31 March, the birthday of Cesar Chavez, a local hero to the people of Cabrillo Village as he was key in the purchasing of the land and securing homes for these migrant farmers years ago, was the date for the big fiesta highlighting the photography and the mosaic made by the students and the community as part of the Everyday Leadership Academy in Cabrillo Village.

One of the projects the students completed was a large, 2 piece tile mosaic with the image of Chavez on it, as well as some other illustrations that were drawn by students.  This mosaic is gorgeous, and represents hundreds of hours creating, cutting tile, gluing pieces in, and painstaking attention to detail to complete.  Our hope is that the mosaic will hang in a visible location, perhaps at one of the schools where our students attend in Ventura.  Working on this project provided many hours to continue developing relationships with students, and led to many significant conversations. There were moments where there were 10-12 students working together, and other times where it was an adult or two, and just one or two students.  It was amazing to see how many other kids, teens, and adults from the community dropped in and also lent a hand to this project.  The ability for our work with the kids to radiate out into the community starts with projects such as this, and it was a pleasure to meet the many new people who helped.  Lots of us felt a true sense of accomplishment when this eight foot by 4 foot mosaic was finally finished, and unveiled at our fiesta. The community members were delighted with this gorgeous mosaic, and it was an excellent “conversation starter” for us as we talked to parents, Cabrillo Village community members, as well as others from Ventura who were invited to attend the fiesta.

The other project was the students photography series which focused on the character quality of respect. These 4th and 5th graders each created their own display of their best images.  Watching them select their images, organize them so they looked artistic, and glue them onto the display boards was incredible.  There was such pride in their faces!  Each student wrote a bit about themselves, and what they have learned about photography and respect for their display board.  It was amazing to read their sentiments, and to realize that what we have worked on is making a difference in their thinking, and in their lives!