Q: How did your family and culture influence who you are today?
I didn’t know how important an education was to my mom until my junior year of high school when I told her I wanted to drop out. I thought when she heard that I wanted to drop out and dive into the workforce to help with the household bills, she would be ecstatic. Her reaction; however, was quite the opposite and changed my life and my trajectory! When I told her I wanted to drop out, she unexpectedly slumped as though she was struck by a baseball bat, and she began to silently cry. Her tears and the educational story she shared with me that evening, resonated with my heart and provided me – purpose and passion! Her story of struggle and her story of being robbed from an education at the age of 12, inspired me. At age 12, she had to work in the migrant fields to help financially support her 13 brothers and sisters. She loved school and always wanted a high school diploma and knew the life-changing importance of an education. That day, she gave me the greatest gift! She gave me purpose, meaning and she helped me find my calling. Today, I am standing on a promise I made to my mom, to graduate from high school and college. I am living my purpose, my passion, my calling and impacting the lives of students as the proud Principal of Franklin Police and Fire High School. Although her education journey abruptly stopped at age 12, her educational passion and legacy lives through me and the lives I am able to impact every day because of her.
Q: Why is ACEE important to you?
ACEE is an instrumental partner within our school community. Through their curriculum, they provide hope, knowledge, mentorship and opportunities to our students and their families. Furthermore, ACEE is not only in our specific community, but they also provide the same opportunities to families and communities statewide. ACEE shows Arizona’s students and families how specific systems work and teaches them how they play vital roles within those systems. ACEE educates students and families how to navigate subsystems within our economy from banking, entrepreneurship, taxes, retirement, personal finance, etc. Most importantly, ACEE empowers and provides students and families with a financial foundation to build financial autonomy. ACEE provides families with a financial road map towards breaking cycles of poverty and mediocrity and changing their financial trajectory through generational knowledge and wealth. ACEE is such an important partner to Arizona’s families because of the difference it makes through economic education and empowerment. ACEE helps to provide a positive financial future not only for Arizona families of today but also for future generations which creates generational wealth and family stability for years to come.
Q: Why do you care about financial and economic education?
Melinda Gates said, “When we invest in women and girls, we are investing in the people who invest in everyone else.” Financial and economic education are keys to breaking the glass ceiling and bridging the divide between the haves and have nots. Our school participated in ACEE’s Invest in Girls, where our young ladies where provided the opportunity to see positive, successful female role models in industry. Invest in Girls educate young ladies how to be Chief Financial Officers, Chief Investment Officers, and Chief Executive Officers. This unique partnership opportunity provided our students with direct access to mentors who provided financial and economic guidance and mentorships. Invest in Girls is life changing. Our young ladies will forever be equipped and empowered to go places and do things that matter and make a difference in their lives and the lives they touch. You may have heard the saying, “Give a person a fish and you feed him/her for a day. However, teach them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.” Invest in Girls teaches young ladies how to successfully navigate the economic waters for a lifetime. Furthermore, they equip and teach our young ladies how to take control of their future. Elizabeth Warren said it best, “A good education is a foundation for a better future.” Our young ladies now have a better future because of Invest in Girls.
