Alessandra Morales is a Roseville Area High School junior and an activist for the community. She has used her voice to address important issues within our school. She overwhelmingly impresses her community with her courage and determination.
Morales was not always a leader in activism, but last fall, she took the initiative to make an appointment with principal Dr. Wilson to speak to her about how Latine students felt extremely ignored during Latine Heritage Month. Dr. Wilson, noticing how well-spoken and passionate Morales is, offered her the opportunity to speak at a district meeting about gun safety in our school following the gun incidents earlier this year. Ever since then, Morales has been speaking on other topics that often go overlooked.
Morales finds great importance in the issues that affect our community. She stated that she has an “If I don’t, who will?” mindset and believes she got it from her parents. She said, “They are such hard workers, and if they wanted something done, they always had to figure it out themselves because it’s not anyone else’s problem to fix.”.
She said since these topics are swept under the rug so much, she got tired of hearing excuses or just straight-up radio silence every time Latin Heritage Month came up.
She said, “I was tired of feeling ignored or unseen so I started an uncomfortable conversation. A conversation that needed to happen to help Latine students feel more comfortable in classroom settings.”
She also said that she loves helping people however she can. In a school with more than two thousand students, it’s easy to feel invisible. She says her main focus has been “to uplift voices who have so much to say but are too afraid to speak up.”
Most recently, she publicly spoke in front of teachers and staff members with students Maria Alvarado Berrios (11) and Kimberly Juarez Morales (11) about the struggles Lantine students face at RAHS.
Although she has some practice, she still gets nervous when speaking in front of large groups. She said, “As someone with anxiety, these sorts of events don’t come easy to me. They take a lot of mental preparation. The only thing that makes me feel better is knowing that whatever topic I’m speaking about, will either help someone else find their voice or feel heard.”
Morales is unsure about the impact she is making with her voice. She shared that it’s too early for her to tell. However, she hopes to change the way staff and teachers address POC students in classrooms and the school.
“The most important thing to me is starting uncomfortable conversations that are needed to feel safe in this building,” Morales said.
