|
The 2013 Student Leadership Series (SLS) rolled into Missouri with a major event in Kansas City. The event was held at East High School. USHLI is very grateful to Principal Thomas Herrera, Ed. S. and Elizabeth Marentes-Gonzales for their assistance in arranging the event.
 Our featured speaker was Joaquin Zihuatanejo from Dallas, TX. Joaquin is a Slam Poetry World Champion. His strong message about cultural identity, staying in school, believing in yourself, improving your academic performance, and graduating high school and pursuing some level of post-secondary education or training was well received. These are essential steps students must take in order to be successful in life and career.  SLS participating schools will see their students become better motivated, more involved in extracurricular activities, ask more questions in class, perform better on tests, and more determined to succeed academically and in life. Absenteeism and truancy will decline. The dropout rate will decrease and the graduation rate will increase as more and more students accept the challenge of doing better in school. Our SLS has reached over 38,241 students, parents, and educators in 14 states to date in 2013.
Persons interested in hosting an SLS event in 2013 should contact Dr. Juan Andrade at docandrade@ushli.org or Martha Villegas at mvillegas@ushli.org. | 
