La Puente Is Home
I’ve called La Puente home for 14 years. My connection to this community isn’t something that began when I decided to run for School Board.
During the pandemic, I volunteered at a food bank in La Puente every Sunday and Thursday for about a year. I also volunteered at food distributions organized by local Assemblymembers and County Supervisors.
It was a difficult time for families throughout our community, and I saw firsthand how many of our neighbors were struggling. I also saw something else: people showing up for one another.
That experience deepened my connection to this community and my belief that public service starts with something pretty simple—showing up when you’re needed.
My Family
The title I’m proudest to have isn’t teacher, administrator, or candidate. It’s Dad.
My son, Anthony Javier Duarte, came into my life when he was 11 years old. Anthony is his biological father, and I was his stepfather. After Anthony passed away, that relationship changed in ways I never could have anticipated. I became Dad.
But the truth is, somewhere along the way, long before there was a word for exactly what our relationship was, I had already come to love him as my son.
I am incredibly proud of the young man he has become, and being his father has changed the way I think about education, family, responsibility, and the future we create for the next generation.
When I talk about wanting every child in HLPUSD to have opportunity, support, and adults who believe in them, that isn’t an abstract political idea to me.
I’m a teacher. But I’m also a dad. And both matter deeply to why I’m running.
