Sahuarita Intermediate teacher Luis Sainz is one of four Latino educators in the state to receive the 2021 Esperanza Latino Teacher Award from the community development corporation Chicanos Por La Causa.
The award recipients exemplify resiliency and academic excellence, a news release said.
“Despite having faced difficult trials and tribulations in their lives, extreme poverty and health issues, each of these teachers have devoted themselves to positively impact the lives of students of all backgrounds and empower their communities,” the news release said. “These struggles have not defined them but fueled self-sufficiency and a greater understanding of education as an economic equalizer.”
Chicanos Por La Causa is awarding $5,000 to each of the four award recipients, which also includes educators Vasthy Lamadrid from Sheely Farms Elementary in Phoenix, Rodrigo Palacios from Tempe High School and Juanita Martinez-Inzunza from Leonor Hambly K8 in the Hayden-Winkelman School District, as well as a stipend of $2,500 to their respective schools.
The organization is hosting the 22nd Annual Esperanza Latino Teacher Awards Ceremony, virtually, on Wednesday, April 28, at 4 p.m. to honor the award recipients. The virtual ceremony is free and open to the public.
For more information and to RSVP for the event go to avstream.me/esperanza.
Student support workshop
ScholarshipsA-Z is hosting a virtual workshop for educators and community members on Thursday, April 29, to give educators knowledge and tools to help undocumented and immigrant students thrive at school.
“Reimagining Support: Educator Accomplices Working Alongside Undocumented Youth,” is the second virtual workshop offered this year in lieu of the annual Educators Conference and is part of the nonprofit’s larger effort to train teachers to support undocumented students.
Each year, more than 2,000 undocumented students graduate from Arizona high schools, with many lacking institutional support, guidance and a supportive network, a news release said.
The workshops are predominantly planned and led by immigrant youth.
“Attending the ScholarshipsA-Z educator workshops was a humbling experience for me personally,” said Sunnyside School District Superintendent Steve Holmes. “The systems of support that I thought were in place in our district for our students were not having the intended impact and were in fact creating greater anxiety for them. Based on the feedback we received from youth at the workshops, our system has been able to adjust our approach. We continue to use the workshops as an opportunity to iterate and learn ways to better support our students.”
This event is open to the public. To register, go to tucne.ws/1hfb.
To find out more about the workshop and ScholarshipsA-Z, go to scholarshipsaz.org or follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/ScholarshipsAZ.
Spotlight on Manzo garden
Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation is hosting a virtual garden-based learning event with lessons led by students from school garden sites across the country, including TUSD’s Manzo Elementary, on April 27 from 10 to 11 a.m.
Manzo will be highlighted for launching a school garden that brought together the community, a news release said. The garden is a hands-on lab for ecology, conservation and food production.
The kids perform the care for chickens, tend vegetable gardens and aquaponics systems and maintain native desert habitat, which supports endangered species such as the desert tortoise. Students also grow produce for the community and collect research data for the University of Arizona.
To watch the event and to register, go to growingschoolgardens.org. Watch a video about Manzo and the school garden at tucne.ws/1hfc.
Gregory School scholarships
The Gregory School has a scholarship for students of Mexican-American descent, which will cover 95% of tuition for the duration of their time at the school.
The new Apollo Scholarship was created by the George and Velta Anast Educational Fund to cover the tuition of students whose families can’t afford to pay full tuition and who don’t qualify for the Corporate Tax Credit program.
“We are beyond excited for this opportunity to increase the representation of Mexican-American students at The Gregory School while providing highly capable students with a transformative learning opportunity,” said Julie Sherrill, head of The Gregory School.
The nonprofit private school, serving grades fifth through 12th, is seeking applicants who are either entering sixth or ninth grade for four scholarships.
For more information, email Director of Admission Mary Laughbaum at mlaughbaum@gregoryschool.org.
