{"id":102075,"date":"2025-12-27T05:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T05:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/102075\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T05:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T05:28:10","slug":"el-paso-high-school-senior-selected-for-u-s-senate-youth-program-in-d-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/102075\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso high school senior selected for U.S. Senate Youth Program in D.C."},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 A Burges High School senior is joining 103 other students nationwide to participate in the prestigious United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP), \u201cearning recognition as one of the nation\u2019s most promising young leaders,\u201d read the news release from the El Paso Independent School District.<\/p>\n

Catalina Gutierrez, a senior at Burges HS, is one of two students who will represent Texas at the USSYP in Washington, D.C., from March 7-14. Students will participate in an intensive study about the federal government, meeting with senators, high-ranking officials and Supreme Court justices.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very surprised when I found out,\u201d Gutierrez said. \u201cThere was so much competition for this program. To be able to interact with student leaders from across the nation and with political leaders from our government is really amazing and eye-opening.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program \u2014 hosted by Vice President J.D. Vance, U.S. Senators John Thune and Chuck Schumer \u2014 is to encourage American youth in civic engagement and leadership. According to the USSYP, many program alumni have gone to serve as elected officials, judges and leaders in public service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always been interested in politics since I was very little,\u201d Gutierrez said. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor to serve and represent both my state and my city of El Paso. I\u2019m really grateful for the support I\u2019ve received from El Paso ISD and my role models, especially my advisor, Ruth Bolin, who helped me grow into the leader I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to participating in the USSYP, Gutierrez will receive a $10,000 scholarship, funded by the Hearst Foundations.<\/p>\n

EPISD said Gutierrez plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin and major in government and public policy.<\/p>\n

Gutierrez demonstrated leadership throughout her high school career at Burges. She has been active in the school\u2019s orchestra, served as Vice President in the National Honor Society, and leads the Burges varsity swim team.<\/p>\n

She has also served as a State Conference Co-Coordinator for the Texas Association of Student Councils, where she helped organize the annual convention hosted by EPISD schools Burges and Coronado High Schools in Arlington.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to engaging with our nation\u2019s leaders and working with individuals who bring different views and perspectives on public policy,\u201d Gutierrez said. \u201cI hope to educate myself, have those tough conversations with our leaders, and better understand the solutions our government is working toward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burges High School Principal Jason Yturralde said Gutierrez\u2019s dedication and leadership are seen both on and off campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students continue to exceed our expectations every day,\u201d Yturralde said. \u201cWe have always believed in Catalina, and she truly deserves this honor. She represents Burges High School and El Paso ISD exceptionally well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beto Guerrero, an instructor at Burges, agreed with Yturralde and noted Gutierrez\u2019s involvement and leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cCatalina has proven to everyone that she is a natural-born leader,\u201d Guerrero said. \u201cShe is always involved in everything on campus, and it\u2019s only natural that she was selected for this program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 A Burges High School senior is joining 103 other students nationwide to participate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[46604,24457,46605,138,140,14237,139,46607,27,46606],"class_list":["post-102075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-burges-high-school","tag-catalina","tag-catalina-gutierrez","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-isd","tag-el-paso-news","tag-supreme-court-justices","tag-texas","tag-texas-association-of-student-councils"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}