On Wednesday, April 2, the Latino Student Union (LSU) hosted its sixth annual Latino Achievement Recognition Awards Ceremony in the large gym. District Superintendent Barry Groves, Associate Superintendent Brigitte Sarraf, Principal Wynne Satterwhite, LAHS Latino Liaison Maria Hoerni, counselor Ariel Rojas, Supervised Study teacher Jacob Larin and the MVLA Board of Trustees President Joe Mitchner presented awards to Latino students to commend their achievements.
Awards included Outstanding Achievement in various subjects, Top 5 GPAs, School Service, School Spirit/Leadership, the Principal’s Award and the MVLA Academic Achievement Scholarship. This year, three new awards, Outstanding Achievement—AVID, Pursuit of Excellence and Academic Perseverance were also given to students. Senior Estefani Gomez was the recipient of the MVLA Academic Achievement Scholarship, which is estimated to be around $750.
The event also featured music, performances by Advanced Jazz Dance, LSU dancers and guest speakers such as community leader Jimmy Dutra, LAHS graduates Rodrigo Canido and Derek Lipkin and Professor of computer science Osvaldo Jimenez.
“We make sure to thank [the parents of awarded students] for all their hard work and sacrifices,” LSU President senior Oliva Olivares said. “[The awards ceremony] gives parents reassurance that their student is recognized for all [of his or her] hard work.”
Award recipients:
Outstanding Achievement – English
Oscar Ramirez
Perla Luna
Outstanding Achievement – Mathematics
Rita Villanueva
Briham Gonzalez
Outstanding Achievement – Science
Laura Yedra
Cesar Mejia
Outstanding Achievement – Social Studies
Barbara Garcia
María Muñoz
Outstanding Achievement – Fine Arts in Music
Mateo Gomez
Nathan Soto
Outstanding Achievement – Fine Arts in Jazz Dance
Carmen Diaz
Gloria Carbajal
Outstanding Achievement – Fine Arts in Acting
Katherine Sarah Alicia Hamilton
Barbara Garcia
Outstanding Achievement – Fine Arts in Choral
Laura Yedra
Edgar Tapia
Academic Perseverance Awards
Lourdes Palma
Ana Castillo
Paul Cervantes
Oscar Leon
Alexander Martin
Outstanding Achievement – as an English Learner
Alexia Falcon
Outstanding Achievement – World Languages
María Muñoz
Oscar Ramirez
Outstanding Achievement – Art
Rita Villanueva
Jasmine Diarte
Outstanding Achievement – Physical Education
Jesus Muñoz
Alondra Quiles
Outstanding Achievement – Regional Occupation Program: Auto Technology
Jovanni Casas-Garcia
Outstanding Achievement – Regional Occupation Program: Culinary Arts
Cristian Cervantes
Outstanding Achievement – Regional Occupation Program: Construction
Geovanny Cadena
Outstanding Achievement – AVID
Estefani Gomez
Oscar Ramirez
Pursuit of Excellence
Sireni Menjivar
Gabriel Trujillo
Top 5 GPAs – 9th Grade
Katarina Gibson
Sharon Perez
Ezer Zuniga
Andres Soto
Jacqueline Lopez-Bermudez
Top 5 GPAs – 10th Grade
Paola Campos
Tatiana Gibson
Ismael Bautista Hernandez
Andrea Torres
Kevin Vieyra
Top 5 GPAs – 11th Grade
María Muñoz
Jhosseline Guardado
Perla Luna
Jose Amaya
Jocelyne Marin-Melo
Top 5 GPAs – 12th Grade
Natalia Buenaventura
Mayra Hernandez
Sandra Hernandez
Estefani Gomez
Marco Martinez
Scholar Athlete
Briham Gonzalez
Tatiana Gibson
School Service
Perla Luna
Oliva Olivares
Estefani Gomez
Crystal Cifuentes
Carlos Rivera
María Muñoz
Carmen Diaz
Tiffany Fernandez
Mirella Acevedo
Zitlaly Ramirez
Oscar Ramirez
Jesus Muñoz
Alexia Falcon
Cynthia Herrera
Moises Flores
Jhosseline Guardado
Victor Macias
Jose Amaya
Angelica Saldivar
Laura Yedra
Cynthia Cervantes
Armando Paz
Jessica Rodriguez
School Spirit/Leadership
Oliva Olivares
Estefani Gomez
Principal’s Award
Perla Luna
Estefani Gomez
MVLA Academic Achievement Scholarship
Estefani Gomez
