Whittier Gets New Speaker Series, With Domestic Education First – Whittier Daily News

Rio Hondo College President Marilyn Flores and Whittier City School District Superintendent Brad Mason will be featured in “Why Supporting Local Education Is Important to Building a Strong Community,” the first event in Whittier’s new distinguished speaker series.

the Garcia Family Foundation — a Whittier-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting Latino students’ goals toward education at the college and university levels — will launch its first-ever speaker series on Thursday, April 20.

This first installment of the Whittier Distinguished Speakers series, “Why Supporting Local Education is Important to Building a Strong Community,” will feature Whittier City School District Superintendent Brad Mason and Rio Hondo College President Marilyn Flores.

“With the pandemic impacting student learning and contributing to social anxiety, the discussion will focus on what school districts are doing successfully to deal with the crisis,” said Robert Garcia, founder of the foundation, in a statement.

Mason is hired by Whittier in 2021 with over 30 years of teaching experience. Previously served in the same Its role in the Brea Olinda Unified School District. In addition, he has worked in a number of roles at the Redlands Unified School District, including time as Assistant Superintendent of Business Services.

Flores is the second Latina to be named superintendent/chairman in Rio Hondo College history. Prior to joining Rio Hondo in 2022, she served nine years as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Santiago Canyon College.

The series is scheduled every month. This year’s episodes include:

• Jun – “Public Safety Where Are We in Crime?”
• August – “Moving On: California’s Housing Market – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”
• October – “Helping the Vulnerable: Our Homeless Crisis”
• December – “Timeout on Tech: Is Technology a Barrier or a Helpful?”

To attend the meeting in person, RSVP at [email protected].

The meeting is held at 6 p.m. in the Whittier City School District Boardroom.

More information about the Garcia Family Foundation can be found at www.gff-ca.org.