EASTSIDE : Belvedere Teacher Honored for Work

On Saturday night, Belvedere Junior High teacher Adolfo Martinez was to be recognized by the Chicano Music Awards for his work with Mariachi Olimpico.

Martinez has worked at Belvedere 17 years and started the youth mariachi group. He teaches music and performs locally with the group Chico.

The sixth annual Chicano Music Awards were held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium to raise money for the Quetzalcoatl Memorial Scholarship fund.

Scheduled to host the event was radio personality “Sancho,” who is Daniel Castro, associate dean at East Los Angeles College. The scholarship is named after Castro’s son, who was killed in an automobile accident.

Martinez said Castro’s effort epitomizes the kind of work that needs to be done in schools to decrease dropout rates.

“We believe that the negative cycle of high school dropouts and declining college completion rates can be broken by investing in the education of our youth and encouraging those that succeed to return and lend a helping hand,” Castro said. “Martinez does exactly that, and we wanted to honor him for that.”

Last year’s concert raised $70,000 for college scholarships awarded to Chicano students with a strong academic record and a commitment to serve their communities after college.

Past recipients of the award include Lalo Guerrero, Eddie Cano and Vikki Carr.