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High School High Scholar students spend five weeks in Colorado annually before their sophomore, junior and senior years. (Courtesy photo | High School High Scholar)
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Amanda Toledo Barrios’ freshman biology teacher at Paschal High School handed her a pamphlet.

“You should apply to this,” he said.

The pamphlet detailed a science, technology, engineering and math program called High School High Scholar, or HS². Students spend five weeks of their summers before sophomore, junior and senior years in Colorado, where they learn about universities and STEM careers, take college classes and enjoy the great outdoors.

After school, Toledo Barrios passed the HS² pamphlet to her parents.

“You’ve never been alone,” she says they told her, “especially out of state for so long.”

“I’ll apply to it,” Toledo Barrios said. “I probably won’t even get in.”

Fort Worth roots

HS² is geared toward first-generation college students and students from low-income families from Fort Worth, program director Annie Oppenheim said. Students from New Orleans, New York City and Denver also qualify.HS² has roots in Fort Worth. Mollie and Garland Lasater, a Fort Worth philanthropic couple, established a scholarship fund for the program.

Every summer, the program admits 25 new students. Annually, 75 students participate.

How can I apply?

Students are eligible for High School High Scholar if they:

Attend ninth grade at a traditional public high school or a charter high school in Fort Worth, Denver, New Orleans or New York City.

Qualify for free or reduced lunch and/or they are the first in their family to attend college.

Have an interest in STEM.

Excel in their academics; often score in the top 10% of their class.

You can submit your application here.

Have additional questions about eligibility? Email hs2@hs2.crms.org.

For many students, acceptance into HS² comes with many firsts, Oppenheim said. First trip on an airplane. First time away from parents for an extended period. First time leaving their state and, sometimes, even their hometown.

“For a lot of them, it’s also different in this way that initially feels scary, but seeing them work through that fear and that feeling that ‘different’ might equal ‘bad or hard’ and seeing them ease into the experience that’s so different is a really, really beautiful thing to witness,” Oppenheim said.

High School High Scholar students take hands-on classes during their summers. (Courtesy photo | High School High Scholar)

Participants are exposed to a new world of opportunities and connections. They take hands-on courses in biology, computer science and artificial intelligence. 

Students also get a headstart on their classes for the following school year. If calculus is on their class roster, HS² solidifies the fundamentals of the high-level math class.

Aside from academics, students spend time outside in nature. They hike trails around their school. They even hop into a kayak and scull the nearby waters.

Students in High School High Scholar participate in outdoor activities like kayaking outside of their STEM classes. (Courtesy photo | High School High Scholar)

Everything in the summer program is geared toward a singular goal: bolster their success in high school and prepare them for the nation’s best colleges.

HS² shows students how to apply for college and receive financial aid. A college counseling class walks them through the entire process and even helps match students to universities that best fit their needs and wants.

A 2020 study that the program conducted found 9 in 10 HS² alumni graduate college within four to six years. 

Roughly 4 in 10 Texas students attending a traditional four-year college earn their degree within four years, according to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board data.

“That far outperforms basically any other average of college graduate rates. Be it high income, white — whatever it may be, 90% is a super high number,” Oppenheim said.

‘An option that I can pursue’

The summer before high school, Toledo Barrios made up her mind. She planned to pursue aerospace engineering in college.

“I like space. I really like space. I’m sort of good at math. Maybe this is an option that I can pursue,” Toledo Barrios said, recalling her train of thought.

Her family, though, had never navigated the higher education landscape. They didn’t know much about college, the application process or financial aid. 

Toledo Barrios knew HS² would help her.

And it did.

She was better prepared for her high school classes. She figured out her undergraduate college and decided to seek advanced degrees afterward. 

Her summers in Colorado prepared her beyond academics.

“It definitely taught me how to be independent,” she said.

Toledo Barrios earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Her major? Aerospace engineering.

Now, Toledo Barrios is working on her doctorate in space engineering from the California Institute of Technology. She expects to graduate in about a year.

Toledo Barrios, 26, is still considering her options after she earns her doctorate. She might stay in academia as a professor because few Latinas teach engineering. Or she might enter the aerospace industry and work for a company like SpaceX.

“So, that’s something I’ll have to decide next year,” Toledo Barrios said. “But, for now, I’m just cruising on my research.”

HS² helped Toledo Barrios achieve her dreams. 

“It was a life-changing experience,” she said. “I don’t think I would be where I am without it.”

Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.