Reach for the Stars ATX, an organization that provides workshops for children, will begin offering an after-school enrichment program for elementary school students at Lake Travis ISD this fall. The program was founded by Barbara Achilles Minardi in late 2022, who has spent time as a substitute teacher in the school district.

In her time working at LTISD, Achilles Minardi noticed the number of enrichment programs offered after school for students. She set up a meeting with the district and pitched Reach for the Stars ATX.

“I’ve worked with children pretty much my whole life,” Achilles Minardi said. “When I was in high school, I was an etiquette [assistant] coach. ... That gave me the background, [and] maybe something would work where I’m living now, but I wanted to tweak it a little bit. I didn’t want it to be super old fashioned.”

A lot of the programming at Reach for the Stars ATX is centered around education-based workshops that deal with a range of topics from social etiquette to communication skills and resiliency.

Achilles Minardi has held numerous workshops for children at the Lakeway Activity Center and the Hill Country Galleria. Some workshops are open to the public, while others are private at exclusive golf and country clubs.

“While I am happy to have the opportunity to have my workshops at these esteemed locations, my ultimate goal is to have them available to the general public around Austin and San Antonio, where I’m originally from, as well as in schools,” Achilles Minardi said.