Mexican-American astronaut José Hernández gave a speech to hundreds of students about the importance of achieving their dreams.
“It’s worth dreaming big,” said Hernández. “But to turn that dream into reality you need to work hard.”
Hernandez is recognized for his dedication to moving forward after being rejected 11 times by NASA before his dream became a reality and there was recently a biopic created of his life called A Million Miles Away.
Hernandez’s speech kicked off the ninth STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) expo by Magnolia Public Schools (MPS) where around 500 people attended.
The highly anticipated event included several activities where students showed off their work (with some projects that were part of the Los Angeles County Science Fair), participated in art performances, music, and a robotics competition.
Tenth grade student Joshua Riyos recently came to the United States from Guatemala and created a project using completely recycled objects.
The teenager created a small car that runs on DVD discs, a water bottle, wooden sticks and water that creates the motion for it to spin.
“I am very happy with my project and that it was achieved because I feel that DVDs are not used in this era,” said the student. “I am also super grateful to the school because it has helped me a lot in English and with classmates as well, and I am always grateful to my teachers.”
In the future, Riyos hopes to be an engineer or psychologist because he says he loves helping people.
According to Chris Marten, Riyos’ teacher, there are some students in the class who have just arrived from other countries and the Guatemalan helps them with the translation of some terms or homework explanations.
“I have experience working in different schools and in MSA-4 and working with all of my students I am always amazed at the sense of community among the students,” Marten said. “Joshua is just one of many absolutely phenomenal students.”
Other projects presented were the use of the chinampa cultivation system used by the Aztecs, soil erosion and measurements of different volumes.
At the end of the event, several students lined up to take a photo with astronaut Hernández who inspired many students.
“We are honored and excited to host José Hernández during our STEAM Expo, an event that students and teachers look forward to each year,” said Alfredo Rubalcava, MPS CEO and Superintendent. “Many students, especially those who are children of immigrants, will relate to and be inspired by his story of perseverance.”
Rubalcava added that the event brings to life the possibilities of what students can achieve if they pursue their dreams.
Rubalcava was one of the founders of MPS schools where he hopes to close the gap of students of color entering the scientific field.
Currently, MPS has a network of 10 free college-preparatory public charter schools in Southern California in the Orange County, South Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, and San Diego areas where 78% of students They are Latinos.
According to a release from MPS, MPS schools show higher college-ready graduation rates (91.7%) compared to LAUSD (52%), Santa Ana Unified (40%) and California (45%). .
Earlier this year, MPS received the School of Heart, Vision, Equity and Innovation Award from the California Charter School Association, and is one of 17 organizations in the country to receive a charter school management organization grant. of the United States Department of Education to replicate and expand its educational model.
Hernández says that, although he is proud to be able to fulfill his dream, he still has more goals and now with the help of his father, Salvador, he owns and cultivates a small vineyard north of Lodi and produces his own line of wines called Tierra Luna.
The astronaut says he hopes to inspire other people who were like him when he was young.
“I am planting seeds of dreams for all the children that will hopefully come true in the next few years and I hope that one day someone will say: I am going to go to Mars and they will select me as an astronaut because astronaut José Hernández came and spoke in my school or conference I attended,” Hernandez said.