Montezuma-Cortez High School student Danica Hope House has been selected to participate in the New Mexico Lorenzo De Zavala Leadership Program.
House was one out of 150 students chosen to be part of the program, according to School District RE-1.
The program was founded by Ernesto Niete and his wife, Gloria de Leon, who also cofounded the National Hispanic Institute. The LDZ program is a youth legislative session dedicated to Lorenzo De Zavala, a prominent Mexican American who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in the early 1800s.
Though the program started small, it has expanded to Texas, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington, D.C., according to last year’s LDZ junior counselor Ellie Burris.
Students are chosen through an application process that is primarily focused on their academic achievements and their character qualities. They also must be on a college-bound program. They do accept students who are not going to college.
“We also look at kids who go into trade schools and go into specialized program. Those kids are also very welcome,” Burris said.
Burris also explained how a student from a Colorado high school could participate in a program for New Mexico high schools.
Though the program says it is for New Mexico students, Burris explained that also includes tribes that reside in parts of New Mexico and pay New Mexico taxes. Since the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe stretches into New Mexico, students who are living in those tribal areas are able to be part of the program.
“Gloria de Leon, the cofounder, went to UNM and was like, ‘We have these kids. They’re very, very bright. We have a lot of support for them from the superintendent to the tribal members and the tribal council,’” Burris said. “The whole point of the program is to get these young generations, specifically minorities, into these positions of realizing they’re the future and they aren’t defined by who they are, but defined by what they can do with these opportunities.”
Besides MCHS, students from Centennial High School, East Mountain High School, Eldorado High School, Farmington High School, Gadsden High School, New Mexico Military Institute, Organ Mountain High School and West Mesa High School were selected for the program.
More information about LDZ can be found online at www.nationalhispanicinstitute.org.
