Top Latino Students, Community Leaders and former Interim Superintendent to be honored
More than 200 Austin °¼Í¹ÊÓƵ Latino students, three community leaders and a former A°¼Í¹ÊÓƵ interim superintendent Gonzalo Garza will be honored at the 2018 A°¼Í¹ÊÓƵ Latino Academic Achievement Awards.
When: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 12
Where: Austin °¼Í¹ÊÓƵ Performing Arts Center, 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd.
What: The event will feature performances by A°¼Í¹ÊÓƵ students. Admission to the 2018 A°¼Í¹ÊÓƵ Latino Academic Achievement Awards is free and open to the public.
Background: A°¼Í¹ÊÓƵ will bestow the Exelencia Latino Lifetime Achievement Award to former A°¼Í¹ÊÓƵ interim superintendent and Texas education trailblazer Gonzalo Garza. Now 90 years old, Garza dropped out of school at age 17 to serve as a U.S. Marine in World War II and the Korean War, earning the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals. He began his teaching career in 1954, leading to top positions in central and south Texas as the first Latino principal in Corpus Christi, the highest-ranking Latino administrator in Houston Independent School District at the time, superintendent in Eagle Pass and San Marcos and A°¼Í¹ÊÓƵ associate superintendent and interim superintendent. In 1997, A°¼Í¹ÊÓƵ named its new high school Gonzalo Garza Independence High School, reflecting Garza’s independent pathway through education and leadership.