I encourage all voters who will be voting for the College of the Canyons board of trustees Area 2 to cast their votes for Edel Alonso. As a counselor at Hart High and Valencia High, she guided students with her knowledge and concern for their success. At Hart, for example, she sponsored the International Club, which included students from various countries, who, among other activities, led a voter registration event. Because I taught English language learners for 16 years, I know that giving these students a place where they can meet others and serve in school and community activities is incredibly important. So, in addition to her counseling duties, she provided these students with the powerful gift of discovering a place to serve and belong. Her impact on young lives can be seen in the endorsement by Basil Aranda, student representative on the COC board of trustees, 2019-20. Mr. Aranda stated, “I am so grateful there was someone like Dr. Alonso advocating for us and our education…I could not imagine the board without Dr. Alonso.”
Alonso counseled students at COC as a full-time professor and counselor for 16 years, advocating for academic learning and career training to prepare students for successful futures. She believes her most important responsibilities as a trustee are to ensure all students access, equity, and success, and to exercise oversight for expenditures with a sense of responsibility to taxpayers.
Edel Alonso is endorsed by the California School Employees Association, the COC Faculty Association and Part-Time Faculty United, as well as by a long list of community members, which includes many former colleagues and students. I hope you will vote for Edel Alonso to ensure that the students at COC continue to receive a fine education in a safe environment provided in a fiscally responsible way. Our community is blessed to have such a caring and qualified candidate, a person whom I admire greatly.
Diane Duarte Babko
Valencia
