As the New Year begins and we reflect upon 2011, The Harris Foundation is thankful and proud of the work that has been accomplished this past year - it truly was a banner year for our organization. With support from our partners and sponsors, we reached over 20,000 students in the United States and Africa. By enhancing and expanding long-standing programs and developing new ones, we have continued on our mission of empowering communities to take control of their education, their health and their wealth.  

The transition into 2012 is an opportunity to build upon our successes. The ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp has continued to attract the best and brightest middle school students across the country. Our longitudinal survey of past campers has helped us to track them and in 2012, we will see our class of 2007 8th graders graduate from high school. Truly remarkable! The Dream Tour reached over 19,000 students in the United States and Africa by visiting larger venues with an enhanced program. This year's Dream Tour will  be even bigger and better. Its companion program, The Educational Forum, has matured since its inception in 2008 and this year, we will take it to Capitol Hill, sharing our findings with congressional leaders.

In the area of health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders program identified a new cohort of leaders working to erase disparities in health care. Their inspiring work - delivering programs to ensure healthy, nutritious meals for the homeless and providing early breast detection for low-income women to name a few - reaches communities in great need. These leaders continue to provide a unique prospective to our work.

We are excited about  all that 2012 has to offer - introducing new partners, developing new programs and exploring the myriad possibilities in education, health and wealth. Most importantly, we are blessed to have the opportunity to continue the work that we feel is most important - helping our children and communities to recognize their potential and pursue their dreams. We welcome you to follow us in 2012 both on our social media and in our quarterly newsletters.

EDUCATION:

Dare to Dream

In the 2010-2011 school year, the Dare to Dream program reached nearly 250 students at ten schools representing five school districts in Harris County (Texas). As they engaged in the crime prevention and character development program, these 3rd-6th graders set goals for their future, conducted community service projects, visited college campuses, and were mentored by the FBI, Harris County Juvenile Probation Department and Communities in Schools staff. Click here for more information on the program or here to view pictures. 

ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps

The EMBHSSCs were hosted at 25 universites, reaching over 1200 middle school students. These students represented 820 schools and were taught by 123 teachers. Including campers, junior camp counselors and family and student outreach participants, the EMBHSSC reached over 4500 pepole. Click here to to read about students creating spacesuit swatches, learning about Extreme Engineering and experiencing STEM as it comes alive on field excursions.

THF's longitudinal study of past campers surveyed those students who had recently completed 9th grade. Of the 244 respondents, 90% stated that the summer science camp had influenced their decision to particiapte in AP classes, 98% said they planned to attend college after high school (79.5% credit EMBHSSC with influencing their decision) and 78% plan to pursue advanced STEM training or dgree. As the 2007 8th graders now graduate high school, THF looks forward to sharing these and other results of our continued longitudinal study.

The Dream Tour visited 4 cities (New York, Washington D.C. Dallas and San Antonio), engaging over 17,000 students from 125 schools in the United States. The international Dream Tour stops in Angola, Nigeria and South Africa reached an additional 2,000 students.

Click here to view pictures and video.

The ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Math and Science Scholarship awarded college monies to four college-bound students pursuing STEM degrees. Click here to read more about these inspiring students.  

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HEALTH:   

Since 1993 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leader Award has been presented to 187 individuals representing 45 states and Puerto Rico. Long after these exemplary leaders receive the awards, their passionate work continues. This past year was no different.  RWJF-Community Health Leaders continued their inspiring work in the community by appearing on CSPAN to advocate for equality in health care (Gary Wiltz, RWJF-CHL 1996) and securing funding for asthma programs in Harlem (Ray Lopez, RWJF-CHL 1998).

Past RWJF-Community Health Leaders were also recognized throughout 2011 for their fabulous work. Awards received include: A Spirit of Excellence Award from Dade County Medical Association (Cheryl Holder, RWJF-CHL 1994), the American Indian Woman of the Year award (Wehona Stabler, RWJF-CHL 2007) and a Georgia Prevention Pioneer Award (Jennie Trotter, RWJF-CHL 1998). 

The last Dream Tour stop of 2011 brought us to the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Irving area. To hear and read about this stop, click below:

Dr. Harris featured on CBS-Dallas/Fort Worth 

The Dream Tour featured on CBS-Dallas/Fort Worth