The awards ceremony honored 53 students representing 8 schools districts who participated in the Regional Speech Competition which included:  

• ABC Unified School District 

• Antelope Valley Union High School District 

• El Monte City School District  

• El Monte Union High School District 

• Long Beach Unified School District 

• Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District 

• Los Angeles Unified School District 

• Hacienda La Puente Unified School District 

The awards ceremony included keynote speaker Dr. Martha Gonzalez, associate professor of Latinx Studies at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Dr. Gonzalez is a Grammy Award winner, musician, artivist (artist/activist), and scholar who graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA). 

“Congratulations to these outstanding students and the dedicated teachers of the Migrant Education Program who support them," said Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Debra Duardo. “We are honored to recognize the migrant population in LA County and acknowledge that students learn and succeed in more than one culture and language.”  

The competition included Prepared Speech and Extemporaneous Speech categories on different topics specifically selected for High School and Middle School students in both English and Spanish. 

“We congratulate all of the talented students for their outstanding presentations and are so proud of the winning speakers,” said Dr. Mirna Miranda-Welsh, Project Director III-MEP. “All our speakers embody the spirit of achievement and accomplishment that is at the heart of the Migrant Education Program.” 

The LACOE Migrant Education Program (MEP) is a federally funded program that supports high-quality and comprehensive educational programs and services that address the unique educational needs of migratory children. LACOE administers the Region 10 California Migrant Education Program, supporting 22 districts that serve more than 4,900 students.  

The program ensures that migratory children who move among the States are not penalized by disparities among the States in curriculum, graduation requirements and challenging State academic standards, gives migratory children full and appropriate opportunities to meet the same State academic standards that all children are expected to meet and helps migratory children overcome educational disruption, cultural and language barriers, social isolation, various health-related problems and other factors that inhibit the ability of such children to succeed in school.