Horton’s Kids empowers children growing up in DC’s most under-resourced communities to graduate from high school ready for success in college, career, life.
WorldStrides scholarships offer career-focused experiences for K-12 students to test-drive their career passions in 2024.
WASHINGTON – December 19, 2023 – WorldStrides, a global provider of educational student travel and experiential learning, is excited to partner with Horton’s Kids – an award-winning DC nonprofit serving children and families in Ward 8 – to provide three K-12 students with full scholarships to pursue life-changing, career-focused experiences in 2024.
Horton’s Kids empowers children growing up in DC’s most under-resourced communities so that they graduate from high school ready for success in college, career, and life. The organization serves 600 children and families living in Southeast DC neighborhoods that have been profoundly impacted by decades of disinvestment and barriers to opportunity.
The graduation rate for Horton’s Kids participants is twice the neighborhood average.
“Having worked in the college readiness and non-traditional education space for almost two decades, it’s humbling to align with an organization like Horton’s Kids that truly makes an impact in the lives of its students,” said Dr. Jan Sikorsky, VP Product Innovation, Envision by WorldStrides. “Their students’ high school graduation rates and social and emotional learning (SEL) skills development prove that access is often the only barrier for student success.”
Horton’s Kids operates three Community Resource Centers in Southeast DC, providing children and families with transformative programs and opportunities just steps away from where they live. For over 55 years, WorldStrides has been creating immersive experiential learning opportunities to encourage students of all ages to pursue passion-fueled education outside of the classroom.
The scholarships will provide these K-12 students the opportunity to test-drive their career interests and explore their futures by choosing from the many life-changing, career-focused experiences offered by Envision by WorldStrides.
“Our goal is to see every child graduate from high school ready for college, career, and life,” said Erica Ahdoot, Executive Director, Horton’s Kids. “Children enrolled in Horton’s Kids’ programs are twice as likely to graduate from high school – and students are eager to discover what’s possible for their futures. The career-focused experiences offered by WorldStrides give our students the tools to explore their interests, discover a path to college or a career, and reach their goals.”
The scholarship recipients from Horton’s Kids chose to participate in the following WorldStrides programs in 2024:
- Na’Kari Bennaugh (fifth grader) – National Young Scholars Program in New York
- Imagee Jackson (sixth grader) – National Youth Leadership Forum Explore STEM in Atlanta
- Zionna Cooper (ninth grader) – National Youth Leadership Forum Law & CSI at the University of Maryland, College Park
“We are thrilled to partner with Horton’s Kids to provide career-focused experiences that further empower their students to graduate and succeed in life,” said Jim Cigliano, Executive Vice President, Envision by WorldStrides. “Our career-focused programs help students grow, experience life-changing moments and discover their futures. I am excited for Na’Kari, Imagee and Zionna to pursue their passions with WorldStrides through educational travel and experiential learning opportunities outside the classroom.”
To learn more about Envision by WorldStrides, visit envisionexperience.com and worldstrides.com.
About WorldStrides
WorldStrides is the global leader in educational travel and experiential learning. The company was founded in 1967 to provide middle school travel programs to Washington, D.C., and has grown to provide a wide range of programs for more than 550,000 students annually to over 100 countries around the world. WorldStrides offers experiential learning programs in educational travel, performing arts, language immersion, career exploration, service-learning, study abroad, and sports. Each of these experiences helps students to see beyond the classroom and to see the world – and themselves – in new ways.
About Horton’s Kids
For 35 years, Horton’s Kids has worked to remove systemic barriers to opportunity for children and families in Southeast DC’s most under-resourced neighborhoods. Each year our comprehensive programs and services support the physical, educational, and social-emotional development of over 600 children and families. We work to ensure that every community member – regardless of their age or circumstance – has access to the tools they need to thrive.
For questions, please contact:
Mary Callas, WorldStrides maryca@worldstrides.com
Edward Ruddy, Sloane PR ERuddy@sloanepr.com
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