With the summer upon us, here at the Harris Foundation find ourselves in the midst of another exciting milestone worth celebrating.  Last week we began our 2015 ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps (EMBHSSC) season.  I'm proud to say that this year marks our 10th anniversary with our summer science camp program.  It amazes me how fast time flies.  And this summer, we are "Celebrating a Decade of Promoting STEM Academic Achievement", reaching (updated total 10 year # of students here) with our summer science camps across the nation.  We are proud to welcome three new universities this summer; North Carolina Central University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and the University of Southern Mississippi to the EMBHSSC family. After ten years of service, we are still reaching new territories and welcoming new students to the EMBHSSC experience.  

Our Dare to Dream (DTD) program is also approaching its 20th anniversary of working with schools in Greater Houston Area. In wrapping up the 2014-2015 school year, our Dare to Dream (DTD) students attended their end of the year field trip and closing ceremony that took place on the campus of the University of Houston.  Thanks to the support of my good friend and fellow NASA astronaut, Michael Barratt, for attending this year's closing ceremony.  He gave our DTD students a learning experience that was "out of this world".  For many of these students, this was an experience that may have sparked their desire and determination to continue their pursuit of higher education.  Anytime you can be a part of igniting that positive spark in a young child's mind, you play a role in helping to shape their future. We look forward to being able to expand this program in the near future. 

Our RockIt! financial literacy program has had such great success that we are now embarking on expanding the program into community centers throughout the Houston area.  After only three years, the program has made such an impact that we will be conducting the program beyond the regular school year.  This summer we have partnered up with some of our local area Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCAs to offer RockIt! as part of to their summer learning enrichment program.  The program's curriculum is definitely proving to be an great asset to the students and instructors involved. 

We are pleased to announce that through our recent partnership with TEN80 Education, The Harris Foundation and TEN80 hosted its first STEM Expo and National STEM League (NSL) Challenge in Houston a few weeks ago.  The Expo was open to all middle and high school students from across the Houston region interested in testing their innovative ideas and skills in the Student Racing Challenge.  It was an amazing experience to witness over a 1000 young innovators show their creative and entreprenuerial skills.

Lastly, we launched the Innovative Medical Missions (IMM), a new health initiative of The Harris Foundation that promotes the innovative use of medical technologies in support of philanthropic healthcare missions worldwide.  For the June 2015 inaugural deployment of this device to Belen, Peru, where the LifeBot 5 will support a team of PNSO doctors performing surgical outreach in resource limited communities in the Amazon region. 

We will be busy throught the nation again this summer.  Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and twitter!  As always, I appreciate you and thank you for your continued support. 

Bernard A. Harris, Jr.

President and Founder

 

 

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