DELANO, Calif. (KERO) — The National Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington D.C. is a beloved annual tradition, and this year, ornaments custom made by students at the Nueva Vista Language Academy in Delano will be decorating the tree that represents California this holiday season.
11-year-old Emma Vazquez is a student at the academy. She says that when her teacher asked her and her classmates to draw something that represented California and Kern County, she chose grapes.
"Grapevines are a big part of Delano, and my family members have or do work there, so I decided to draw that," said Emma.
It's a fitting tribute to the hard work she sees in her own family working in the fields, and it represents a side of California that many don't think about, and Emma Vazquez was chosen to deliver it personally, along with the other students' ornaments, to Washington D.C.
"Excited," Emma says when asked how she feels about the upcoming trip. "I'm not really nervous. It's my first time leaving California."
According to the principal at the Nueva Vista Language Academy, Joshua Herrera, every year, each state's Department of Education chooses a school to send ornaments for the corresponding state tree in D.C.
"There will be 50 trees set up, one of them will be for California, and Nueva Vista Language Academy will have decorated for all of California," explained Herrera.
This is the first time Delano has been chosen, making it even more special to see all the ornaments representing what makes this community so unique.
"Our students come from an area that is beautiful, with colors of green and purpose, with our grapes and the fields, and all the hard work that comes with it from our families to put food on the tables," said Herrera.
Grapes put Delano on the map during the grape boycott led by the city's own Cesar Chavez decades ago. Now, they will be featured proudly in our nation's capitol.
To celebrate this representation, the Delano Schools Board of Trustees funded a trip for one student, and Emma Vazquez was chosen.
"I am proud that I am going to represent Delano," Emma said.
Emma's mother, Concepcion Leon, notes that the ornament represents the values of the people who make Delano what it is.
"Hard-working people that are there to put food on their tables and a roof over their head, and it's really hard sometimes working there," said Leon.
Emma will make the trip accompanied by her mother and teacher. They will fly into D.C. for the lighting ceremony on December 11, where President Joe Biden is expected to light up all 50 trees.
