|
Maria's Biography:
A Solid Record of
Service and Achievement
Maria was born in the small, warm town of Moroleon, Guanajuato Mexico.
Her family immigrated to Texas in the early 1960s, but sweltering Texan
heat, and the fact that they had extended family members who had
immigrated Redwood City in the 1940s, led the Diaz' to their "Climate
Best by Government Test" hometown.
A real Redwood City
lady, Maria is a graduate from Hoover and Sequoia. She then attended the
College of San Mateo, receiving both an AS degree in Aeronautics and a
Library Technology Certificate. Her BS degree in Business Management was
also earned locally at Menlo College in Menlo Park. Maria is also a
graduate of the Peter Block School of Management and the Redwood City
Leadership Academy.
Maria learned the
importance of family, education and community activism through the
examples set by her mother, who despite having a full-time job in the
health care field and six children of her own, managed to help out needy
neighborhood families and make the best tamales this side of the
border. While Maria hasn't been able to recreate those famous tamales,
she did keep the recipe for community involvement-her greatest passion.
She has been involved
with several organizations including, the Woodside Foundation, Great
Schools, CARON, the Sequoia Union High School District and Frontiers in
Leadership. She is also a current member of REFORMA, Bibliotecas Para
La Gente and the American Library Association. Expanding the Redwood
City archive of the town's large Latino population is also an ongoing
project of hers.
As a teen, in 1974
Maria took a job at the Fair Oaks Library, where amazingly enough she
works today designing and creating programs for the community she
loves. Apart from her community efforts through the RWC Libraries,
Maria has been active in the Redwood City schools for over
fifteen years.
She served as a room parent at Roosevelt Elementary and has been a
member of the PTA for several years.
Maria has contributed on the Site Council for McKinley Institute of
Technology and helped write the Charter for Site Based Management Shared
Decision Council at Woodside High School. Maria has also contributed
through her work on the Teaching and Learning Committee at Sequoia High
School, the Anytime Anyplace Committee and other district-wide
committees.
In August 2001 at the
2nd Annual Middlefield Cultural Festival Maria Diaz-Slocum was
recognized for her community contributions by the North Fair Oaks
community of Redwood City. She is married to Warren Slocum, and is the
proud mother of Jonathan and Justin two-energetic
Woodside High School School students.
Maria was elected to the Redwood City School Board in November 2002 and
currently serves as President of the Board. During her tenure she has
distinguished herself by receiving an appointment and subsequently
getting elected as a Delegate to the California School Boards'
Association. She also served as Recording Secretary for the San Mateo
County School Boards' Association and currently serves on the Garfield
Charter School Governing Board. Maria also holds a position on the
Coordinating Council of Redwood City 2020.
Maria Diaz-Slocum is seeking re-election to the Redwood City School
Board on November 8, 2005.
|
