6 EDCAL May 7, 2018
Latino students develop cultural conference
Latinos Unidos Club members from
Righetti, Santa Maria, Delta and Pioneer
Valley high schools organized a recent con-
ference to empower high school students
to celebrate their culture, pursue higher
education and challenge stereotypes.
The Saturday at Santa Maria High
School featured workshops, including Cre-
ating a College Going Culture in SM, No
Labels, Cultural Arts, Keeping Traditions
Alive!, Love Your Lonjas, Helpful Distrac-
tions, Moviendo las Caderas, Indigenous
Pride, and Self-Defense and Life Choices.
Students were encouraged to bring
Members of the Latinos Unidos Club from four Santa Maria high schools are deservedly proud of the Saturday
cultural conference they put together.
GONZALES
Continued from page 3
The events that are facing schools na-
tionwide have varied details, and no matter
how well you plan in your district, what
happens will never go as planned. There is
no “right way.” There are different ways and
the key is practice, practice, practice. And
practice differently.
As our ACSA colleague Superinten-
dent Rick Fitzpatrick shared about their
shooting on Nov. 14 at Rancho Tehama
Elementary in Corning, “there is no normal
- you will never be the same.” Even topics
like how you fill in the holes from bullets,
how you provide long-term counseling and
support for staff and students, and how you
deal with the impact of PTSD on a school
community need to be considered when
thinking how can you really design plans
their parents or guardians, who were also
offered workshops in Spanish and English.
In their workshops, parents got to hear
from a panel of students about their daily
challenges. They also discussed ways to be
more involved in their students’ educational
journey.
The keynote speaker was Terrence Rob-
erts, one of the “Little Rock Nine,” who
desegregated Central High School in Little
Rock, Ark. in 1957. At age 15, he joined
eight other students and became one of the
first nine African American students to go
to a formerly segregated public high school
in Little Rock.
“It is such an honor and inspiration to
witness the collaboration and discussions
that our students create when given the
space and encouragement,” said Patricia
Villalobos, Latinos Unidos Club advisor
and RHS Spanish Teacher. “This confer-
ence has allowed students from all across
our district to work together and plan
workshops they feel are important and rele-
vant. I know that this experience will mark
the life of our students in ways we may not
see in this very moment.”
SMHS teacher Ricardo Valencia said
that adult allies and teachers know how
crucial it is to validate the knowledge and experiences of youth.
“When students are given the opportu-
nity to express their voices, we as a com-
munity can better support them to reach
their dreams,” he said. “This conference was
created by students for students.”
Students were fired up about the day’s
educationally empowering agenda.
“Attending this conference will truly
make a difference in one’s life because it
offers valuable knowledge and unity among
all the high schools in the Santa Maria
school district,” Righetti HS sophomore
Patricia Navarro said of the March 24
event.
“It is very important to attend the
conference because it helps you and others
come together, express yourself, and learn
about your culture and other cultures,” said
Delta HS senior Maria Garnica.
“This conference is a great way for peo-
ple to come together and help each other
understand one another,” said Gabriela
Ramirez, a junior at Pioneer Valley HS.
“It’s amazing how culture can bring people
together despite our differences.”
More information on the Santa Maria
Joint Union High School District can be found
at http://www.smjuhsd.k12.ca.us.
that work to save lives and assist after an
incident of fatal school violence.
The most important part of this task
force is that ACSA noticed a void in
leadership. While other groups statewide
looked for who would respond, it was a nat-
ural that ACSA would be the organization
leading from the front to recruit a team of
school leaders, partners and legislators to
help us save lives.
Responding to acts of fatal school vio- lence is about building muscle memory to
act quickly without needing to think. Our
actions and reactions need to be intuitive.
Let ACSA help you train your schools and
districts to hone that muscle memory.
We can save lives.
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– Lisa Gonzales
ACSA President