Brillantes 2025

Back and Brighter

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Brilliance in Learning

Background & Introduction

The Brillantes program was originally designed by professors at the University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas State University. The purpose of the Brillantes program was to use an integrated model of evidence-based STEM learning and teaching practices with culturally relevant strategies for middle-school aged students in Honduras. 

This summer a new cohort of students in 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade participated in Brillantes for the fifth consecutive summer with a second showing for the Brillantes to Go selection of students. For five weeks, 13 students from a small mountain village called El Porvenir (Brillantes to Go) and 17 students from the Instituto Tecnico Pedro Nufio school in Danlí were provided a curriculum that was revised to include Snap Circuit kits donated by Texas State University.

Research data was collected with the purpose of studying the impact of Brillantes on academics and attitudes towards STEM careers.

Brillantes Students Participating in Different STEM Activities

Brilliant Return

This year marked the return of the Brillantes program for a fifth consecutive year and a second for our Brillantes to Go students. A program with a purpose, our “Brilliant Ones” program incorporated digital enhancements and STEM engagement curriculum along with presentations by Engineering role models. This summer Brillantes had a focus on intensely integrating algebraic reasoning content in addition to our hands-on electrical engineering activities. 

We are very grateful to all our professional volunteers who made the Brillantes program possible. This program has been made possible specifically due to:

• A grant from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee (PCIC). 

• The personal research support of faculty at the University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas State University. 

• The in-country infrastructure provided by the Manos Scholarship Program, which is a US based non-profit faith-based program providing educational opportunities to low-income students in Honduras.

• The Iglesia Episcopal Manos de Dios for providing the facility and necessary staffing, as well as the Instituto Tecnico Pedro Nufio for their contribution in providing the mathematics teacher and assisting in student recruitment for the Brillantes Program.

Brillantes Closing Class & Ceremony

Shining Ahead

With five years behind us and the hope of the future ahead of us, we feel blessed to say that our students are walking on paths proven by those who have gone before them. We want to thank all our donors, volunteers, professionals, and most of all our students for making this journey possible! STEM dreams can come true and our students in Honduras are equipped to shine bright in the field of their choosing.

We hope to continue being a light for change in the community of Danlí so that these students can walk out into the world bearing light and love to lead the way, brilliantly. See you next summer!