As Director of Precollege Outreach, Juanita implements a variety of educational outreach programs for the Section, works to establish relationships with engineers, teachers and students, and maintains contact with the Section Educator Associates.
Juanita has been an active member of the San Francisco Section since 1991. In addition to heading the recently inaugurated Section Precollege Outreach Directorship, she has long been a member of the National Precollege Outreach Committee. This is in addition to serving on AIAA's National Public Policy Subcommittee as well as the National Re-engineering Committee.
Juanita is a fifth grade teacher at Toyon Elementary School in the Berryessa Union School District in San Jose, California. She also leads an after-school Young Astronauts Club for kindergarten through 5th grade students. Funded by Toyon's PTA, the club recently had a membership of 157 students. Activities have included hands-on aviation/space experiments and field trips to NASA Ames, planetariums, and Edwards Air Force Base to attend a shuttle landing.
As a teacher, Juanita serves on the boards of the Santa Clara County Science Teachers Association and Women Leaders in Education. She is also a member of The Tech Museum's Teacher Advisory Board and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Bay Area Project ASTRO Coalition.
Juanita is the recipient of numerous awards including an AIAA "Award of Recognition" from the National Precollege Outreach Committee (94) and an "AIAA Outstanding Section Activity Award" (95) for her part in co-coordinating One Giant Leap - Family Space Fair & Astronauts/Engineers Banquet. She is the recipient of The Tech Museum's "Dreambuilders Award" (95), and 1996 recipient of the Air Force Association's "Far West Regional Teacher of the Year Award".
The San Francisco Section won the Outstanding Section and other important AIAA National awards during her tenure as chair.