It’s a once-in-a-lifetime educational and mentoring program that inspires teens at Walt Disney World.
- Disney Dreamers Academy helps students discover world of possible careers
- 4-day program includes workshops, guest speakers and sessions
- 100 high school students selected to attend
Rebecca Jean-Louis knows she wants to make a difference in the world.
That's why she is participating in the 10th annual Disney Dreamers Academy.
“My dream, I have many dreams I guess you could say my number one dream is to open a homeless shelter for homeless youth and teens and families," said Jean-Louis, a 12th grade student at Orlando Baptist Temple School in Pine Hills.
Out of thousands of national applicants, Jean-Louis was one of 100 students selected to participate in the academy. It was created in partnership with television personality Steve Harvey.
“If you sat down with a child every 30 days and discussed their dreams, what they dream about because it changes all the time, you would be amazed what you can get from a child. If you just asked them their dreams," Harvey said. "Dreams are everything."
Jean-Louis is taking the mentoring and message to heart.
“Oh, she’s a girl from Pine Hills that came from a homeless family, a single parent home. She’s just going to be another statistic. No, I want to break that statistic. I want to step out of all that negativity," she said.
Whether it is imagineering, engineering, entrepreneurship or any other field, the Disney Dreamers Academy is about unlocking the untapped potential inside every child.
“Whether or not I become a lawyer or a social worker, it’s all pertaining to the whole big dream," Jean-Louis said.
The Disney Dreamers Academy is a four-day, all-expense-paid educational program.
The academy, which features celebrities like Yolanda Adams, Terrence J. and Cam Newton, ends with a graduation ceremony on Sunday.