On October 25th and 26th, 2023  Manual Arts held several awards ceremonies after the 10 week progress reports were issued.  The event focused on all Small Learning Communities SLCs including Magnet, Smart, Best, and Freshman Prep Academy FPA. The goal of the ceremonies was to recognize students for their academic achievement as well as good attendance. Magnet and FPA held their ceremonies in the auditorium while Best and SMART held their ceremonies in the Big Gym.  Head Counselor Adriana Gutierrez, encouraged students to maintain good attendance as she issued the awards at the Freshmen ceremony. She also encouraged students to study hard now so they will not have to make up a class later. Ms. Gutierrez has worked as a program director with USC Upward Bound, and was lead counselor at David Starr Jordan High School. She was adjunct professor at Los Angeles City College and Compton College as well. She was also an assistant principal at Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy and is acquainted with many of the students at Manual since Obama is our feeder school. As an educator she is committed to providing choices, and opportunities to students of disadvantaged backgrounds by ensuring they have access to higher education as well as financial resources.