Flor Jasmin Cruz Chavez, a Falls Church resident and spring 2015 graduate of J.E.B. Stuart High School’s International Baccalaureate program, was one of 21 college-bound high school graduates from across the county chosen for the Smithsonian Latino Center’s Young Ambassadors Program.
All of the students chosen for the program recently participated in a Week in Washington program and have returned to their communities to participate in a four-week paid internship at a museum or cultural center. Cruz Chavez, who is headed to McDaniel College in Maryland in the fall, is interning at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
It’s a nice fit for the Stuart grad, who’s interested in civil rights and aspires to be a civil rights attorney, seeing as the gallery currently features the “One Life: Dolores Huerta” collection, which documents the accomplishments of the Latina labor activist.
Now in its 10th year, 201 students have participated in the Young Ambassadors Program, 160 of which participated over the past eight years thanks to the $1.1 million educational commitment from Ford Motor Company Fund. For more information, visit latino.si.edu/Education/YAP.
