14th Annual Community Breakfast Scholarship Fundraiser Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 The Odyssey Restaurant The Andrés y María Cárdenas Family Foundation Program Arrival of Guests Harpist Javier “Big X” Montes Welcome by Master of Ceremonies Ernesto Cárdenas Board Member Prsentation of Colors Van Nuys High School JROTC Pledge of Allegiance Sylmar Cub Scout Pack 94 National Anthem Benjamin Cárdenas Invocation Breakfast The Odyssey Restaurant Presentation of Scholars AYMCFF Board Student Speakers Donna Hernandez Luis Perez Larissa Shebroe Guest Speaker Tony Cárdenas Los Angeles City Councilmember, District 6 Keynote Speaker Jose M. Hernandez Andrés y María Cárdenas NASA Astronaut and Philanthropist Andrés y María Cárdenas Family Foundation Board of Directors Vanessa Narváez President Isabel Cárdenas Treasurer Lorena Bernal Secretary Gina Pérez Board Member Yolanda Fuentes Miranda Board Member Ernesto Cardenas Board Member May 23, 2010 Brian De La Rosa Board Member It is with great pleasure, that I welcome everyone to the Foundation’s 14th Advisory Board Annual Community Breakfast. Dr. Adriana D. Barrera President, Senior Vice Chancellor of LACCD Britt Ortiz Director, Early Academic Outreach, UCSB The Foundation achievement of 14 years would not have been possible without Kevin Tamaki External Affairs, AT&T sponsor donations, community involvement and volunteers, and willing educators. Dr. Fernando de Necochea Director, Southern California Edison Dr. Henry Yang Chancellor, UCSB This year’s scholarship recipients represent brave youth who despite rising tuition Joe Lucente Principal, Fenton Elementary Charter School, Ret. Executive Vice President, Macy’s West fees, restricted student occupancy, and limited educational resources, persevere to Louis Meunier attain their education. With that, we invite you to join us as we recognize this year’s Andrés y María Our Mission Cárdenas Family Foundation 2010 scholarship recipients. The Andrés y María Cárdenas Family Foundation was founded in 1997 to award scholarships to deserving and ambitious students, to contribute to From our family to yours and on behalf of the Foundation and all the recipients, community based non-profit organizations that provide needed services, and to Muchisimas Gracias!-Thank you very very much! supplement limited resources for cultural, educational and recreational programs in the San Fernando Valley. We look forward to many more years to come. Overview Believing that no student should ever be denied the opportunity to pursue their Sincerely, dreams through a collegiate or vocational school experience, the Andrés y María Cárdenas Family Foundation has embarked on a crusade to raise scholarship funds for needy and deserving students from the San Fernando Valley. This year, the Andrés y María Cárdenas Family Foundation has undertaken the goal of Vanessa Narvaez providing over $100,000 in scholarship opportunities to deserving students. President About Our Keynote Speaker Jose M. Hernandez ! ASA engineer Jose Hernandez wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American had been chosen to travel into space. "I was hoeing a row of sugar beets in a field near Stockton, Calif., and I heard on my transistor radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps," says Hernandez, who was a senior in high school at the time. "I was already interested in science and engineering," Hernandez remembers, "but that was the moment I said, 'I want to fly in space.' And that's something I've been striving for each day since then." One of four children in a migrant farming family from Mexico, Hernandez --who didn't learn English until he was 12 years old -- spent much of his childhood on what he calls "the California circuit," traveling with his family from Mexico to southern California each March, then working northward to the Stockton area by November, picking strawberries and cucumbers at farms along the route. Then they would return to Mexico for Christmas, and start the cycle all over again come spring. ! hile at Lawrence Livermore, Hernandez worked on signal and image processing applications in radar imaging, After graduating high school in Stockton, Hernandez enrolled at the computed tomography, and acoustic imaging. Later in his career, Hernandez worked on developing quantitative x-ray film University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering and was awarded a full scholarship to imaging analysis techniques for the x-ray laser program. Hernandez applied these techniques in the medical physics the graduate program at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where he continued his engineering studies. In arena and co-developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system. This system has proven useful for 1987 he accepted a full-time job with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he had worked as a co-op in college. detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage than present film/screen mammography techniques. Hernandez has won recognition awards for his work on this project. He has also worked in the international arena where he represented Lawrence Livermore and the U.S. Department of Energy on Russian nuclear non-proliferation issues. During the astronaut application process, Hernandez had to meet with a review board, where he came face-to-face with his original inspiration: Franklin Chang-Diaz. "It was a strange place to find myself, being evaluated by the person who gave me the motivation to get there in the first place," Hernandez says. "But I found that we actually had common experiences -- a similar upbringing, the same language issues. That built up my confidence. Any barriers that existed, he had already hurdled them." Hernandez, smiles. “Now it’s my turn!” Indeed it was, when in May 2004, Jose got accepted to forgo Astronaut Candidate Training. In February 2006, Jose’s diligence paid off when he was able to be a part of the 128th Shuttle mission and 30th mission to the International Space Station to transfer 18,000 pounds of essential supplies and equipment to the station. He and his team completed the mission in 217 orbits of Earth, traveled over 5.7million miles in 332 hrs 52min and conducted three space walks while there. Even with the title of NASA Astronaut, Jose is sure to give back to his community and encourage youth to pursue their dreams of reaching space. Through the non-profit foundation, Reaching for the Stars (RFTS), he encourages higher education, and supports programs that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. RFTS also provided scholarship opportunities to assist deserving student reach their educational goals. Even while traveling to space and stopping by at the Cardenas Foundation Breakfast, Jose still makes time for his wife Adela, their 5 children, and their restaurant, Tierra Luna Grill, located in Houston., Texas. Jose proves that the sky is not the limit, it goes beyond. In Memory of Juan Manuel Aguilera !uan Manuel Aguilera was the third of six children born to Aurora Martinez de Aguilera and Adolfo Aguilera in El Gavilan de Abajo, Jalisco. His brother Bernardino and sister Victoria were older, while his sister Esther, and brothers Adolfo and Rojelio were younger. Juan, his mother Aurora, and his brothers and sisters joined their father in the United States in 1971. He lived in San Fernando on Mott Street and attended O’Melveny Elementary School and played little league through Santa Rosa Church. As a teen, Juan attended San Fernando Junior High. Here, his love for music flourished and he learned to play guitar. Juan was very active in the Santa Rosa parish and began to seriously examine a religious vocation. High school took Juan far away from his home. He attended St. Anthony’s, an Oblate school in San Antonio, Texas. While in high school, Juan played football, soccer, and track. He graduated from high school in May of 1985 and stayed in Texas, attending St. Edward’s University in Austin. Juan returned to San Fernando and finished his studies at Cal State University Northridge, earning a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics. He received a fellowship and furthered his studies as a graduate student, receiving an M.A. from CSUN in the teaching of Mathematics. Juan was an awesome math teacher. He saw teaching as his ministry and his students as his flock. In 1994 At Sylmar High School, Juan was the lead teacher for the Communications House. Every year he worked Juan began teaching mathematics at San Fernando Middle School. In 1999 he transferred to Pacoima with struggling Algebra students, helping them understand abstract mathematical concepts. He also Middle School and in 2005 he transferred one final time to Sylmar High School. Juan knew firsthand tutored students after school on a daily basis. As a lead teacher, he worked tirelessly to help teachers how difficult learning could be for many of his students. Few people knew that he was dyslexic. In spite of connect with the Sylmar youth and make learning relevant for them. He organized events such as Link this, Juan had a gift of making math accessible to everyone. His easy demeanor combined his math jokes Crew, McTeachers’ Nights, and turkey bowls for the students. Juan could have taught Math Analysis or with a passion for helping everyone make sense of x’s and y’s. Calculus. However, he chose to teach Algebra I to ninth graders and helped them see that math is part of their daily life. Juan was named a Los Angeles County Teachers of Mathematics Association Teacher of the Year in 2007. Juan gave to his community with the same selflessness he showed at school. He played with a Santa Rosa church choir for the last nine years. Juan was passionate about ensuring equal rights for everyone, volunteering countless hours to the defeat of Propositions 187, 227 and 209. He participated in marches, walked the San Fernando community for Project GRAD, and volunteered with the Cardenas Foundation.