About / Oct 11 / Gevirtz School names 2011 Glikbarg Fellowship recipients

October 18, 2011
For immediate release

Bria Arnold-Pagliaro, Henry Galdamez, and José Ventura of UC Santa Barbara's Gevirtz School named 2011 Glikbarg Foundation Fellowship recipients

2011 Glikbarg Foundation Fellows

Bria Arnold-Pagliaro, Henry Galdamez, and José Ventura, credential candidates in the Gevirtz School Teacher Education Program, have been selected to be the recipients of the William and Charlene Glikbarg Foundation Fellowships for 2011-12.

The primary mission of the William and Charlene Glikbarg Foundation is to help others, especially those with low income. The Foundation is committed to the belief that our system of government can only survive if people with low income have a realistic hope that they can improve their economic status. One of the foci of the Foundation is education. Fellowship recipients made clear their interest to pursue teaching in a low-income, ethnically diverse community where students may not complete their high school GED and/or are not historically college-bound, and where dedicated teaching can positively affect the future for disadvantaged students.

Bria Arnold-Pagliaro is a candidate for a secondary education teaching credential with an emphasis in science. “I am committed to educating low-income, ethnically diverse students in California,” Arnold-Pagliaro wrote in her application letter for the fellowship. “As someone who had a challenging adolescent life and obtained a GED, my goal is to become a science educator in order to demonstrate to those students that they too can earn a college degree. One focus of both my graduate and postgraduate inquiries will be to develop inclusive, culturally relevant curricula. Through my pedagogical studies I have already realized the benefit of interdisciplinary study and group work, which I believe is vital to my science students’ success. Most importantly, the GGSE has always placed an emphasis on addressing educational challenges arising from social and economic diversity. Therefore, I know that I will have developed the necessary tools and be prepared upon graduation to meet the challenges involved in educating low-income, ethnically diverse students.”

Henry Galdamez is a candidate for a secondary education teaching credential with an emphasis in math. “I was born and raised in South Central, Los Angeles and I attended public schools all of my life,” Galdamez wrote in his application letter for the fellowship. “I have witnessed great need in public education and I am determined to make an impact towards bettering public schools. Most of my friends struggled and did not complete their high school education. I recall always walking around my classrooms trying to help them, but it was not always possible. Most students had financial and family problems that made it difficult to help them. My desire is to go back to Los Angeles or a low-income community and help disadvantaged students better themselves.”

José Ventura is a candidate for a secondary education teaching credential with an emphasis in history and social science. “Being a student who grew up in a low-income family, in a city full of marginalized minorities where most kids are not expected to attend college let alone finish high school, I consciously chose to go into teaching to go back to communities similar to my own where there is a lack on bridging the gap from high school to college,” Ventura wrote in his application letter for the fellowship. “Being a young Latino (soon to be) teacher, I feel I have so an immense amount of power to be a role model and make a difference in the lives of kids who are growing up in the same conditions I did, in need of a teacher who talks to them about college and helps them attain a higher education.”

[Bria Arnold-Pagliaro, Henry Galdamez, and José Ventura are available for interviews; contact George Yatchisin at 805 893 5789]

Photo caption: the 2011 Glikbarg Foundation Fellowship recipients: (l-r) Jose Ventura, Bria Pagliaro, Henry Galdamez

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Bria Arnold-Pagliaro, Henry Galdamez, and José Ventura of UC Santa Barbara's Gevirtz School named 2011 Glikbarg Foundation Fellowship recipients