Adrian Arvizu goes the extra mile for his students

Adrian Arvizu is a site coordinator at Madrid Middle School in El Monte for both the summer program and regular program. The summer program allows him and his program leaders to get to know the students that are new to the program before the long school year starts.

While the students are still receiving instruction, THINK’s summer program has more of a camp feel whereas the regular program seems to scream “school!” This year, Madrid incorporated the Hunger Games theme into its summer program, which was met with enormous success and praise.

Arvizu is hoping to incorporate the camp feel into his regular program this year.

What’s the best part of his job?

“I would have to say when I see the ‘fruit of our labor’,” said Arvizu. “When I have former students coming in their high school ‘gear’ to visit me, telling me about all their achievements and success, through trial and error of course, it does it for me when they reference things they learned when they were with me. Priceless!”

Arvizu has been a site coordinator with THINK Together for one year and is now entering his second year. He took a break from being a site coordinator for a season to be an events coordinator. Originally, Arvizu was a program leader but he quickly climbed the ladder to site coordinator when his colleagues and supervisors, at the time, identified leadership and creativity in him.

This summer, Arvizu had the help of two site assistants, Jaclyn Rivera and Cynthia Ramirez. He is so thankful to have had their wonderful help throughout the summer program. Arvizu was very impressed with their ability to take the initiative with multiple tasks. This ability, he says, allowed him to flourish in his lead role.

One of Arvizu’s favorite memories as a site coordinator is his last birthday.

“On my last birthday, my students and program leaders (with the help of my principal and AP of course) jam-packed my office with balloons and giant-sized birthday cards. When I went outside, there were students holding cupcakes, a large cake and gifts; that was cool!”

Arvizu is hard-working and enjoys the energy boost he gets when he knows he needs to get things done and does them with quality. A typical day for Arvizu is very busy and fast paced. He does his best, not because he wants to be recognized, but because he was a kid who grew up without programs like THINK Together’s.

Arvizu believes that the students deserve a safe place to be educated, have fun and receive an unforgettable experience that will spring-board them into an amazing future and that “a quality program produces quality students.”

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