Editor’s note: Part of a continuing series of stories profiling the award-winners of El Concilio Family Service 2012 Latino Leadership awards — “Excellence in Education.” The awards gala will be held on Friday, June 1, 2012 at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center. Click here or call 805-486-9777 for more information.
Amigos805 staff reports
Lorenzo “Lencho” Moraza retired in 2011 after eight years as principal at Renaissance High School in Santa Paula. The high school had its largest graduating class ever in 2011, with 60 seniors receiving diplomas.
He learned about the value of education at a young age.
“Our parents continued to instill in us that school was first,” Moraza was quoted in a 2011 story in the Santa Paula Times. “We knew money was important to help the family, but we knew that our purpose and primary responsibility was to go to school.”
Moraza began his educational career as a Migrant Instructional Support Teacher .
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.
At the most recent graduation at Renaissance, the nomination statement said, a student read from his essay crediting Moraza with turning his life around: “He helped me see what it can be like and made sure I kept working toward the future I want. This is how I got on the right track with the help of Mr. Moraza.”