DENVER, CO--(Marketwired - May 6, 2016) - Dulce Cabrera, a student at Denver Center for International Studies (DCIS) at Montbello and a member of the Colorado I Have A Dream® Foundation (CIHAD) Weill Class, recently traveled to New York City to mark her college admission at the third annual National College Signing Day event hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. The April 26 celebration of high school seniors choosing to continue their education at a professional training program, community college, or four-year college or university was attended by more than 4,000 graduating students. Cabrera, who has been accepted into the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs where she plans to major in engineering, said the trip was "like a dream come true" and looks forward to sharing the experience with her fellow Dreamers in Denver. An honor platoon commander for her school's ROTC program, she maintains a 3.5 GPA. In 2015, Cabrera represented the Weill Class at the National Dreamers Conference in Boston and received CIHAD's prestigious Summit Award in recognition of academic excellence, triumph over personal obstacles, and personal commitment to the betterment of her community. 

Brisa Aguilar-Velazquez, a member of the Records-Rainaldi Class of 2018, is gearing up for her second summer in the High School High Scholars (HS)2 program, which provides a three-year residential learning environment in mathematics and sciences for students traditionally underrepresented in these fields. Only one student from each grade level at her school (STRIVE Excel) was selected to participate in this very competitive program based in Carbondale, Colo. In 2015, Aguilar-Velazquez was a recipient of CIHAD's Summit Award.

Denver Active 23-30 Class member Olivia Pike, is looking forward to attending this summer's National Student Leadership Conference in Boston, Mass. During her nine-day trip, Pike will participate in a program focused on psychology and neuroscience, during which students will delve into the science of the mind to learn about child development, personality types and how to motivate others. Through clinical psychology simulations and hands-on neurology labs, attendees also will explore the relationships between the brain and human behavior.

Yoselin Estacuy of CIHAD's Denver Active 20-30 Class will participate this summer in the Medical Career Collaborative (MC2) program that explores the different fields of medicine and provides each intern an opportunity to work in the area of her choice. Estacuy will be doing her internship at Denver Health, where she is planning to work in pediatrics. The program also includes workshops, volunteer opportunities at the hospital, and a chance to tour different sections of the facility. In 2015, in addition to receiving CIHAD's Summit Award, Estacuy volunteered at the Christmas Festival at Children's Hospital for youngsters with Down syndrome and attended workshops about various types of therapies and about HIV.

Since its founding in 1988, CIHAD has developed and fine-tuned a comprehensive one-on-one support and advocacy model for participants, who are affectionately called Dreamers. The long-term academic and social mentorship program, which has impacted the lives of more than 990 Colorado boys and girls who live in economically-disadvantaged neighborhoods and/or attend underperforming schools in Metro Denver, includes academic enrichment services, social-emotional supports, global cultural exploration activities, experiential learning, community service projects, internship and corporate networking experiences, collegiate coaching and tuition assistance for higher education. One of the most critical and beneficial aspects of the program model is the fact that these services are in place for students from the time of their class/school selection in kindergarten up-and- through post-secondary pursuits. For more information about CIHAD, visit http://www.cihadf.org/.