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