Patch Whiz Kids of the Week: Christopher Avila, Jose Morales and Lupita Ramirez

Each week, San Bruno Patch will feature an amazing kid, youth group, teen or sports team that wows us with their accomplishments. 

This week, we feature three  students who have been instrumental in getting students involved in the school's Latinos Unidos Club.

Patch Whiz Kids of the Week

Name/Age: Christopher Avila, 16, Jose Morales, 17, Lupita Ramirez, 16

School: Capuchino High School

Accomplishment: Since his freshman year, Christopher Avila has been actively involved at school. 

He joined the Latinos Unidos Club his first year and now assists the adviser to the club, Patricia Flores, with the club’s logistics and with resolving conflicts among other students. During his sophomore year, he got involved with Leadership and the school’s Uganda Club, which raises money for schools in the West African country. 

Next year, he’ll be the school’s ASB vice president. 

Jose Morales and Lupita Ramirez were at first reluctant to get involved with any activities on campus either because they see didn’t any of their friends involved or they just didn’t feel like they would fit in. 

But all that changed when Christopher performed a traditional Mexican dance with two female classmates for Mexican Independence Week last fall. Christopher is of Guatemalan descent. 

Jose and Lupita got inspired and decided to join Latinos Unidos, and now they and Christopher have been leading a wave of new involvement among the school’s Latino students, Flores said. 

Over the last few months, the club has been organizing a number of events, including a Cesar Chavez rally, a Latin music dance and the upcoming Cinco de Mayo celebration. 

For all three students, their involvement and leadership in the club has been a way to show pride in where they come from and help grow the club’s membership, thanks in large part to the three students getting their friends onboard. 

“Some of my friends saw me dancing, and that got them interested,” Jose said, recalling a recent dance performance he did with Lupita for an event on campus. 

With their involvement, the students have also seen the club shift more from just doing activities to raise money to doing activities that show the rich traditions and diversity among their cultures. 

More than anything, the students said, the club has allowed them to do what they would normally be doing: be themselves. 

“Not being involved doesn’t make me who I am,” Christopher said. “But it would make me feel like I was missing something in my life. So it’s more that I like to do it because I like to do it and I can show where I come from.” 

Key to Awesomeness: “With Chris, Jose and Lupita, I think they’re doing what they love, which is dancing and being prideful of being Latino students. And the people they hang out with can definitely appreciate that,” said Flores, Capuchino High’s community outreach coordinator. “This year, you have a lot more students feeling more comfortable with expressing their culture. That’s really important to getting everyone involved, and now they have a little more of community.”