“Diagonal! Let’s go, let’s go!” This is what many LACES students hear as they approach the school building every morning; the energetic voice of Cecily Myart-Cruz on the corner of Point View and 18th. The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) president spends her mornings in front of LACES, making sure kids are able to cross the street safely as they walk into school. Working with youth is her favorite way to start her morning, before getting ready for a day filled with meetings.
“Y’all students inspire me,” said Myart-Cruz.
She wants to make sure every student starts their day off right.
“Positivity radiates everywhere and I think when I see students in the morning, I try to give a little something, that they’ll be able to walk into school knowing that someone saw them. Because I’m really big on affirmation and making sure that what we do has purpose. So sometimes I’ll say make sure you’re living with purpose, or have a good day on purpose. I think that’s important,” said Myart-Cruz.
As a 1990 LACES alumni, Myart-Cruz feels this is a way for her to give back.
“I went to LACES from 7th grade to 12th, so this is like my home, so of course I’ll do it, I do it for free because I want to make sure students are safe. But this is where all my formative years happened and my activism started here at LACES.”
Myart-Cruz recalls the teacher strike in 2019 as a full circle moment for her.
“I got my start here in 1989. Our teachers were on strike and I jumped the fence to walk with my teachers. So of course I have to think about the activism in that. And of course in 2019 when our teachers were on strike, my first day was walking here [at LACES] with students and parents and teachers in the rain. So, that gives me pride,” she said.
Myart-Cruz is excited to see where LACES students will go after high school. Her passion as an activist was born at LACES, and now as UTLA president, she knows how far passion can take someone.
“I’m always pretty jazzed to see students getting accepted to where they want to go, whether it’s back east or here, I’m pretty invested in seeing that. I’m like yay! I’m cheering for folks because I know what it’s like graduating from this school and saying ‘I wonder where I’m gonna be in so many years?,” said Myart-Cruz.
United Teachers Los Angeles has been preparing to hit the negotiating table with the district in February to negotiate protection for programs like community schools, and the Black Student Achievement Program (BSAP). As well as advocating for student mental health, and better salaries for teachers and district employees.
“You know you can work in this district for a long time, and never move up. You have like dead spots in our salary tables that need to be fixed. Obviously you should pay people what they are worth,” said Myart-Cruz.
She also mentioned that UTLA is working on topics like housing, climate change, and immigration defense.
“A lot of people will say ‘why do you fight on those issues?’ It’s like, it’s always instrumental to talk about all of those things because when it’s happening to our youth, it’s happening to us. So making sure that we are doing that kind of work is super important,” said Myart-Cruz.
Myart-Cruz describes what is special to her about LACES.
“I graduated in 1990, and the friends that I made here at LACES, I’m still friends with today, and that spans almost 40 years. I think the program that we have in place here at LACES where it’s almost like a family. Just really the programming, the arts, the music, the drama, the leadership, all of those things make a well rounded student…it gives me pride to represent the unicorns and LACES,” she said.
