The League of United Latin American Citizens - Santa Ana LULAC Council #147 has named Susie Lopez-Guerra, Ed.D., Director of Community Relations for SAUSD, as one of its Orange County Hispanic Women of the Year for 2017. Dr. Lopez-Guerra is being recognized for her contributions in the area of Community Relations. The group will recognize the Women of the Year during its annual awards banquet from 6 to 9 p.m. on November 4, 2017 at American Legion Orange Post #132, 143 S. Lemon St. in Orange. The dual purpose of the event is to acknowledge and recognize women of Hispanic descent and provide a venue for its fundraising efforts to award educational scholarships to Santa Ana students. To purchase tickets to the banquet, contact Viola Myre at 714-606-2852 or [email protected]. To read more, click here. 

Santa Ana High School's NJROTC Unit held its Annual Military Inspection Pass-in-Review Ceremony on October 25, 2017. Cadets began assembling at 7 a.m. and marched in review in front of inspecting offers and guests, including Board of Education members. At the conclusion, upperclassmen reported on the unit's goals and accomplishments. Principal Jeff Bishop said NJROTC has become a signature program at the school. "It has won award after award and is recognized as one of the top in the nation," he said. In addition,  Saddleback High School also held its NJROTC Annual Military Inspection on October 24, 2017, which was also attended by Board of Education members. For photos from both, click here. 

Forty art students from Century High School recently visited the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts, where students got to see the work of the acclaimed Chicano artist Gilbert "Magu" Lujan. Students also toured the campus and schools of the arts so they could see the possibilities of jobs related to the creative economy from set design and filmmaking to photography, and the intersections between the arts and other areas of study like science and technology. Thanks to the support of the district's partnership with UC Irvine, SAUSD students have access to exploring those opportunities.

Luis Gonzalez, a Godinez Fundamental High School graduate and current Georgetown University student, recently wrote a story for the university's student newspaper about how his dream of becoming a teacher could be impacted if the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program ends and there is no replacement. In it, he also shares how he's been inspired by Mrs. Cortez, a teacher at Madison Elementary. "It is my hope that legislation - in particular, a clean Dream Act, or one without brutal enforcement measures - comes to fruition," he writes. To read the article, click here.