Trejo introduces keynote speaker at Small School Districts' Association virtual conference

Vallecitos Elementary School eighth grader Daisy Trejo introduced March 8 keynote speaker Cecilia Aragon at the March 8-9 virtual Small School Districts' Association conference.

"It was a nice experience," Maritza Koeppen, principal of Vallecitos Elementary School, who is also the superintendent of the Vallecitos School District, said.

The Small School Districts' Association has 15 board members including Koeppen, who is one of two board members from Southern California and the other is the superintendent of a charter school network based in El Segundo. Tim Taylor is the executive director of the Small School Districts' Association.

"He contacted me and asked if I had an eighth grade student," Koeppen said.

Koeppen recommended Trejo.

"She's a straight A student and she works really hard," Koeppen said. "We thought she'd be a good person to select."

Shraddha Knight is Trejo's eighth grade teacher.

Aragon was the first Latina to be a pilot for the U.S. Aerobatics Team and later became the first Latina full professor at the University of Washington's College of Engineering. She has worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration designing software for Mars missions and has taught astronauts to fly. Last year her memoir, Flying Free, was published.

"Daisy was able to introduce her by reading her bio to the group," Koeppen said.

This year's Small School Districts Association conference was virtual.

"It was still good," Koeppen said.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].