Alex J. Garcia, president of Association of Mexican American Educators Madera Chapter (AMAE), gave a warm welcome to all friends and family attending the annual Student Scholarship Awards Dinner on May 29.
The guest speaker was Oracio Rodriguez, Area Superintendent of Madera Unified School District. Rodriguez grew up in Madera, attending Madera schools. In his career as teacher and administrator, he taught history at Madera South High School, became Madera South’s vice principal, then principal and then Area Superintendent.
His speech encouraged students to know they can achieve what they desire, if they work hard to attain it. He talked about his family, and how his parents, who were immigrants and had little formal education, raised a large family, who all worked in the fields. There were seven children in his family and every one of them graduated from college. Five of them got masters degrees, and one of them has a PhD.