Excel Academy Student De Leon Receives Scholarship

With development in the City of Boston at an all-time high, the need for professionals in the architecture, construction, and engineering fields is greater than ever.

ACE Mentor Program of Greater Boston, the non-profit organization which introduces high school students to the architecture, construction, and engineering industries, is at the helm of helping develop future talent in those industries.

Eduardo De Leon, a student at Excel Academy Charter High School, is one of the 24 impressive high school students from a community in and around Boston to receive a scholarship this year.

With professional guidance by industry mentors who are full-time employees of construction, design and engineering firms, De Leon participated in a five-month design project and construct a hypothetical project in order to learn about each discipline.

“We are so proud of Eddy and the work he did as part of ACE this year,” said Excel Executive Director Owen Stearns. “The hands-on experiences of this program were the perfect complement to the Construction Estimating course he took at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology this spring as part of Excel’s  dual enrollment program. Both of these experiences have led Edy to decide to pursue a career in the construction field after high school through an electrical apprenticeship and we could not be more proud of him.”

De Leon and other students will be honored at the ACE Mentor Program’s annual networking event on Thursday, May 23, 2019 at the Artists For Humanity EpiCenter in Boston.

The 2019 event will feature remarks by De Leon and 23 other students who received scholarships this year ranging from $3,000 to $13,000 as well as a “Mentor of the Year” award ceremony.

De Leon was recently presented with a $3,000 scholarship by Chair of ACE Scholarship Committee Steve Eustis and ACE Board Chairman Michael Tecci.

“It is with great excitement that we have the opportunity to award these 24 talented students with their scholarships,” said Nigel Gallaher, former Chairman of ACE of Greater Boston. “All of this is possible due to our committed mentors and our ACE volunteers who work tirelessly on top of their full-time jobs to engage our largest group of students in the program, to date. Also, our graduates who have successfully entered careers in the architecture, construction and engineering fields are our best advocates for the program and we can’t them enough.”

ACE of Greater Boston was launched in 2007 and is one of over 70 affiliates under the ACE national umbrella. Through practical, project-based, hands-on explorations, students work collaboratively and creatively to design innovative solutions to real world problems. With professional guidance by esteemed industry mentors who are full-time employees of construction, design and engineering firms, students embark on a five-month design project, through weekly sessions after school, to develop the professionalism, teamwork, and collaboration that the industry requires. During this time, the students construct a hypothetical project in order to learn about each discipline and take part in activities such as the ABX (Architecture Boston Expo) exhibition hall scavenger hunt, site visits, Revit training and trade day.

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