Sandra Hernandez

Sandra Hernandez is an 18 year old student attending Columbia college. Also, Sandra has plenty of things to do in her life that interfere with her free time. In appearance, Sandra is a short girl with long hair, and she uses glasses to see with. Sandra told us that she barely has time to get anything done, that includes her hair and her nails; she is always in a hurry to be on time. Sandra's busy schedule includes baby sitting, and working in a bank so she could pay her school fees for Columbia College, where she studies film making . Sandra mentioned that If she is lucky she would have four hours of sleep; to me, that is really hard- working, and she is a really good role model for people who can only deal with one thing at the time, and feel that it is the end of the world because they cant seem to handle the pressure.
Sandra Hernandez's views of social justice began when she became a freshman at Kelvyn Park High School and got involved in plenty of field trips. I read a story that she wrote herself.  She is a shy person: maybe you could say that other students would not notice her or hear her opinion because she has a really soft voice. While Sandra's nationality is Mexican, she came to the United States when she was 3 year old. She considers her parents to be her heroes because they helped her get to where she is in life right now. To me, Sandra is a really good role model because she helps us see for ourself that everything is possible too.
written by: Mayra Barbosa

Sandra Hernadez

Sandra Hernandez is a person that always looks for the best in everyone. Sandra has long black hair and she wears glasses. Sandra has a busy life, but yet she keeps going even though she doesn’t get enough sleep.When she was a high school student at Kelvyn Park, Sandra re-enacted the rumors about KP in a video. The videos addressed these rumors because she wanted to help the new freshmen not to be scared. She also made a video project about gentrification in Logan Square That was an important issue that was happening in the community, and she went door to door to encourage them to vote make the right choice on a referendum about affordable housing. Sandra was born in Mexico. She was brought to America when she was three years old. She is now in college at Columbia College in Chicago, and works two jobs so she can pay her tuition. She is a hard worker. She wants to be a film maker. From the time Sandra was young, and even now, her family is her inspiration. In my opinion, Sandra is a hero because she puts everyone before herself. She is a great person and I know she dearly cares about social justice because she believes everyone's rights should be the same, and everyone’s voice should be heard. I know that anything Sandra does she will accomplish.

Written By: Nancy Guillen

portrait of Ana Molina

Ana Molina is a woman that works hard. Ana’s a Christian. She’s Puerto Rican, is short, has white hair, and wears glasses. She's an older woman.
She works at a church helping poor people. She goes to hospitals to let them know how poor people could get help in the community, and get financial help, also. Ana likes to help young kids, and she likes to give people stuff like clothes, shoes, and food. She would like for the police to give more security to her community because sometimes there is a lot of gangbanging on the streets. She would like to help others put some parks in the community so the kids won’t have to play on the streets or be in danger. She thinks that her only hero is God. She says “Without God we are nothing." Ana has been working all her life, and she loves to do good work. In her free time, she likes to be at home with her dog. When somebody needs help to get to the hospital or clinic, she always takes them, no matter what, and she stays until the person is alright.
Ana thinks that a hero is a person who helps others, she says that social justice means that everybody has the same rights, and should be treated in the same way. Ana has been through a lot of stuff in her life. In her personal life, her husband died in her arms, and she said she felt happy because he’s in a better place. She was there in every moment because she was the only one who helped him until he died. For us, this woman means a lot--because she’s an example for us and because she does so many things for the community. Ana helps so many people…she’s a hero!!!
by Karina and Brenda

Leticia Barrera

Leticia Barera is a mom. She has three children that live with her, two sons and one daughter. She is an immigrant from Mexico and came to the USA when she was a young girl. She has lived in Chicago, Illinois for a long time.

Leticia is happily married, with a wonderful husband who inspires the work that she does. The person that inspired her when she was a little girl was her mom because she told her to do her best in school, and Leticia always looked up to her.
Leticia has been working for LSNA for 6 years. She has been working with the community for about 8-9 years. She likes working with people in different organizations, and she likes working especially with parents and students. She enjoys working outside the community. The work that she does is to learn more about her community and work with students and parents in schools. Leticia is a very nice person to know. She is also very helpful around the community. To me, she is a hero because she spends her time helping out the community.

Written By: Giovanni Mendoza

Ofelia Sanchez

Ofelia is a hero. Ofelia is a person that looks quiet & shy, but when she gets comfortable she breaks out of her shell (so to speak). Ofelia works with school parents, giving tours. She started working when her oldest child was in P-K, and she would also help out with community. Ofelia is a parent-teacher for younger students in the 3rd grade. she tutors them. For 5-6 years, Ofelia  volunteers in classrooms. She a Latina. Ofelia grew up in Chicago, dropping out of high school because of her needs. She has 3 kids with another coming soon. Ofelia always has helped because she knows how it feels to be left behind; she helps students that are falling back, or kids that don’t know English, or don’t know English well. She wants to be a bilingual teacher. She tells others to “keep your head up, be strong. It’s hard work in the real world.” Even though she might not think she’s a hero, she is. Ofelia helps children that need help in their work, or in anything else. Her kids should be proud of her. She won’t back down on helping the children, I know that for a fact.

Dinah Torres

OFELIA SANCHEZ

Ofelia’s work in the community consists of helping elementary school students who are struggling in their classes. She also works with parents who don’t speak much English.
Ofelia is very nice and it seems to me that she has never given up on what she wants to achieve. For example, she dropped out of high school but went back because of her kids. She is currently attending college. Also, I think she is a good mom because she said, “My kids are the most important people in my life.”
I asked her is she had a hero and her response was, “I don’t have a hero, but I used to look up to my ELS teacher.” Ofelia doesn’t see herself as a hero, but I think she is a hero because she helps kids do better in school. Thanks to her they will learn more and progress in life. Another fact that makes her a hero is that she went back to school to do better and to give her kids a better future. Ofelia is a great person and she is very friendly also.

Brian Perea

Brian is a Junior at Kelvyn Park High School. Brian has short hair, and is short and stocky. Brian also has a great attitude because he helps the community get better.

Brian works in the community to make a difference. He works with LSNA in a program called VOYCE. In VOYCE, they research why students drop out of high school. When he was working on the issue why people drop out and other community issues, Brian got to meet a lot of people (like politicians) in the city. Brian started to work with LSNA last year on the issues of the community.

In general, Brian is a shy person. He is shy because he does not like speak in front of people. Brian is athletic and likes to play sports, including football.

Brian’s heroes are his parents. Also, one of his heroes is Juliet de Jesus Alejandre from LSNA. They helped him learn life lessons, and about life in the city.

Brian is a hero because when he works he is very focused on what he is doing. He is dedicated to helping others, even people he doesn’t know. Brian is a hero because he is working on a real-life issue on why students drop out. And he is only 16, so he is making a difference.

Luis Lopez SJA