By Delilah Bruner, Photo by Dean Musgrove
Originally published in Los Angeles Daily News on June 9, 2023
Karen R., 17, often advocates for her peers at Girls Academic Leadership Academy in Wilshire District. This fall she will become Los Angeles Unified School District Board‘s student member.
Ramirez got the most votes among nine high school finalists to win the seat. She tried to sway student voters by focusing on her leadership experience as a part of the LAUSD Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council and her school’s student government, national honor society and Latin American Student Organization.
“The LAUSD board members are adults who haven’t actually been in school for a long time,” Ramirez said. “They’re amazing, they’re accomplished, but they haven’t actually experienced the policies they’re implementing. I’ll be able to speak from firsthand experience about what students want.”
About Girls Academic Leadership Academy (GALA)
GALA is the only girls’ public school in California, launched in 2016 with the support of Student Leadership Network. GALA is affiliated with Young Women’s Leadership Network, a national network of single-gender schools adapting a Whole Girl Education model of leadership, academic excellence with a focus on STEM, early college and career awareness, and health and wellness.