Jennitza Barreras, graduating in May 2026 with a double major in Spanish and Elementary Education: Bilingual Emphasis from the University of Arizona, is one of the 2025 Undergraduate Centennial Achievement Award Recipients.
Angus Leydic, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) who has been a graduate assistant in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Department of Public and Applied Humanities, is one of this year’s Doctoral Centennial Achievement Award Recipients.
A first-generation Mexican American student, Barreras is proud to set an example for her four younger siblings and grateful to her parents, whose sacrifices made her education possible. Originally from Gridley, California, she moved to Sahuarita at age 14, where she built a strong sense of home and community.
Her college journey began in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic, financial struggles and long overnight shifts forced her to step away. Returning in 2022 with renewed focus, she discovered her passion for education as a career and a calling.
These challenges strengthened her commitment to equity and access in education. Her journey has been one of persistence, not only on her own behalf, but on behalf of her family, her community and the support system she has built at the U of A.
Barreras has taken on leadership and service roles as student council treasurer and social media chair, College of Education ambassador and AmeriCorps tutor. Through the TRIO Teacher Prep Program, she has worked as a peer mentor, math and Spanish tutor, and student assistant, supporting college students and engaging families through outreach. She has also sought professional development in STEM, preparing to bring engaging and culturally responsive math and science experiences into her future classroom.
Her academic achievements include the AASRA Scholarship, Alumni Council’s Dean Taylor Scholarship, Marilyn J. Ludwig Scholarship and the ADELANTE Internship Award. She has also earned dean’s list recognition in both the College of Humanities and the College of Education.
Barreras plans to begin her teaching career in local Title I schools while pursuing graduate studies and, ultimately, a doctoral degree in education. She hopes to continue serving as an advocate for underrepresented students both in and out of the classroom, building pathways to equitable education.
Leydic is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT). They earned their Master of Arts in languages, literatures and cultures, with a focus on theoretical and applied Spanish linguistics, from Illinois State University, and their Bachelor of Arts in Spanish literature and art history from Duquesne University. Raised in Pittsburgh, they are a first-generation American and a first-generation college graduate.
Developing from this multicultural perspective, their work and research seeks to improve the lives of minoritized people, with their current focus on LGBTQ+ people within larger social institutions. Angus has received multiple awards, including the Linda Waugh/SLAT Research Grant to fund their current dissertation project, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Stipend Award to support travel and research presentations for K-16 educators and administrators, and the prestigious Bilinski Fellowship for 2025-2026.
Their most recent projects are titled “Ontologically and Epistemologically Trans: Trans Being and Sense-Making in a Digital Gay Space” and “Queer and/or Trans Student Perspectives on Queering Classroom Materials.” They previously served as co-chair for the 2023 SLAT Roundtable Conference and successfully secured the Professional Opportunities Development Grant to fund the event and host the international plenary speaker.
Leydic has served for two years as the graduate student liaison to the SLAT Executive Council. They have held graduate assistant positions in the English Writing Program, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Department of Public and Applied Humanities. They have also worked in private K-12 schools teaching Spanish, U.S. history from an antiracist lens, and art classes. In addition, they have held positions as a case manager for foster care in Pittsburgh for Spanish-speaking youth and as a case manager for unaccompanied refugee minors in facilities associated with the Department of Human Services.
As a peer mentor for first-year SLAT graduate students, Leydic helps foster community within an interdisciplinary program. They have also served as a teacher advisor for an LGBTQ+ student association during their time as a K-8 teacher and as a curriculum designer, developing sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE) training for previous workplaces.
After graduating, Leydic hopes to promote ethical research design and develop equitable teaching practices with students and educators alike.