Dallas/Fort Worth Awards 22 Scholarships
The airports of the future should be safe, entertaining places where customers come first, stereotypes are broken and diverse services are offered, area young people say.
As Crystal Revilla, a student at Dallas' Skyline Center, puts it in an essay: "The more the consumer sees at my airport that we really do care about them, the more trusting they will be with our services."
Words of wisdom, said Jeff Wentworth, chairman of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, during a Wednesday luncheon to recognize 22 area high school students who submitted winning essays to D/FW's second annual "Share the Dream" contest.
D/FW was dedicated to the youth of the future by former Gov. John Connally. In keeping with that, D/FW officials celebrated the airport's 30th anniversary last year with the first "Share the Dream" contest.
Essay committee members seek to reward students who have overcome adversity in their lives, or who "knuckled down and did the right thing," said Joe Lopano, D/FW executive vice president of marketing and revenue management.
Each winner got a $200 scholarship, a special medallion and a gift basket. But beyond that, "more than the money, what this says is we believe in you," a tearful Linda Valdez-Thompson, executive vice president of administration, told award winners.
Whether it comes from a parent, teacher, counselor -- or D/FW Airport -- best wishes for the future go with them, Valdez-Thompson said.
"It's important to reach your goals -- to reach them the way you imagine them," said Letha Craven, a senior at the KEYS Learning Center in Euless.
A self-proclaimed former "bad kid" who often ditched school, Craven credits her English teacher, Pat Graham, with helping her focus on writing.
Graham, who sat with Craven at the awards luncheon, said she has high hopes for Craven and will push her to go to college.
- Science and Engineering Magnet School, Dallas: Jesus Gomez, Rodolfo Guerra
- David W. Carter High School, Dallas: Breyanna Price, Dorothy Martin
- Success High School, Fort Worth: Rebekah Quiroz, Shagayo Whitley
- Nimitz High School, Irving: Daniel Camara, Alex Anderson
- KEYS Learning Center, Euless: Letha Craven, Gustavo Rangel
- Newcomer Career Academy/Success, Fort Worth: Rafael Gallegos, Luis Gonzalez
- Carter-Riverside High School, Fort Worth: Luis Hernandez, Nydia Perez
- Polytechnic High School, Fort Worth: Jose Guevara, Nestor Almanza
- Boulevard Heights Transition Center, Fort Worth: Craig Poling, Michael Sherman
- International Newcomer Academy, Fort Worth: Alejandro Orocio, Arnold Contreras
- Skyline Center, Dallas: Ana Karla Boteo, Crystal Revilla