Giving Back to the Community in Puebla, Mexico

BTE Student Stories

As the BTE Puebla, Mexico, site graduated earlier this year, we are happy to share a few words from Site Coordinator Gabriela Hernandez. At the end of the BTE program, each BTE Puebla participant wrote their own Story of Change, reflecting on their BTE experience – we are also pleased to be able to share a few of their words as well.

Gabriela shares:

In the final stretch of the program, the BTE students strengthened their leadership and participation, sharing with their community a little of what they have learned in the BTE program throughout these 3 years. During their last quarter of their final year, BTE Puebla students organized and ran the Science Fair. They created and shared scientific experiments with their community, presenting to more than 300 classmates from their school. This is one of many sciences-related activities that we have implemented over the last three years. Activities such as this one have helped many students explore career options in the STEM field but also have helped many of them decide what to major in once they start college. In addition to helping them explore their career options, it also helped them work on their soft skills such as communication and presentations. We are proud to see how our students have grown.

BTE Participant Uriel reflects:

Unas de las cosas más divertidas y que nuca se me va a olvidar es que en una pared del plantel 18 hicimos un mural entre los compañeros del colegio y los integrantes del programa. También nos regalaron sudaderas, playeras, lonche en cada sesión. Hicimos una feria de ciencias, para la cual tuvimos sesiones para poder armar nuestros proyectos científicos por equipos, a mi equipo nos tocó hacer unos péndulos bailarines. Me pareció bastante interesante que hiciéramos una feria de ciencias en la escuela ya que nuca se había visto algún tipo de eventos como ese y que los mismos alumnos del plantel lo dirigieran y participaran.

One of the most fun things that I will never forget is that on a wall of campus 18, my schoolmates and members of the BTE program made a mural. They also gave us sweatshirts, t-shirts, and lunch at each session. We did a science fair – we had sessions to assemble our scientific projects by teams. My team had to make some dancing pendulums. I thought it was quite interesting that we had a science fair at school since we had never seen any kind of event like that. Also, the same students from the school directed and participated.

Para ir finalizando esta linda experiencia me gustaría comentar que tuvimos bastantes excursiones a universidades , museos, fue algo súper increíble ya que en los programas de la escuela no hay ningún viaje o excursión y tener varias oportunidades con el BTE es algo de lo que estoy bastante agradecido.

To end this beautiful experience, I would like to comment that we had many excursions to universities, museums, it was something super incredible since in the school programs there are no trips or excursions and having several opportunities with the BTE program is something I am very grateful for.

BTE Participant Evelyn reflects:

Cuando salí como beneficiaria del programa, me sentí muy feliz. Desde el primer año comencé a notar cambios tanto personal como académicamente, logré interactuar con compañeros de diferentes grupos, trabajar en equipo, aportar mis ideas y respetar la de los demás. Fui más empática. Descubrí nuevas habilidades y gustos que no sabía que tenía, como el amor hacia el arte, las manualidades, y que las matemáticas en realidad no son difíciles, solo es cuestión de práctica y paciencia. Este programa también me ayudó a conocer nuevas carreras, de esa manera logre elegir cuál será la carrera que voy a estudiar. Esto ocurrió gracias a las visitas a la planta de Johnson & Johnson y las visitas a UPAEP y UNAM.

Estoy muy agradecida con BTE por todo lo que me brindó, fue una experiencia muy bonita que recordaré siempre.

When I came out as a beneficiary of the program, I felt very happy. From the first year I began to notice changes both personally and academically, I was able to interact with colleagues from different groups, work as a team, contribute my ideas and respect that of others. I was more empathetic. I discovered new skills and interests that I didn’t know I had, such as a love of art and crafts, and that math isn’t really difficult, it’s just a matter of practice and patience. This program also helped me learn about new careers, so I was able to choose what career I am going to study. This occurred thanks to visits to the Johnson & Johnson plant and visits to UPAEP and UNAM.

I am very grateful to BTE for everything they gave me, it was a very nice experience that I will always remember.

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For more information on BTE Puebla, visit their Site Page!