Ruben Contreras is a six year old boy who changed the City of Woodland.
As a former HeadStart student of the Yolo County Office of Education, Ruben has touched many hearts. Lori Perez and Ismael Hernandez who are both educators and community members here in Woodland brought this project into TANA with the hopes of creating more smiles for Ruben as he has a rare form of cancer. Many high school students from Woodland High School came in on the weekends to spend time on building a series of prints to create a story book for Ruben. One of our senior interns, Roberto Paniagua, helped take lead on the project. You can check out some pictures of the process below, as well as the story itself.
According to Perez:
“The students were inspired from information about Ruben. His passion, strength, and heart quickly helped us realize that he is our super hero!! His love of superheroes and love of his community helped us write this story. He recently went on a ride along with the Woodland Fire Department and he was smiling ear to ear.”
This project helped the students learn about giving to others and helped them develop an understanding of community. If you would like to support Ruben checkout his Facebook page!
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TANA: Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer is a community based art center managed by the Chicana/o Studies Department at the University of California, Davis. TANA is located at 1224 Lemen Avenue in Woodland, California.
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I am so touched by this post. As usual, TANA students have reached out to the Woodland community for positive reasons. In this case, it is to tell the important story about a very special child and his family. Little Ruben Contreras has a very challenging medical condition. He loves super heroes, San Francisco Giants and 49ers, making art, pancakes and, especially, his loving family and friends! Little Ruben has a Facebook page where his amazing mom, Judith, posts photos and updates on Ruben’s story. Thank you so much, TANA, for this loving tribute to little Ruben! I bet he loves it!!