Valeria Villacreses has traveled approximately an hour each way from her home to Klein Oak High School for four years to be a part of the International Baccalaureate (I Programme. She believes the commute has been worth the rewards of the IB curriculum. During her high school years, Valeria has been challenged by in-depth learning and a continuing emphasis on improvement of writing skills. An unexpected benefit of the IB program has been meeting students from other cultures. 

Valeria discovered a love of the French language during her ninth grade year. At the area French Symposium, Valeria has competed with other top students, gaining a first and second place overall scores during the past two years. 

Students in the IB program are required to develop their creativity, participate in an activity, and give service. As a means to develop her creativity, Valeria taught arts and crafts in an Alief ISD summer school program at the school where her father is a bi-lingual teacher. For the activity portion of her IB requirement, Valeria has taken swim, dance and aerobics classes. Her service hours have been given at her church where she serves as a cantor and uses her skills as a guitarist to add music to masses. 

Valeria entered the Klein ISD at Klein Intermediate School in the seventh grade from Aldine ISD where she attended school after her family moved to the U.S. from Ecuador. 

Next fall, Valeria will enter Columbia University on a full scholarship. Her goal is to study engineering. Valeria is confident about the future. As she said, “If I put my mind to it, I can achieve it.” 

One of the highlights of Valeria’s life was participating in the World Youth Day Pilgrimage to Australia. She will always remember this opportunity to celebrate mass led by the Pope. To earn the funds to attend, both she and her brother worked for a year accepting a variety of jobs.