Superintendent’s Spotlight:

WARWICK — Meet Liliana Rivera, recent recipient of the 2018 “Good Citizen Award” from the Warwick Area Migrant Committee.
Liliana, a freshman at Warwick Valley High School, attended Dulce Esperanza this summer, an enrichment program hosted by the Warwick Area Migrant Committee and held at the old Pine Island Elementary School.
There she shone as a role model to her peers and a reliable, steady presence, said WAMC Executive Director Kathy Brieger.
“Liliana is a wonderful young person and I can always count on her,” said Brieger. “She is always helpful and kind and is especially great with the little kids.”
Liliana is also a member of two groups at the Alamo Community Center in Pine Island; Love You Like a Sister (LYLAH); and YOLO, an enrichment club for “young, outstanding Latinas.”
Her commitment to the community extends to the monthly Sunday dinners hosted by the Alamo, where Liliana is a volunteer who helps with the youngest guests.
“She is very involved in her community and is continually doing good things,” Brieger said.
Liliana’s good grades consistently earn her a place on the honor roll; she’s an artist and photographer. But there was a time when school was a struggle, she said.
Liliana was born in Orange County and spent part of her early childhood in Mexico, then she and her family moved back to the area when she was in kindergarten.
Her English was limited and she struggled at first, but with help and hard work she mastered the language.
Now she’s an award-winning student poet and her favorite subject is math.
That’s why she’s thinking about becoming a teacher.
“I want to help people who don't know the language,” says Liliana. “In first grade, I had a teacher who helped me learn the basics of English, and that's what I'd like to do.”

Each week, Warwick Valley School District Superintendent Dr. David Leach shines the “The Superintendent’s Spotlight” on one of Warwick Valley’s students. “Superintendent’s Spotlight” features students who reach goals, face challenges and are role models to their peers.