by José Estrada
This month, we are proud to acknowledge two students.Jessica Guillen(pictured) andEvelyn Ramirez are examples of model students. They are both inspirations and role models to their peers. Both students are recipients of the Principal’s Award, which is the highest honor at the Long Beach site.
Jessica Guillen grew up in South Central L.A. It is a troublesome area, according to her. She exclaims that it was hard growing up in an area with a lot of violence. It was easy to be influenced by it. She attended many schools, and she would often get “kicked out” because of her fighting.
She ended up dropping out of school, and she worked in many minimum wage jobs. One day, she said enough was enough and she needed a change. She spoke with a SIATech High School student, and that was the influence that made her apply to our great program.
Once she was in the program, her whole persona changed for the best. According to our Principal Ron Stagg, Jessica Guillen exemplifies all of our ESLR goals. ESLR is an acronym for the SIATech Expected Schoolwide Learning Results. She shows integrity because she advocates for herself, her diploma, and sets goals to complete her curriculum. She shows respect by being friendly, respectful to her peers and staff, and she is always smiling. She also exemplifies service and social responsibility by always striving to be a positive person even when there are many obstacles in Job Corps. Mr. Stagg continues to state, “She will do whatever it takes to make a better life for herself and support others at the same time.”
Jessica capitalizes on her learning goals by taking two trades. She plans to continue her career aspirations through advanced training, and then to become an LVN. Mr. Stagg commented on her use of technology, “Jessica is constantly utilizing our hardware and software to help her with training and she is well versed in computer technology.”
Evelyn Ramirez grew up in the Long Beach area. She was always a great student, but she became pregnant during her time in school. She transferred to a high school in Paramount, CA because they had a program for pregnant students. During her time there, she became pregnant for the second time, so it was very difficult to attend school.
A few months later, a friend told Evelyn about Job Corps and SIATech High School. During her time here, Evelyn was one of our most hardworking students. Mr. Ron Stagg commented, “Overall, she is a great student. She works at 110% because she never wasted a minute in the classroom. She was always working hard.”
Evelyn was so focused that she completed the program ahead of schedule. Mr. Stagg continued, “She gave an excellent presentation on immigration, and she is a role model for other female students at the site.”
We are very proud of our students here at Long Beach. We have so many great students at our site, and we have many more positive stories to tell in the future.
José Estrada is the Social Studies/Senior Projects Teacher of SIATech at Long Beach Job Corps Center and is also the West Coast Social Studies Team Lead.