On Thursday morning, September 6, Gema Quetzal Cardenas , Life Academy senior and former OUSD Board of Education Student Director, will be in Sacramento to take on a new and enormous responsibility.
Gema Quetzal Cardenas will be sworn in to represent California’s 6.2 million public school children as the lone student member of the State Board of Education for the 2018-19 school year.
In fact, Gema Quetzal Cardenas has just been sworn in as of 18 minutes ago and by Michael Kirst…
@Michael_Kirst swears in new SBE Student Member Gema Quetzal Cardenas of @OUSDNews! Congrats! pic.twitter.com/GqweMW1IEA
— CABoard of Education (@SBECalifornia) September 6, 2018
Governor Jerry Brown appointed the 17 year old to take over the position back in March. It was then that she said, “I am very humbled, honored and excited. This is a huge responsibility because I will be representing millions of my peers across California. We all share a common goal and that is a quality education for all.”
Gema Quetzal Cardenas has a long history of civic participation, having been on the Governing Board of Oakland Unified School District’s (OUSD) All City Council (ACC) Student Union since 9th grade. Along with serving as one of two Student Directors on the OUSD Board of Education, she has also served as a student leader on the District’s Sanctuary District Task Force. “With the rise of the new political climate targeting immigrants and Muslims, the most important issue to me today is the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants,” she said.
Stay tuned.