Community

The City of Fountains prepares to welcome the best riders in the world for the 17th time Kansas City prepares to welcome the best riders and the fiercest bulls of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) for the 17th consecutive year on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24 at the Sprint Center for the PBR series, ‘Unleash The Beast.’ For …

By Chara Nicole Pena Goodman (Peña Goodman in Spanish) has a philosophy that drives her work in education. “I believe that every child can learn and should have access to a high-quality education,” she said. A Davenport, Iowa, native whose mixture of ancestry includes Mexican grandparents and a Mexican biological father, Goodman is the principal at the Scuola Vita Nouva …

Story and photo by Roberta Pardo Writing has always been a way for Jessica Ayala to understand the world. “I learned how to write in English before I spoke it,” Ayala said. “To me, poetry was very therapeutic. It was a way for me to communicate to the classroom and to my peers.” By the time she was in the …

By Angie Baldelomar As fertility rates in the United States continue to decline, Hispanics have seen some of the largest drops. The birth rate for Hispanic women fell by 31 percent from 2007 to 2017. Experts attribute this decline, in part, to differences between Hispanic immigrants and their American-born daughters and granddaughters. It is all about “catching up to their …

By Mary Lou Jaramillo On March 1-2, Kansas Democrats celebrated Washington Days, which included a Latina Trailblazer panel, in Topeka, Kansas. The panel, which drew a large audience, included Democrat Rep. Susan Ruiz, elected in November to the Kansas state legislature, representing District 23; Delia Garcia, interim Secretary of Labor and former legislator from Wichita; Michele de la Isla, Mayor …

By Angie Baldelomar For Katie Castro, the biggest motivators to strive for success are her four sons. Castro not only works, but also manages to juggle her job with volunteering and studying on top of spending time with her family. She works as the director of membership at Nonprofit Connect, a local organization that links “the non-profit community to education, …

By Chara In 2018, Susan Ruiz decided it was time for a change in Kansas politics. That year, Ruiz acted on her decision by seeking election in the Kansas House of Representatives and won. Ruiz represents Kansas’ 23rd District. She took office in January. Ruiz, an openly gay native Texan whose father was from Mexico and whose mother was from …

By Angie Baldelomar A Kansas City area non-profit organization is focused on creating policy changes to help empower women. Founded in 1991, the Women’s Foundation promotes “equity and opportunity for women of all ages, using research, philanthropy and policy solutions to make meaningful change,” as stated on the organization’s website. Wendy Doyle, president and CEO, said the organization looks for …

By Angie Baldelomar Clara Reyes, Dos Mundos Newspaper publisher and editor, received the 2019 Huck Boyd Community Journalism Leader of the Year award from Kansas State University on Feb. 14. “I was very humbled to receive this award,” Reyes said. “Sometimes, you don’t think people are looking at your work, but when you receive an award like this, you realize …

By Angie Baldelomar While she was in high school, Bibiana Ruiz was unsure about her post-graduation plans. She toyed with the idea of becoming an immigration lawyer. Ultimately, though, Ruiz realized her path was in the financial world. That path has led the Kansas City, Kansas, native to the position of branch manager at the Bank of Labor headquarters in …