun meeting other outstanding students and making new friends while adding to her resume of academic achievements, developing leadership skills, and bring home a wealth of information to supplement what she is learning in school.”

The non-profit organization hosts Lone Star Academy camps in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Austin/San Antonio area, and the Houston/Galveston area. Campers must be in the 4^th-8^th grade, maintain an 85 or higher grade average, demonstrate leadership ability, be involved in community or school activities, and receive an educator recommendation. Educators can nominate their outstanding 4th-8th-grade students for Lone Star Leadership Academy camps online at www.educationinaction.org. For more information, call 817-562-4957 or visit www.educationinaction.org or www.facebook.com/educationinaction.