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 # Meet some Latinos who took part in the White House Science Fair

 


 

 May 28, 2014 1:00 PM ET

  Campaign:  [Education](/news/campaign/education)  

[Originally published on Voxxi](http://voxxi.com/2014/05/27/latinos-white-house-science-fair/)

By [Griselda Nevarez](http://voxxi.com/author/lavoxgnevarez/ "Posts by Griselda Nevarez")

Several Latinos were among the dozens of students who presented their award winning projects at the White House Science Fair on Tuesday.

> “I love this event!” Obama [told](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh7FqxKjlDI) a group of students and teachers attending the White House Science Fair on Tuesday. “This is one of my favorite things all year long.”

The annual science fair featured more than 100 student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from more than 30 states. This year’s fair focused on girls and women who are excelling in STEM and are inspiring the next generation with their work.

Approximately 30 student teams presented their projects at the State Dining Room of the White House on Tuesday. Obama walked around the room and spoke to the students about their projects.

## Here are some of the Latinos who presented:

**Juan Ramos, 17 (Dallas, TX)**  
Having moved to the United States from El Salvador two years ago, Juan Ramos barely spoke a word of English. But he quickly caught up and recently launched JJ New World, a company that creates software programs specializing in online games, along with his classmate Amena Jamali. The students’ premier game, dubbed “Better than History,” helps players think critically and view the world through a more informed lens as they navigate alternative endings to true historical events. Both students plan to use the income raised from their business to fund scholarships and poverty reduction programs in India and El Salvador, their families’ countries of origin. They recently won 1st place at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) North Texas Regional Business Plan Challenge, and were quarter-finalists in NFTE’s National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.

**Cassandra Baquero, 13; Caitlin Gonzolez, 12; Janessa Leija, 11 (Los Fresnos, TX)**  
Together, the three girls — as part of an all-girl team of app-builders from Resaca Middle School in Texas — designed an innovative solution to help one of their visually impaired classmates. The students built “Hello Navi,” an app that gives verbal directions to help users navigate unfamiliar spaces based on measurements of a user’s stride and digital building-blueprints. The service makes use of common digital tools such as a compass and optical Braille readers and can be tailored for use in any building. The girls’ invention made them one of eight teams to win the recent Verizon Innovative App Challenge, and also earned their school a $20,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation.

Click **[here](http://voxxi.com/2014/05/27/latinos-white-house-science-fair/)** to read the full article from the original source, VOXXI.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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