(Dallas, Texas, April 7, 2016) – Eric Heineman, College Bound Advisor at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, a member of Young Women’s Preparatory Network, was honored with the 2016 William W. Fleming Award from the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling (TACAC). He received this prestigious award at TACAC’s annual conference at the Horseshoe Bay Resort on April 3.
Established in 1996, the award honors a TACAC member who has served students at least 10 years and who has been assessed by colleagues as meeting high standards of honesty, decency and commitment to a good match between student and college. The award is named in honor of William W. Fleming, a TACAC leader who cared about helping young people find the best college match.
“We congratulate Eric on receiving this impressive award as he goes above and beyond his call of duty every day to help our students find the right fit for college,” said Jeanne Goka, Ann Richards School principal. “For example, he recently took a group of admitted seniors to Texas Tech to tour the campus and to meet with Ann Richards School alumnae who already attend the university, so that their transition would be even more smooth.”
Lynn McBee, Young Women’s Preparatory Network CEO, said, “We congratulate Eric on this honor as he advocates for our students who, along with their families, are navigating the college process. The college preparatory environment on our campuses creates an atmosphere of high academic expectations, achievement and accountability that is a rarity in the public school environment.”
College Bound Advisors (CBA) play a critical role for mostly low-income students to provide hands-on assistance for helping them apply for the right college. They work with the students and their families to educate them, help them find the best fit, introduce them to college campuses, help prepare them to take the SAT and ACT, and then help them through the application and financial aid process.
Through the College Bound program, Heineman provides college guidance and application support services for nearly 800 girls in grades 6 through 12. More than 60% of the school’s population are the first in their families to attend college. In the school’s first three years of graduates, 100% have enrolled in college with a total of $19 million in scholarship offers.
Previously, Heineman spent 18 years in the admissions office at Rice University, serving ultimately as director of recruitment. He worked in all aspects of undergraduate recruitment and selection, with experience in student life, NCAA athletics liaison, and has significant experience in financial aid, scholarships and application processing. He has also worked as an independent college planning consultant in Austin.
Another College Bound Advisor in the YWPN, Ann Marano of Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, received this significant award in 2015.
YWPN network schools currently serve students in grades 6 through 12 on seven campuses across the state of Texas. YWPN’s results are amazing—100 percent of the girls graduate from high school and 100 percent are accepted into college. Sixty-eight percent of all students come from economically disadvantaged homes, and 68 percent of the Class of 2015 are first generation college students.
About Young Women’s Preparatory Network:
Founded in 2002, the Young Women’s Preparatory Network is a nonprofit agency that partners with public school districts across the state of Texas to operate the largest network of all-girls, public, college preparatory schools in the nation. The organization provides funding and other resources to schools in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Houston, Lubbock and San Antonio. The eighth school will open in Ysleta ISD in El Paso in the fall 2016. Each YWPN school features a STEM-focused curriculum and is largely attended by disadvantaged students who are second-generation immigrants. The core values are college readiness, leadership development, and wellness life skills. In 2014-2015, the network’s 247 graduates received more than $29 million in academic and merit scholarships and have matriculated to 87 different colleges and universities. More information can be found at http://youngwomensprep.org/.
About the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders:
Opened in 2007, the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders (ARS) is a public college preparatory school of choice in the Austin Independent School District serving girls in 6th through 12th grades, the majority of whom come from economically disadvantaged families. With a curriculum focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) the school nurtures the whole student, providing academic and enrichment opportunities that expand their horizons and give them tools to become confident and competent leaders, improve their communities and graduate from college.
