Kennett High School senior Jose Antonio Guerrero Rojas is the Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards Philadelphia Regional winner for Mathematics, sponsored by the Exxon Mobil Corporation.  The 18-year-old son of Rosa and Pedro Guerrero, Jose?s dream is to graduate from college and set an example for his siblings.  Jose has endured racism and the obstacle of the language barrier since leaving Mexico.  He had to learn English while in school, taking English as a Second Language classes and lagged behind all his classmates because of the obstacle.  He focused on math, which he believes to be the universal language and has flourished (also in English).  His grade point average is 3.7.  He has earned awards for Spanish and French, nominated two years for National Honor Society, and other distinguished honors in high school.  Jose has been involved with the soccer team, Unidad, After the Bell Program, and the Migrant Education Program, where he volunteers and counts Loretta Perna, who works there, as an inspiration in his life.

Jose Guerrero is going to Bucknell University to major in Mathematics.  He wants to double- major in math and economics.  Some day he wants to help his country, Mexico, with the economic issues.  During the summer he worked at the YMCA Camp where he taught little kids of ages between 6 and 8 years how to play different kinds of sports.  Every day after his job at the YMCA Camp, he taught English to Hispanic adults that were willing to learn and succeed in life.  For Jose Guerrero teaching English to adults was a great experience and he hopes to get the opportunity to experience it again.