The Corpus Christi Branch of AAUW held its regular meeting on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. at the YWCA-Corpus Christi.  After a call-to-order and a warm welcome to the large crowd, AAUW President Dottie Ewing also welcomed and gave recognition to our special guests from the Delta Psi Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International, a professional honor society of key women educators.

Dr. Diana Cardenas introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Cecilia Reynolds-Perez, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction and Human Resources at West Oso Independent School District.

Dr. Reynolds-Perez earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi.  An educator for many years, she was selected High School Principal of the Year by the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals and Elementary Principal of the Year by HEB.  Last year, Dr. Reynolds-Perez was appointed by Governor Abbott to the Texas School Safety Center Board of Directors, and she hosted the first legislative panel in a Texas high school focused on school safety.   The panel gathering included several hundred students and three state legislators, Senator Juan

“Chuy” Hinojosa, Representative Todd Hunter, and Representative Abel Herrero.  Over 2,000 of her students engaged this issue actively by writing letters to her and the legislators, sharing their concerns and recommendations about school safety.  This month, Dr. Reynolds-Perez has been invited to present on the subject of school safety at South-by-Southwest (SXSW-Edu 2019) in Austin.  For the AAUW meeting, Dr. Reynolds-Perez talked about “Educating Young Women in the 21st Century,” and she told us we were the first to hear a portion of her SXSW presentation on school safety.

Dr. Cardenas thanked our speaker for her appearance and presented Dr. Reynolds-Perez with a gift book and an AAUW shoulder bag.

Dr. Reynolds-Perez also requested a photo opportunity with the Executive Board of AAUW Corpus Christi Branch so that she can include the image in her future presentations about educating young women in the 21st century.  She thanked the AAUW Corpus Christi Branch for its active involvement in promoting education for young women.

-Article and photos by Dr. Vickie Natale, webmaster.