ALA History
In 1995, a group of educators from the Alhambra Unified School District came together and formed the Alhambra Latino Association (ALA). The original vision of creating a Latino Association was to bring together all Latino cultures in the district while focusing on promoting cultural awareness, supporting student groups and ultimately to award Latino students with scholarships. Tony Ortega, an educator at Mark Keppel High School, became the founding President and some of the original founding members of ALA served on the Advisory Board until recently such as Lilia Sarmiento, Ph.D.
With the support of many educators, parents, community members and friends within the Alhambra Unified School District ALA was able to have its inaugural fundraiser, “Festival Cultural Latino” in December of 1995. The event featured entertainment by the Latino community and school performing groups along with professional Mariachi performers and master of ceremony, comedian Rudy Moreno. The event was an instant success and is to date, one of ALA’s biggest events of the year. The theme of this cultural event changes every year. In 2012, the theme was “Día De Los Muertos Celebration”. This event brought to light the importance in the Latino culture of honoring and remembering loved ones. Aztec dancers, musical performances, authentic food vendors and a widely popular art contest made this unique cultural event a memorable one.
The first “Festival Cultural Latino” was backed by many supporters including: the Alhambra Unified School District, Bilingual Bicultural Education and the Asian American Association of Alhambra. With the help of these organizations, ALA raised funds to initiate its scholarship program and to spearhead years of Latino cultural and arts events to come.
In 1997, ALA gave a percentage of their proceeds to all elementary sites to assist 8th graders as they transitioned to high school. The ALA board also developed a scholarship program to award one senior from each of the main high schools in the district (Alhambra High School, Mark Keppel High School, San Gabriel High School and Century High School) a $300 scholarship. In June of 1997, ALA held its first Scholarship Awards Ceremony. This ceremony would later become the “ALA Scholarship Awards Dinner & Dance”, one of our biggest events of the year.
In 1998, ALA started a tradition of honoring a community member at the annual scholarship banquet. That year, Dora Padilla, a member of the Alhambra Board of Education, was honored for her outstanding accomplishments in representing children of the Latino community and her support in providing them with equal educational opportunities. Every year since, ALA has honored an outstanding and deserving community member at the ALA scholarship banquet.
Independence High School was incorporated into the scholarship program in 1998. Throughout the years, the scholarship award amount has increased thanks to the annual fall festival and scholarship banquet, and the generous contributions of our members, donors and supporters. In 2012, the five scholarships being awarded increased to $700 per student and in 2013 was increased again, to $1,000 per student.
The Alhambra Latino Association has a wide range of professionals who are dedicated to making ALA’s goals come to life. Our members are Alhambra Unified School District employees, parents, and community members while others are business professionals working in public office, nonprofit, and private businesses. ALA's members come from a great variety of fields giving it the expertise and commitment it needs to succeed in making its goals a reality.
A highlight of 2013 was that Lluvia Arras, 2000 ALA scholarship recipient, used her expertise to design a new logo and brand look for ALA. The new “brand” look with its vibrant colors and illustrative feel, was successful in captivating a wider and more diverse membership.
In 2021, ALA decided to increase the number of $50 scholarships given to our 8th grade students. Instead of awarding it to only two students per elementary school, it was raised to four students.
Due to COVID our "2020 Scholarship Awards Dinner & Dance" was canceled. In 2021, we had a successful virtual ceremony which included recorded performances by some of our high school students. In May of 2022, the awards ceremony was held outdoors and we were fortunate to have María Cristina Martínez, 2009 scholarship recipient, speak about her educational and professional career. In the same year, ALA was able to add two new $1,000 scholarships! Thanks to the generous support of the Padilla Family, we stablished the Dora S. Padilla Memorial Scholarship for a student with artistic abilities. The Tatsuno Family created the Brian N. Tatsuno Memorial Scholarship for a student interested in a technical career.
Other fundraisers ALA has done throughout the years include: shows at the Pasadena Playhouse, shopping mixers at Jade's Fashion and Vidorra, ballet folklórico performances, young audiences concerts, plus our very popular Lotería game nights.
ALA is always looking for new members and your generous support to help us make a difference in the lives of the many talented and promising young Latinas & Latinos in our community.
With the support of many educators, parents, community members and friends within the Alhambra Unified School District ALA was able to have its inaugural fundraiser, “Festival Cultural Latino” in December of 1995. The event featured entertainment by the Latino community and school performing groups along with professional Mariachi performers and master of ceremony, comedian Rudy Moreno. The event was an instant success and is to date, one of ALA’s biggest events of the year. The theme of this cultural event changes every year. In 2012, the theme was “Día De Los Muertos Celebration”. This event brought to light the importance in the Latino culture of honoring and remembering loved ones. Aztec dancers, musical performances, authentic food vendors and a widely popular art contest made this unique cultural event a memorable one.
The first “Festival Cultural Latino” was backed by many supporters including: the Alhambra Unified School District, Bilingual Bicultural Education and the Asian American Association of Alhambra. With the help of these organizations, ALA raised funds to initiate its scholarship program and to spearhead years of Latino cultural and arts events to come.
In 1997, ALA gave a percentage of their proceeds to all elementary sites to assist 8th graders as they transitioned to high school. The ALA board also developed a scholarship program to award one senior from each of the main high schools in the district (Alhambra High School, Mark Keppel High School, San Gabriel High School and Century High School) a $300 scholarship. In June of 1997, ALA held its first Scholarship Awards Ceremony. This ceremony would later become the “ALA Scholarship Awards Dinner & Dance”, one of our biggest events of the year.
In 1998, ALA started a tradition of honoring a community member at the annual scholarship banquet. That year, Dora Padilla, a member of the Alhambra Board of Education, was honored for her outstanding accomplishments in representing children of the Latino community and her support in providing them with equal educational opportunities. Every year since, ALA has honored an outstanding and deserving community member at the ALA scholarship banquet.
Independence High School was incorporated into the scholarship program in 1998. Throughout the years, the scholarship award amount has increased thanks to the annual fall festival and scholarship banquet, and the generous contributions of our members, donors and supporters. In 2012, the five scholarships being awarded increased to $700 per student and in 2013 was increased again, to $1,000 per student.
The Alhambra Latino Association has a wide range of professionals who are dedicated to making ALA’s goals come to life. Our members are Alhambra Unified School District employees, parents, and community members while others are business professionals working in public office, nonprofit, and private businesses. ALA's members come from a great variety of fields giving it the expertise and commitment it needs to succeed in making its goals a reality.
A highlight of 2013 was that Lluvia Arras, 2000 ALA scholarship recipient, used her expertise to design a new logo and brand look for ALA. The new “brand” look with its vibrant colors and illustrative feel, was successful in captivating a wider and more diverse membership.
In 2021, ALA decided to increase the number of $50 scholarships given to our 8th grade students. Instead of awarding it to only two students per elementary school, it was raised to four students.
Due to COVID our "2020 Scholarship Awards Dinner & Dance" was canceled. In 2021, we had a successful virtual ceremony which included recorded performances by some of our high school students. In May of 2022, the awards ceremony was held outdoors and we were fortunate to have María Cristina Martínez, 2009 scholarship recipient, speak about her educational and professional career. In the same year, ALA was able to add two new $1,000 scholarships! Thanks to the generous support of the Padilla Family, we stablished the Dora S. Padilla Memorial Scholarship for a student with artistic abilities. The Tatsuno Family created the Brian N. Tatsuno Memorial Scholarship for a student interested in a technical career.
Other fundraisers ALA has done throughout the years include: shows at the Pasadena Playhouse, shopping mixers at Jade's Fashion and Vidorra, ballet folklórico performances, young audiences concerts, plus our very popular Lotería game nights.
ALA is always looking for new members and your generous support to help us make a difference in the lives of the many talented and promising young Latinas & Latinos in our community.