Neto's Tucson : Hispanic students get much-deserved pats on the back

One day he and the late Fred G. Acosta, a community activist, wondered aloud why so few Hispanic students were seen on local prep sports teams and why even fewer Hispanic students were honored for their achievements.

They turned their questions into action by creating the Hispanic Sports and Academic Enrichment Program awards ceremony. That was 1984, and recently 71 Southern Arizona students were congratulated, honored and patted on the back for their academic and athletic accomplishments.

For Rios, dean of students at Hohokam Middle School, the event was more than satisfying. It was a 25-year-old celebration of a dream he and Acosta had to recognize the achievements of Hispanic youths.

"It's our way of telling the kids they did a great job in school," said Rios, 55, a 1972 alum of Cholla Magnet High School.

Acosta, who died in 1992, was a former U.S. Marine, high school teacher and director of the Tucson Job Corps Center who aggressively created opportunities for young people.

Today the awards program is organized by Luz Social Services Inc., a nonprofit community-service agency that also operates a college prep charter school.

The aim today remains the same: recognize high school and middle school students who largely go unnoticed in competitive end-of-the-year school award ceremonies. Many of the students have gone on to become educators, writers, business owners, doctors and successes in other areas.

"If you don't pat yourself on your back, who will?" Rios said.

In the first years, the students were honored at monthly breakfasts during the school year, culminating with an end-of-the-year dinner.

Today there are no breakfast programs but a single year-end affair. However, the program honors students from border communities in Douglas, Rio Rico and Nogales; from the mining towns of Safford, San Manuel, Superior and Miami; and other schools in Florence and Hayden. In addition, parents, teachers, administrators and coaches are recognized for their tireless work.

While the students do not receive scholarship money, they leave with something of great value.

"I feel appreciated," said Izamar Murrieta, a senior who played volleyball at Luz Academy, a West Side charter school. "It also helped me understand there are other teens like me."

Those teens may not always be the star athletes and students in their schools, but they work just as hard and are as important to their teams and schools, said Pat Weber, the athletic director at Flowing Wells High School.

"Maybe they don't get their name in the paper, but they participated and are part of the program," Weber said.

Years after the recognition, some people still can recall the elation in receiving it. It meant something powerful then and still carries some weight.

Marci Aguilar Baker was a student and a softball player at Rincon High School when she was recognized for her classroom work and prowess on the playing field.

"I can still remember the feeling of receiving that award and honor," said Baker, who graduated from Rincon in 1987. After high school, she played softball for Pima Community College, second base on the University of Arizona's first national softball championship team in 1991, and briefly for the Colorado Silver Bullets, a professional women's baseball team.

Although the number of students honored each year has grown, Luz Social Services still meets resistance from school administrators who will not nominate students.

Manuel Guzman of Luz Social Services speculated that the resistance is due, in some part, to school officials' opposition to singling out Hispanic students.

But Guzman and Rios said recognition of Hispanic students remains critical because despite the students' hard work and achievements, schools are still slow to honor them.

"Some of these students are not being honored at their schools, and I wish I knew why," said Guzman, who graduated from Superior High School in 1998 as co-valedictorian.

The Hispanic Sports and Academic program, Guzman said, equals the playing field.

The program, which is held around Mother's Day, also recognizes the role of parents, some of whom have not finished high school or gone on to college. In recognizing the students, the program also reinforces the importance of college, Guzman said.

Rios said there will be a time when the annual honors program will cease. That will be the time when Hispanic students and their achievements are given more recognition, and college enrollment of Hispanic students rises to greater levels.

"But we're not there yet," Rios said. "We have not done our jobs."