By Cambria Roth
Five of Silverton High School’s English Language Learners and Migrant Education students earned recognition at the 19th annual Cesar Chavez Leadership Conference in Portland this spring.
The students spent a week exploring the legacy of Cesar Chavez, the son of a migrant farm worker who founded the union of farm workers. Along with learning of his dedication to creating a farm workers’ union, students discovered Chavez’ passion for change through nonviolent means matched that of Martin Luther King Jr.
By the end of the week, students wrote poems and essays and created art pieces that expressed the lasting influence of Chavez. Their work was submitted to the statewide contest for the Cesar Chavez Leadership Conference.
Only 12 winners were chosen statewide and five of the winners were from Silverton. In the poetry contest, Anna Arse-Rodriguez won second place, Maria Martinez won third place, and Diana Delgado received honorable mention. For the essay contest, Gladis Vasquez took second place while Anna Gaspar received honorable mention.
Martinez said the conference helped her learn about scholarships and opportunities for the future.
Each winner was introduced at the conference where they presented their work and awarded cash prizes.
Vasquez wrote an inspirational essay on how Cesar Chavez motivated her to continue her education.
“Growing up as a low- income family and experiencing the hardship of working in the fields encouraged me to go to college,” Vasquez wrote in her essay. “My mother and I had to eat in the field with dust getting on our food and having this experience as a child made me realize that I wanted an education, instead of working in the fields for the rest of my life. I wanted to have a better life because I was tired of working so hard and getting paid only minimum wage.”
Vasquez and Anna Arse-Rodriguez each won $150 and Martinez won $100 for her poem.
