NHI announces CWS Thought Series for June 2021 at Schreiner University

The National Hispanic Institute proudly announces it will host its CWSx Part 2 – Thought Series program, the long-awaited sequel to last summer’s 2020 CWSx League Series, at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas, on June 6-8, 2021. This event, exclusively for NHIers who graduated from the first-ever digital CWSx, is the last hurrah for the high school Class of 2021 to compete for top awards on community social entrepreneurship projects and participate in the Cording Ceremony that celebrates the continuation of their NHI journey into college.

“We are excited to offer this exclusive program for those students who embarked on the digital CWSx and stuck to their leadership training. While the Great Debate and LDZ programs are experiences built on imagination, the CWS addresses the realities of becoming a young adult and making real-life choices,” Nicole Nieto, Executive Vice President of NHI shared. 

The CWS – Thought Series is arguably the most challenging experience NHI offers to high school students. Students practice asset-based thinking, defending their positions and searching for common ground. They’re also introduced to inquiry-based learning, a strategy that can help NHIers assess and problem-solve in university and professional settings.

“Earlier NHI experiences evaluate how you take a position against an issue,” noted Julio Cotto, NHI’s Senior Vice President for Education and Training. ”You learn to ask questions in order to deconstruct a topic or proposal. At CWS, which is all about true collaboration, you often learn from swallowing your pride, abandoning an attack position, and instead, ask questions that foster innovation, progress, new thinking and ultimately, work towards building a solution.”

“The CWS’s inquiry-based learning is fundamental to future leadership roles within NHI,” Cotto added. “We need people who think deeply seeking to understand the core challenges and opportunities. Our communities stand to benefit from brain power people who are creative, can think, and can envision a road to strong prosperity for our future.”

NHI is working hand and hand with Schreiner University officials to plan for this in-person experience, including all the campus safety requirements and protocols that are currently in place and continuing into the Spring of 2021.

Schreiner’s accommodations included physically removing chairs and tables campus-wide to surpass CDC guidelines for social distancing. They also took strict campus-wide measures with food service, group gathering spaces, sanitization, overall safe distancing, and security detail. 

Additional details will be made available to CWS Part 2 students in the coming weeks, including how to activate their account in NHI’s new online registration system, parent releases, options for attendance, and other policies.

“We’re excited to get things moving for our seniors,” Alma Raymer, Associate Director for Enrollment & Institutional Relations, shared. “Be sure to look out for an email with instructions and details to log in and get your information updated, if necessary, in NHI’s new website. We can’t wait to hear more about your senior year and celebrate all of your accomplishments together!” 

Participants can expect a guest appearance by NHI founder and president Ernesto Nieto for a final send-off for our seniors. NHI will also invite a special guest of faith to bless our seniors as they prepare for the journey into adulthood in a post-pandemic era.  

“We expect many a tear to be shed,” said Cotto.  “It will have been a very tough senior year, and we want our NHIers to know we’re with them.”

Note: The original program dates were for Memorial Day Weekend; the story and URL have been changed to reflect the schedule change.