Mayor honors student for volunteer efforts

When Rice senior Tony Castilleja looks at the young faces in the classrooms of Houston’s urban schools, he sees himself.

Castilleja has dedicated countless hours to helping high school students understand and meet the expectations of their future colleges, because not too long ago he was sitting where they are.

As a result of his civic engagements, he is one of 12 people who was honored at Houston Mayor Bill White’s Volunteer Houston Awards dinner in May.

“To be able to connect with (students) and see a part of me in them, when I was at that level, and at the same time have them see themselves in me—that’s very gratifying,” Castilleja said.

The Hanszen College student who graduated this month made a mark during his undergraduate years. He was president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at Rice, and helped organize the Hispanic Engineering National Achievement Awards Conference, which returned to Houston last October.

But Castilleja is probably most proud of DREAM, short for “Designing with Rice Engineers—for Achievement through Mentorship.” He founded the program two years ago along with senior bioengineering student Daniela Rimer and Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Assistant Professor Brent Houchens.

DREAM began by teaming Rice undergraduates with students at Austin High School on Houston’s east side to prepare them for studying science, math and engineering. This year, the program extended its reach to Chavez High School and KIPP Academy in Houston and now serves about 120 high school students in all.

“I’ve really striven to give back to the community,” said Castilleja, a native of Baytown, who plans to begin working toward a master’s in engineering at Rice in the fall. “The society of Hispanic Professional Engineers gave me the opportunity to promote education, college and engineering to a lot of students in our community.”

Mike Williams, Rice News