Spirited LDZ students create enduring brands at Celebracion 2018

More than 500 in attendance saw a spirited contingent of LDZ students, chanting “L-D-Z!” repeatedly throughout the final presentations, represented by the winning Creer Para Ver team at Celebración 2018. The top finishers, made up entirely of Texas-based LDZ alumni, enthusiastically took their public policy skills into the branding exercise that, in combination with revisiting the LDZ Constitution, anchored their Celebración experience.

“One of the things that we did in the very beginning was to take the students back through their LDZ experience, to what they learned this summer about creating their own personal brand, and how that tied into their community brand,” said LDZ cohort educational director George Rodriguez. “We asked them what the challenges were that they had individually. We asked, ‘What are the policies that you have to adopt for yourself to promote your brand? And how do you sell yourself to the community? How is the community going to perceive that brand and accept that brand? That was the process they had to go through.”

While the cohesiveness of the LDZ group didn’t surprise Rodriguez, he did find it notable that they found togetherness even with their large numbers. ‘They really came together, even though Day One, they were talking about Colorado, Texas, and New York LDZ, but by the end, we weren’t even talking in those terms,” Rodriguez laughed. “It was just one LDZ.”

Creer Para Ver – in winning the Celebración competition — used an overarching theme of faith to anchor its branding message, including Latino civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, March For Our Lives speaker Edna Chavez, soccer star Neymar, and legendary musician Selena in a presentation that declared, “Faith was built in our coding the day we were born.”

3rd place, Team GTG

Kourtney Bowen, Incarnate Word HS, San Antonio, TX

Jillian Garza, Gladys Porter Early College HS, Brownsville, TX

Helena Greebe, Westwood HS, Austin, TX

Marceli Ollervidez, Incarnate Word HS, San Antonio, TX

Izel Pineda, Sandra Day O’Connor HS, San Antonio, TX

Mary Provencio, Incarnate Word HS, San Antonio, TX

Antonio Valdez, Alamo Heights HS, San Antonio, TX

Grace Vaughan, IB at Lamar Academy, McAllen, TX

2nd place, takeastand

Vivianne Alvarez, Colegio San Agustín, David, Panama

Jacqueline Garcia, Hector J. Garcia Early College High School, Laredo, TX

Jesse Lopez, East Austin College Prep, Austin, TX

José Moreno Brugué, Oxford International School, Panamá, Panama

Paulina Morales, School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, TX

Ana Pedroza Ramirez, Escuela Carlos Pereyra, Torreon, Mexico

Alondra Rodriguez, Mission Hills HS, San Marcos, CA

Regina Romero-Garza, John Paul II HS, Plano, TX

Ricardo Ruiz Almanza, Escuela Secundaria Pedro Pablo Sanchez, La Chorrera, Panama

Brisa Salazar, School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, TX

Berenice Soto, JBS Law Magnet, Mesquite, TX

Fabián Valerio, School for the Talented and Gifted, Mesquite, TX

1st place, Creer Para Ver

John Antowan, Cathedral HS, El Paso, TX

Alejandra Caballero, School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, TX

Christine Camarillo, School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, TX

Julianna Desjardins, IDEA Brownsville, Brownsville, TX

Benjamin Grajeda, El Paso HS, El Paso, TX

Melanie Harrell, Young Women’s Leadership Academy, San Antonio, TX

Sara Henry, Coronado HS, El Paso, TX

Jacob Magallanes, Cathedral HS, El Paso, TX

Leah Piñon, Pebble Hills HS, El Paso, TX

Sarah Sandoval, School for the Talented and Gifted, Dallas, TX

Anthony Saucedo, Bishop Dunne Catholic HS, Midlothian, TX

Angelica Sifuentes, Eastwood Academy, Houston, TX

Celebracion 2018 was presented in part by State Farm.