“Parents can inspire and motivate their children just like my parents motivated me”, said LiA member Salud Sierra, as he addressed a room full of students and parents. LiA was one of many guest speakers that were invited by teachers Peter Goldstein and Elizabeth Castro to speak at Skyline's Architecture Cluster student orientation this year. “Our Orientation includes all four grade levels of Architecture Cluster students and their parents, and is an opportunity for parents to get involved with our program and learn more about the DISD magnet architecture program, and architecture as a career. The LiA presentations have always been an important component of this annual event.” Mr. Goldstein stated.

This was the third year that members from LiA attend and participate in this special event. Members Jimmy Castellanos AIA, and Salud Sierra, stood in front of a large group of mostly Hispanics students and parents, where Jimmy first talked about LiA and part of its mission statement to serve and support our local communities. After the brief introduction Salud then began by talking in Spanish about how lucky Skyline students were to be part of the Architecture Cluster and how he wished he had the resources that they have available to them back when he was in high school. Parents and students listened with great attention as he then continued to share his story of how his parents motivated him to first graduate high school and then to graduate with a Masters of Architecture from Texas A&M University. At the end of the evening students and parents alike were very interested in learning more about LiA. “We hope that by sharing our stories of how we were able to achieve our goals, we can inspire the young architects of tomorrow to achieve theirs”. Jimmy Castellanos concluded.