German Hernandez (right) with Hart District Superintendent Rob Challinor.

German Hernandez, 2012 West Ranch High School graduate, was recently awarded the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Region 15 “Every Student Succeeding” award, which was presented to him at a conference in San Diego last month.

German Hernandez was a shining star at West Ranch High School. He grew to become a leader, being elected ASB president in his senior year, and used the position to reach out to struggling students and get them involved in school activities. He made remarkable improvement, having grown up as a Spanish speaker in Mexico until he was in the second grade.

When he came to this country, he was beaten up and harassed by other students because of his poor English skills, but he never gave up. Eventually he became fluent in English and began to dream of going to college.

His father worked long hours in food service and his mother worked six days a week as a housekeeper, so German had to help out with the responsibilities of raising younger siblings, as well as the increased academic load as he moved to high school. But German persevered, studying hard and dreaming of college. He now has set a goal of achieving a college degree in economics and is attending San Diego State University to accomplish his goal.

As principal Bob Vincent put it in a letter of support, “From the day he walked into West Ranch, he has made positive personal and scholastic progress toward his goal of graduating high school and going to a top notch university.”

ACSA is proud to recognize German Hernandez for his hard work and the Region 15 team that supported him.