Building Belonging at Pioneer MS

Tuesday night school board members honored Pioneer Middle School student Lea Davalos with a Building Belonging Award.
The Building Belonging Award is a new student recognition program aligned to the district’s "We All Belong Here" unity message promoting a civil, safe and compassionate learning environment.

The "Building Belonging" Recognition Award recognizes students who promote activities that create and sustain a sense of belonging, fairness, and justice for all students. Equity and Dual Programs Department Director Dr. Julie Perron coordinates the Building Belonging Award program.

Last spring, Lea Davalos, then 6th grader, hand-wrote Pioneer Library Media Specialist Sara Strickland a letter about having a Spanish section in the library with interesting books for the fluent Spanish readers. This prompted Sara to hire her as a Library TA this school year, and hopefully next year for her 8th grade year. Part of Lea's job is to help review and update the library's Spanish section and ensure the books on the shelves are what students want to read.

"She may be quiet, but she is mighty," says Sara. "Lea ensures students find the books they seek and that the library is in tip-top shape. Lea even sees when I'm overwhelmed and quietly takes over jobs that I later realized are finished because she's completed them. She is an advocate for her fellow students and assists new monolingual Spanish-speaking students with the crazy world that is middle school."

 Photo L-R: PIoneer Middle School Library-Media Specialist Sara Strickland, Lea Davalos and School Board President Derek Sarley.