In recognizing P.A. Walsh sixth-grader Gladis Covarrubias as
countywide Migrant Student of the Year, the Santa Clara County
Board of Education is giving her the first of what her teacher
believes will be many awards.
In recognizing P.A. Walsh sixth-grader Gladis Covarrubias as countywide Migrant Student of the Year, the Santa Clara County Board of Education is giving her the first of what her teacher believes will be many awards.
“I could see early on that Gladis was an exceptional student,” Sharon Ashton-Polcer wrote on the nomination form. “Our sixth-graders are eligible at the end of the school year for the Presidential Academic Award, and Gladis has had her eye on this prize for many years. She is determined that she will earn this, knowing full well that the criteria is very difficult … She is a true scholar in every sense of the word.”
Gladis was recognized at a county board meeting on Nov. 19 and also at the Nov. 17 Morgan Hill School District board meeting.
“You’re going to hear about Gladis,” said P.A. Walsh Principal Irene Macias-Morriss. “She is going places. She’s going to college.”
Macias-Morriss told trustees that Gladis is a well-rounded student who excels in many areas.
The county Board of Education has recognized, for the past two years, an outstanding student from each of the student services programs.
Selection criteria for the award include leadership, academic improvement or achievement, attendance and behavior, character development and citizenship, perseverance and community service or job training.
“She’s going to take Britton (Middle School) by storm,” Macias-Morriss said.
Family support has been important for Gladis.
“Her parents are incredible,” she said. “The support given to this student is outstanding.”
Both her principal and her teacher, who was also her teacher in the fourth grade, mentioned the emotional trauma the Covarrubias family endured when Gladis’ younger brother, a P.A. Walsh first grader, died unexpectedly in March 2002.
“Gladis came to school the next morning with her older sister … Through her tears, she wanted to make sure she gave me her homework and her library book … When she came back, she insisted that she should take the science test she missed even though I told her she did not need to do so,” Ashton-Polcer wrote.
The staff and students, Macias-Morriss said, were stunned and saddened by the death of her brother, and Gladis, as usual, wanted to help.
“She came to school that day and was a comfort to us,” she said.
Ashton-Polcer said Monday that there was so much more she could have written about Gladis, and that nominating her for the award was “a no-brainer.”
“She’s just so valiant and she has such a good work ethic,” she said. “She is highly motivated, and she rises to a challenge.”
Gladis said Monday there are several reasons she works so hard in school.
“I want to do something in life,” she said. “And I want to make my parents proud of me.”
The award, she said, is something she is proud of.
“It’s just something really good,” she said. “I’ve been through a lot in the last couple of years, and it is good to have this award, to be recognized for my work.”
Right now, Gladis said, there are three career possibilities she is considering: “a famous cook, a lawyer or a famous decorator.”
Her advice to other students is simple: “To try as hard as you can and to keep on writing; that will take you far in life.”
