Booker T. Washington High School Students Selected as First US Winners of the Endeavour Scholarship

Houston, TX / May 16, 2023 — Four freshman ROTC cadets and a STEM educator representing Houston’s Booker T. Washington High School and the High School for the Engineering Professions (BTWHS/HSEP), have been named the first U.S. winners of the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship.  

Launched at the 2019 International Paris Air Show, the program honors its namesake Worden, who piloted the Apollo 15 Command Module “Endeavour,” for his lifelong dedication to STEM education.  In space communities around the world, scholarship selection committees select students to participate on four-person “Mission Teams” in an all-expenses paid, week-long, hands-on astronaut training experience at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s renowned Space Camp in Huntsville, AL.  

The Houston mission team members are Elizabeth Crescenciano, Ethan Hurtado, Kameron Lavalais, and Paris Mayfield, and their instructor, Dr. Nghia Le, a 19-year veteran project manager and instructor in the school’s Engineering Department. Collectively, they are “Endeavour Mission Team #12,” and join a growing global roster of aspiring young pioneers chosen to represent their home countries as international STEM ambassadors.  

Representing Houston, which many regard as the center of the astronaut universe, and BTWHS/HSEP, a Title 1 magnet school for aerospace and engineering, the U.S. team validates the region’s collective efforts to prepare its students for success, said school Principal, Dr. Carlos R. Phillips II. 

“Our school, our families, and our city are proud to be part of Endeavour Mission Team #12, and to see these four young people and one of our most beloved teachers, Dr. Le, recognized for their academic achievements and ambitions in science, technology, engineering, and math,” said Dr. Phillips. “Just like the many thousands of people who worked on the Apollo program that sent Al Worden and his fellow astronauts to the moon, we are all on a mission to create every opportunity today for our young people to be purposeful and responsible leaders tomorrow.” 

The global Endeavour community shares those same values for learning and leading, said Tom Kallman, President and CEO of Kallman Worldwide, organizer of the U.S. presence at the world’s premiere industry trade shows, and the Endeavour Scholarship Foundation, which administers the program. 

“Every country we work in — and we’ve worked in at least 50 of them over our 60-year history — is facing the same challenges to prepare its young people for the future. Many also see that future in space,” Kallman said. “As an extension of our work advancing global trade in exhibit halls around the world, Endeavour connects with worldwide interest in space to promote STEM careers to the future workforce.”  

Mission teams from Bahrain (#9), Australia (#10), and France (#11), will launch with the U.S. team in Washington, DC on June 30 for a tour of the nation’s capital before flying to Huntsville on July 2. Their missions conclude July 7 with camp graduation featuring commencement speaker, Apollo 16 Lunar Module Pilot and Endeavour Scholarship Ambassador, Charlie Duke. 

“One of the great joys of my life has been talking with young people about the purpose and integrity of the space program and its positive impact on humankind,” said Duke. “As a global citizen, I’m looking forward to speaking to the international Endeavour mission teams at their Space Camp graduation this July. And as a former resident of Texas, I’m extra proud that the first U.S. team is from the Lone Star State!” 

ABOUT KALLMAN WORLDWIDE, INC. 

Since 1963, Kallman Worldwide has worked with individuals and organizations in more than 50 nations to advance global trade in STEM-driven industries. The company’s portfolio of international trade shows, event management services, custom stand building and design, global supply chain networking tools, and workforce advocacy programs connects thousands of buyers and suppliers to more opportunities around the world every year. As an international U.S. representative, Kallman is a strategic partner of the U.S. Department of Commerce and a proud recipient of the President’s “E” and “E Star” Awards for its active role in aiding U.S. exporters and in recognition of its export promotion efforts. The company is headquartered in Waldwick, NJ, with U.S. satellite offices in Washington, DC and Houston, TX, a Latin America office in Santiago, Chile, and a bureau in London, UK. For more information, visit www.kallman.com. 

MEDIA CONTACT 

Taylor Kammerman
Kallman Worldwide, Inc.
Marketing & Communications 
taylork@kallman.com