Walking into this Black History Month at Casa Grande, many students have been able to experience a variety of opportunities to share the meaning behind this month. Casa Grande’s Black Student Union was able to bring in president of the school board Joanna Paun, and it was an absolute pleasure for students to hear her speak. Paun has been with Petaluma City Schools for a little over 6 years now and started off her position at Kenilworth Junior High School. Paun had said “…while working at Kenilworth, I had seen some red flags that had come to my attention and when I had brought it up to higher people in the office, I was dismissed overall.” During this time, Paun wanted the teens in Petaluma to have a voice and have the potential to have access to more. In 2018, the school board elections were open and Paun had decided she was going to run. At the end of the election, she was elected to the board.  

Since then, Paun has won School Board Member of the Year for the State of California and is still fighting for students to have a voice in the community. She is a big supporter of Title 6 training, which further prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Paun also helped Casa Grande bring Footsteps to Freedom to Petaluma for Black History Month.