Puente Events

Puente students participate in a variety of fun and rewarding activities through the year, including 

  • University campus visits
  • Visiting speakers 
  • Community service projects
  • Family celebrations
  • End-of-year celebration
  • Graduation activities

students laughing around table

Mentor Night

students talking with author Reyna Grande

Author Event with Reyna Grande

students in sashes for end of year celebration

End of Year Celebration

family members sitting around table

Noche de Familia

students outside building

Motivational Conference

students at UCLA campus

UCLA Campus Visit

students at CSU Long Beach

CSU Long Beach Campus Visit

students in front of UC Davis mural

UC Davis Campus Visit

students in front of green arch at UC Davis

UC Davis Campus Visit

Tommy Orange Author Event

Tommy OrangeAuthor Tommy Orange joined an online session with a Puente class on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, from 1:30-2:30 p.m., to talk about his award-winning novel, "There There" and his life experiences.

Orange was one of three featured authors in this year's Silicon Valley Reads community reading campaign. His novel, “There There,” follows a dozen characters from Native American communities, exploring their interconnected experiences and heritage as they travel to the Big Oakland Powwow. The novel was a 2019 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction.

Orange graduated from the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and was a 2014 MacDowell Fellow and a 2016 Writing by Writers Fellow. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, he was born and raised in Oakland, California.

(Photo credit: Elena Seibert)

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