Providence Student Brian Estrada Chosen to Attend National Youth Leadership Summit

Only 30 students selected nationwide this year

Providence, R.I., June 10, 2009 – Brian Estrada, a graduating senior at Mount Pleasant High School, has been selected to attend the 7th Annual National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) Youth Leadership Summit, which will be held in San Francisco, Calif., July 18-22. He will represent Rhode Island as one of only 30 students selected nationwide this year to attend the Summit.

All participants in the NCCEP Youth Leadership Summit are students from schools served by Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), a federal program designed to increase the number of low-income youth who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. Students across the country are selected in a competitive application process based on their academic achievement, leadership experience, essay, and letters of recommendation. Estrada was eligible to apply because he is a member of The College Crusade of Rhode Island, which is the state’s designated GEAR UP partner.

During the Summit, students work collectively to create a report focused on what educators should consider when designing strategies and programs aimed at improving student achievement. The report helps business and community leaders, policy makers, and educators understand the issues that students believe to be important for improving student success and strengthening the education system as a whole.

Brian Estrada is ranked 10th in his class at Mount Pleasant High School, in Providence, and is involved in a range of extracurricular leadership activities. As a junior, he served as team captain in Negotiations for Leaders, a student program sponsored by Raytheon Company, and for the past two years he was vice president of Teens on Target, or TNT, a violence prevention program at the school. He is also active in school sports, including soccer and basketball. Estrada will enter Johnson & Wales University on a scholarship in the fall.

The mission of The College Crusade is to increase educational and career success for youth in Rhode Island’s low-income urban communities. Approximately 3,700 middle school and high school students in Rhode Island are members of the organization. The majority of them attend public schools in Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket. Membership in The College Crusade provides each student with sustained adult mentorship and seven years of free college-readiness programs and services from grade 6 through high school graduation.

For more information about NCCEP, GEAR UP and the Youth Leadership Summit, please visit www.edpartnerships.org or contact NCCEP at 202-530-1135. For more information about The College Crusade of Rhode Island, please contact Karen Donovan at 401-854-5506 ext 120 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

About NCCEP: NCCEP maintains offices in Washington, D.C., and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and leads education reform efforts in both countries. NCCEP works with education partnerships funded by the U.S. federal government, the government of Mexico, public and private foundations, and corporations from both the United States and Mexico. For more information about NCCEP, please visit www.edpartnerships.org.

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Contact:
Karen Donovan
Marketing and Communications Officer
401 854 5506 ext 120
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