TEACHER RECEIVES STATEWIDE HONOR
Vanessa Aranda one of nine recognized with CTA Human Rights Award
Students say Vanessa Aranda gives them a voice and helps them make a difference.
The California Teachers Association says her work promotes peace, justice and international understanding.
The Redlands teacher says she is part of a team and there still is work to be done.
This spring, Aranda, who teaches journalism, history and more at Orangewood, Redlands East Valley and Citrus Valley high schools, was one of nine educators across the state honored with a Human Rights Award by the 310,000-member organization.
“Students are challenged to look at their communities through a peace and justice lens, creating relevant content that impacts their communities,” CTA officials said in a news release. “She has also created a curriculum that combines literacy with social justice issues and is one of the main contributors to her district’s new ethnic studies course.”
Receiving the award was humbling, Aranda said.
“At the awards ceremony (in March), I was honored to have both my parents and my older sister present — they were my first teachers about justice and human rights through their experience and example — so it meant a lot to me,” she said in a statement. “It was also very reflective — flashbacks and visuals
Vanessa Aranda works with students in her U.S. history class at Orangewood High School in Redlands on May 2. Aranda was one of nine educators honored by the California Teachers Association this spring with a Human Rights Award for promoting peace, justice and international understanding through her work with students.
of many people and experiences in my learning journey became very prominent and I felt a lot of gratitude for them.”
Encouraging students to develop their voice and positively impact their community has been the theme tying together her social justice and equity work across different schools and districts, she said.
Current student Mauricio Pliego said in Aranda’s journalism
class at REV he feels his voice and opinions always matter.
“She has shown me the importance of having a voice and using (it) to spread kindness and respect among others,” he said in a statement. “Along with journalism, we created a club called Wildcats for Change that helps spread those same ideas throughout the school and community as well.”
Former student Annie Delgado said Aranda changed the trajectory of her life, giving her the confidence to explore new ideas for her future career.
“Through her class I learned so much about the government and became really interested in politics,” Delgado said in a statement. “This led me to pursue politics when I got into college and I have lobbied for bills