El Concilio profile: Lorenzo “Lencho” Moraza

“I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve school age children and adults in the public school sector.  It has been my privilege and obligation,” Moraza said. “Integrity, fairness, and understanding are but a few of the uncompromising values I hope were evident in every decision and action I made for the good of the students and the community.” Lorenzo’s motivation and drive to become an advocate and leader for the Latino community stemmed from his experiences as a youth. In 1970, he helped form “Conjunto Quetzalcoatl,” a musical group that played traditional Mexican music. This “conjunto,” which was the first of its kind at Ventura College, not only exposed students to the rich cultural music of Mexico, it also instilled pride among the community. In 1971, he was elected president of M.E.Ch.A, and in 1972 he served as Associated Student Body President of Ventura College. Later, Lorenzo and several of his family members formed “Conjunto Alma Grande” and played their music throughout the state supporting the community, “La Causa,” and promoting education.Becoming an activist involved in “La Causa,” Lorenzo discovered his mission in life; to become an instructional leader advocating for the needs of students, and in particular, of Latino and Second Language Learners like himself.  These experiences motivated him to pursue a career in education.

Upon graduating from Cal State Northridge, Lorenzo began his career in education serving migrant students and their parents in the Carpinteria and Santa Barbara school districts. As a Migrant Instructional Support Teacher he worked to ensure that all students were receiving equal access to all the educational programs available in the schools. To him, every student he came in contact with was a potential high school and college graduate.

For ten consecutive years, he coordinated the Migrant Education Summer Programs in the district. He states that he was consumed with work, “but I loved every minute,” because he could experience seeing language minority/migrant students learning and making gains. In addition to the academic support he provided the students, he coordinated conferences that facilitated acculturation and leadership training for both students and parents. Many of those parents who received this training became active leaders in their respective schools. Today, COPLA, Comité de Padres Latinos in Carpinteria continues to be a very active parent group in the district.