Julia Antunes\u2019 teachers at Mt. Lebanon High School have joked that her schedule would humble any CEO. But they probably aren\u2019t too far off.<\/p>\n
Antunes, 17, is in her second year as the student representative to both the state Board of Education and the Mt. Lebanon School Board.<\/p>\n
At school, she co-founded the school\u2019s Lebo Cultures Club, which has organized an immigration speaker series and other community events, and she volunteers as a tutor with immigrant students through the Latino Community Center.<\/p>\n
On Nov. 19, the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh will honor Antunes with the Emerging Leader award at its Equity Awards luncheon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt incredibly shocked and honored to be surrounded by a cohort of women who worked to shape Pittsburgh into the incredible city it is,\u201d said Antunes, a senior at Mt. Lebanon High School.<\/p>\n
Antunes is the daughter of immigrant parents \u2014 her father, Luiz, is from Brazil; her mother, Mariela, is from Argentina. She said those experiences shaped her advocacy work.<\/p>\n
Her parents came to the United States \u201cfor work and the educational opportunities,\u201d Antunes said. \u201cI had always been very studious and passionate, and my background transcended into a passion for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n
As student representative to the state Board of Education, Antunes is tasked with representing the perspectives of 1.7 million K-12 students across Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
She is leading a peer-to-peer video series highlighting students who have overcome barriers \u2014 like coming from low-income families, or first-generation students \u2014 to postsecondary education. The videos, posted to the department\u2019s social media accounts, aim to raise awareness of challenges students face and also inspire others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw the opportunity to become the state Board of Education\u2019s student representative, it aligned perfectly with my values and my passion for education and inclusion,\u201d Antunes said.<\/p>\n
Antunes directly contributed to an ongoing department project by recommending ways that first-generation, low-income and immigrant students can be better supported in navigating transitional periods, said department spokeswoman Casey Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulia has embraced her role as a student leader on the state Board of Education through her efforts to include the perspectives of her peers across Pennsylvania in important discussions about education policy,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Antunes is also inspired to make a difference in her own community. With her friends, Antunes co-founded the high school\u2019s Lebo Cultures Club and held a World Cultures community night that showcased the nationalities represented by the district\u2019s student body.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere definitely is a smaller number of minorities within Mt. Lebanon, but that makes it all the more important,\u201d Antunes said. \u201cWe\u2019re living in an era where now, more than ever, it\u2019s important. Our community is made up of natives, immigrants and foreign culture, and that\u2019s culminated in this beautiful picture of what is America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julianne Slogick, teacher and Global Studies Program Director at Mt. Lebanon, said Antunes has transformed the Cultures Club into a meaningful group for all students of different, cultural backgrounds at the high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is working to shape, in a positive way, the experiences of the whole student body and students who have a shared experience to her,\u201d Slogick said. \u201cHer personality is very warm, loving and approachable. She is really committed to making this community a place that is welcoming, especially to immigrant populations. There\u2019s a real promise, and uplifting approach and method, to how she does this work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antunes is inspiring to her peers and teachers because of her caring nature and work ethic, said George Savarese, a high school social studies teacher. She goes above and beyond with academics and extracurriculars \u2014 such as History Day, Model United Nations and as part of the U.S. State Department\u2019s Young Ambassadors program, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this time of division and derision she embodies the best qualities in a student and person,\u201d Savarese said. \u201cIt might sound contrived, by Julia does more in a day than many do in a semester. She is also one of the most down to earth and genuinely kindest students we have ever seen despite her incredible accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antunes is still thinking about her future goals, and is considering pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science for a future career in human rights law.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the quote, \u2018act local, think local.\u2019 I think there\u2019s so much power in making progress and working with others at the community level,\u201d Antunes said. \u201cIt really is the small things. Oftentimes we think of equality and equity as major policy changes or national or global changes but I\u2019ve realized even if it benefits one student or family, it\u2019s powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Julia Antunes\u2019 teachers at Mt. Lebanon High School have joked that her schedule would humble any CEO. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-310232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}