Let's Ride w/ Paul Estrada
Who else is trying to figure $hit out?
Welcome to Lets Ride w/ Paul Estrada – the podcast where a dad tackles the big questions of life, career, and everything in between, by talking to interesting people that have the answers!
When I turned 18, I lost sleep at night with questions that Google was not yet sophisticated enough to answer: What career should I pursue? How can I be more than just average? And how do successful people get to where they are (was there a secret handbook I didn't know about)? After 22 years of pondering these existential dilemmas, I’ve finally pieced together some answers – An answer that is sufficient for now, but one always in need of refinement.
Join me each week as my 6 ½ year old son, Adrian, throws out a thought-provoking question or idea, and I invite a guest to help me sufficiently respond to him. From learning about money and investing, to finding a passion in life, and exploring careers that can be meaningful for you, we cover it all with a dose of humor and some soundbites of wisdom.
So, if you’re a parent or a young adult navigating these tricky waters, or if you want confirmation that other people are sometimes just as lost as you, you’ve come to the right place.
Let's Ride w/ Paul Estrada
Elementary School Teacher: Journey of an Inner-City Educator
What drives someone to leave a stable corporate career at age 33 to teach first graders in one of LA's toughest neighborhoods? For Gilbert Estrada, it was a journey that began with his own childhood experience of "Americanization" – moving from a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood to a more affluent area where he first glimpsed different possibilities for his future.
Growing up with parents who valued education but had no college experience themselves, Gilbert navigated his path without a roadmap. When an East LA College professor warned that only 12% of students would graduate, rather than feeling discouraged, Gilbert used it as fuel. "That pissed me off," he recalls with a smile. Not only did he complete his degree, but he earned acceptance to UCLA, where he learned to navigate the "hidden curriculum" of higher education as a Mexican-American student from a working-class background.
The most remarkable turn in Gilbert's story came after years working in business. When his boss bluntly asked, "Estrada, what are you doing here? You ought to be a teacher," something clicked. That comment led Gilbert to an introductory teaching course, and within months, he found himself standing before a classroom of fifth graders. "It felt like home right away," he explains, describing the immediate connection he felt to teaching.
For the next 29 years, Gilbert dedicated himself to teaching in challenging neighborhoods, including during the 1992 Rodney King riots when businesses burned just across from his school. He specifically chose to teach first and second grade, recognizing early literacy as the foundation upon which all other education is built. Beyond academics, he embraced the full responsibility of caring for children's well-being – referring them for glasses when they couldn't see the board, helping them access dental care, and teaching them "how to get along with each other."
His parting wisdom for parents is beautifully simple: read to your children daily, take them to the library, and talk with them often. "Just love them the way you know how to love your children." After three decades in education, Gilbert Estrada understands that sometimes the most powerful teaching happens through the simplest acts of care.
So what did you think about your teacher this year?
Speaker 2:I think she's funny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, why? What does she do? That's funny.
Speaker 2:She talks funny.
Speaker 1:Like how does she talk? Give me an example.
Speaker 2:She says like funny stuff.
Speaker 1:Does she say something like talk like a robot or something, or what does she do?
Speaker 2:No, she talks about Wishing Boomer when nobody smiles.
Speaker 1:What, yeah? What does that mean?
Speaker 2:When nobody smiles, she calls it Wishing Boomer. What, what, yeah, what does that mean? When nobody smiles, she calls it wishing boomer.
Speaker 1:What do you? You're pretty good at spelling, maybe math, what else?
Speaker 2:I guess I'm good at reading.
Speaker 1:Like best at math. I think why don't you like? Why don't you spell like the hardest word? You know how to spell.
Speaker 2:The hardest word, Like hardest and longest.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like a hard word.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Mississippi yeah.
Speaker 1:Like a hard word.
Speaker 2:Yeah, mississippi. Okay, spell it M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I, I mean M-I-S-S-S-I-S-I-P-P-I.
Speaker 1:I don't know what that was, but okay, that sounds pretty good. All right, tell me one more thing that you really like about your teacher.
Speaker 2:I already said that she's funny.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That she's good at teaching.
Speaker 1:Yeah, why do you think she's good at teaching?
Speaker 2:She has like a loud voice and she's like she can show. She's really good at showing us stuff, explaining stuff. Okay, I think every teacher that I've had is good. Wow, then I guess you're pretty lucky. This is about a teacher named. What's his name, dad?
Speaker 1:It's my uncle, my Uncle Gilbert.
Speaker 2:Oh, my dad's Uncle Gilbert.
Speaker 1:Say enjoy.
Speaker 2:Enjoy the rest of the podcast where he tells you about his Uncle Gilbert, how he was a teacher, like he talks with him in person at his work. So bye.
Speaker 1:Hi, let's Ride. Listeners, it's your friend, Paul Estrada. If you've gotten any value out of any of the episodes, I'm here to ask you to pause this episode and take a moment to subscribe to the show. Wherever you're listening to this podcast. If you're a real go-getter, please take a moment to leave a review of the podcast. I'd be indebted to you forever. Thank you for supporting and listening to the show and for going on this journey with us. Pause, subscribe and let's ride.
Speaker 1:After spending a decade in the corporate world, our guest today made a bold and life-changing decision, leaving behind a traditional business career and stepping into the world of education, dedicating the next 30 years of his life to teaching first and second graders in a low-income neighborhood of Los Angeles. While his parents ensured the value of learning, he had to drive himself to aspire for more. As he navigated community college, he faced a sobering statistic from one of his professors Only 12% of his classmates would graduate. Instead of it discouraging him, it fueled his determination. Not only did he earn his degree, but he also secured a place at UCLA, one of the nation's most prestigious universities, and was inspired to pursue a career as an educator, Recognizing that early literacy is the foundation of a child's education. He dedicated his career to ensuring his students had the reading skills and confidence to succeed. I'm excited for our guest today, Gilbert Estrada.
Speaker 2:So let's ride. Let's ride on through the rain. Come on and take me anywhere that you want to be, so let's ride.
Speaker 1:So I'm not much of an academic, but we were talking about Robert Frost. Uh-huh, I do know some poetry. And it's two roads diverge in a yellow wood. Yes, and sorry, I could not see how long it's been, but it's something about sit in front of one as long as I could until I reached into the. No, that doesn't sound very good, you took the one that less traveled, yeah, but I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Speaker 3:Yes, pretty good right, that's right.
Speaker 1:That's probably 25 years ago In high school. English Pretty good, right yeah. So I'm not a scholar or an academic, but I can fake one, at least temporarily. So we're here today. It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the wind chimes in the background. Your history, specifically you getting growing up. One thing that I find very fascinating about you was just the fact that you're extremely well-educated. When I think of the family, I would consider you probably the most scholar of the bunch, right Well, and I well, one of them, and I know we've got a lot of people well-educated.
Speaker 3:Oh, your aunt at Dallas. She went to Columbia University, right. She's highly educated, right?
Speaker 1:And where that came from. Because, as I was talking to my dad, you know he shared that. You know you didn't. Education was not necessarily something that was pushed on you or something that was even something that they asked to be Motivated us on what's that?
Speaker 3:even something that they asked to be right.
Speaker 1:What's that? Something that they motivated us for or.
Speaker 3:Inspired us to do Right.
Speaker 1:That's my understanding. Yet you guys went on and became very well educated. So I'm just curious for those out there that were maybe education is not something that is at the forefront, it's not something that's being pushed on them. Where did you get the self-motivation to achieve the level of education that you did?
Speaker 3:You know, I think it started from my Americanization, from the time I was in elementary school and I saw we had lived in Myron Street in Pico Rivera and we lived in tract homes working class community when we first moved to Pico Rivera and there were mostly Mexican-American people that lived there. You know, by the way, there's a lot of stories I could tell you but it would take more than an hour. But you know, I'll just try to abbreviate it as quickly, as precisely as I can for you to get to the point. So that was a tract housing, we were in a working class neighborhood, but if you cross Passons, you go from East Picarura across Passons to maybe more Western side of Picarura. We moved to a street called Arrow Drive and those were custom homes rather than tract homes. So we kind of felt like we moved up and I think we were probably, if I'm not mistaken, the only Mexican American family in that neighborhood. So we felt like we moved up and I think we were probably, if I'm not mistaken, the only Mexican American family in that neighborhood. So we felt like we had moved up. I felt it.
Speaker 3:And how old are you at this time? Oh, I must've been fourth or fifth grade. Okay, and cause, we lived in Pia in my round street for three or four years and in and in Arrow for another four or five years a total from the time I was in kindergarten to the time I was in my first year in high school, at St Paul High School, and so when we lived in this nicer side, it was more Americanized. We lived next to a large Irish Catholic family and it was mostly Anglo people that lived there. We had lovely neighbors. It was very nice. It was nice to live next to our neighbors, our Catholic family neighbors, because we had the same number. I mean, they had children. We were children who attended Catholic school Lots of kids.
Speaker 3:Lots of kids, so, and we had a pool, wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:We went from a doughboy pool in Myron Street to built-in, you know, a large, beautiful pool with a backyard and a nice, beautiful, custom-made home. But when I interacted with my neighbors, who were fully Americanized, I kind of realized I was a little bit behind. Because, you know, when I joined Boy Scouts, my neighbor had these merit badges. And I said, merit badges, what are those? He said oh, you get them if you do this. Oh, okay, I didn't know about that, you know. So I want to earn merit badges. I never earned one because it was too late by the time I left Boy.
Speaker 1:Scouts.
Speaker 3:And then I didn't know about paper route. I saw my neighbors doing it and said, hey, I want to do paper route, I want to make money. And then I saw them doing baseball. I said hey, I want to do baseball, so they already knew this stuff.
Speaker 1:I see.
Speaker 3:I said here's this Mexican boy. I mean. I realized later that I was being Americanized. I was assimilating because my parents weren't from that type of American environment.
Speaker 1:I said Well, that's interesting because you're talking about fourth or fifth grade, which is still pretty young, and I think for you to have, like the foresight to Realizations.
Speaker 3:Yeah, wait a second.
Speaker 1:Where did I come?
Speaker 3:from.
Speaker 2:I'm.
Speaker 1:Mexican. I think that's when they talk about. You're a product of your environment. That's exactly what you're talking about, right? Which? Is the expectations change, what you aspire to changes, right, because you're telling me you know you're. Maybe you're seeing things at one level and all of a sudden, your eyes, it seems like your eyes are opening wide open. They were opening and you're understanding the world of possibilities around you?
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly yeah.
Speaker 1:And so you mentioned that you only stayed. I think you just mentioned you stayed in that neighborhood only for a couple of years, right?
Speaker 3:Well, what happened was, here we were, my parents supporting four boys, and 15 years after me, my mom announces at the dinner table that she's going to have a girl, and so my mom will have to quit work. She wants to quit work to raise her child. It was a little disappointing, but we had to sell the house in Pico Rivera and we moved to East Los Angeles. On Woods Avenue in East Los Angeles we lived with my grandparents, and so I was disappointed because I couldn't go to St Paul High School anymore and I saw that we were taking an economic downturn. I mean, I didn't call it economic, I just felt it was a lower.
Speaker 3:you know we're not as well as I thought we were, so it was kind of a little difficult. A little, you know, I felt sad a little bit, that's interesting, but I realized I was going to have to do, I said you know what I'm going to have to do a little bit better for myself, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's interesting that they had. They showed you what was possible. It sounds like you had. You know, both your mother and father were both working, which afforded you the ability to live in these neighborhoods Middle class, you know, I think a lot of people today. In fact, you know, I'm having that discussion right now with Christina, which is going back to a one income household right, so that for that very reason, so that more of a challenge they can raise the family and right.
Speaker 1:But yeah, now you're back to one income and things change quite a bit and sacrifices have to be made. It seems like it's very well worth it, right, to be able to give that. I want to say. The word that comes to mind is gift I don't know if that's the right word, but it's to be fortunate enough to where there can be one income only and afford one of the parents to be home and spend the time with this. I mean, these kids are only young for so long, right, and to give them the chance to be able to spend those really formative years and go by so fast doing that as opposed to working and, yes, having to make sacrifices as a result. But I just feel like it's not going to feel much like a sacrifice to be able to give that to the family, to them all that afford them all that time to be together.
Speaker 1:But, yes, so you do this and now you know you go back um into east la. But the seeds have been planted with you where you because you had seen something you'd seen, basically what a middle class maybe upper middle class looks like, yes, and now you're going back in the other direction. Yes, what was that like? Had you been been given enough of seeing what it looks like to be up here? That that was the mentality that you now had going back into East LA, or was it? Did you revert back to whatever was going on over there?
Speaker 3:Well, my motivation was that was where it started, through my elementary school years and the beginning, but it also began when we lived in woods. We eventually moved to Rosemead and that we moved to a rental house, a small rental house, and I realized, oh, another difficult move in an area that's not quite as nice. It was a working class area. So I realized, okay, all right.
Speaker 3:I'm going to have to try to make a good life, try to do things for myself. And so I started to look for a job as a young teenager maybe. I was 15 years old, and across the street from where we lived in, the rental property was an alpha beta grocery store. And so I decided you know what I want to maybe one day maybe buy a car or something, right, and you know, pay for some things. I need to pay for them. So I got a job as a box boy and I worked off and on at Alpha Beta for seven years while I was going through college. So I did. It was nice to make a little cash working part-time.
Speaker 3:Going to school, we were going to Cantwell High School. At that time I didn't like leaving St Paul High School, but then we went to Cantwell High School. Just one thing you asked me about, to switch the subject a little bit, this objective I'm trying to reach is you asked me about what motivated me, and I just want to say you can see how I'm beginning to think what I want to do a little bit better in my life. I want to go back to having a good life, like you know, a nicer life in a nicer area, like we had in Arrow Drive. But in terms of motivation, my parents were high school graduates. They had no awareness of college, but they never told us, their children, what to do. They gave us the freedom to decide what we wanted to do.
Speaker 3:I have to say that my mother and my father always thought that education was important, and I think that's proven by their insistence on us going to Catholic elementary school and Catholic high school. I mean, when we weren't first, there were five of us who went to these Catholic schools and at first it was very inexpensive. But as time went on, up through high school, through Calwell High School, and even for my sister, ramona Convent, it didn't get any less expensive to go to school. Right, but my mother and my father insisted on us going. So, in terms of education, that's where they motivated us. They wanted us to see us grow up with the proper religious values, following our Christianity, our belief in Jesus Christ, and so they thought the morals and the values were important to instill into us. So, in terms of education, that's what they saw was important and they continued to. They persisted in doing that, even though it costed them money, it wasn't even expensive to go.
Speaker 3:Even though we had gone to Woods Avenue, East LA and Rosemead, they still sent us to Catholic schools. So in terms of how important it was for our education, yeah. And when I was going to UCLA, my father let me use his car every day. I had no other form of transportation. I had to travel from Monterey Park to Santa Monica. You know where UCLA was. That's a good 25, 30 mile drive, right.
Speaker 1:Went away.
Speaker 3:And my father paid for the gas and the insurance and you know so they didn't limit me. They never said no you can't do that.
Speaker 1:In fact, if anyone can say that's encouraging, that was encouraging. Yeah, so it sounds like they gave you the tools and the resources. That's right.
Speaker 2:There wasn't maybe the support yeah, and that's all you, and then it's hey, that's up to you.
Speaker 1:That's all I'm giving these things, but you got to take advantage of it and in terms of motivation, what motivated me?
Speaker 3:I didn't know where I wanted to go. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer when I was in high school, but I didn't know. I didn't really think about it, but I knew I wanted to go to college. I didn't go into four-year universities like I saw all my fellow students going to. Well, there's another important aspect, and I'm going to cut it short a little bit to my growing up and what motivated me. It was the children I was growing up with, because it wasn't just Chicano students, there were German students, students of many ethnicities, and I saw how they lived and they had good lives. Some of the parents were professionals, business owners, you know, educated people in high school too, and I said, gee, that's pretty nice, I'd like that and did you think you were going to do that through academics, Like were you a really good student in high school?
Speaker 1:I was.
Speaker 3:OK in high school. Maybe I got Bs. Okay, Once in a while I got an honor roll.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But you know, it's when I went to college that another thing spiked me a little bit. I had a Chicano Studies class, east Los Angeles College, and this professor said he told us, I need to tell you this, but only 12% of you are going to make it through college. And that, for lack of a nicer word, pissed me off. So what do you mean? Only 12 of us? I didn't tell him that, but this was going in my mind. What do you mean? Only 12 of us are going to make it through here? Then you mean we're wasting our time. Should we go? Should we leave right now? I said well, hell know, I'm not gonna quit would you say, it was that like a pivotal it was a pivotal if he didn't say that.
Speaker 1:Why do I remember it? That's what I'm gonna say. So if he didn't say that, do you think you would have pursued it with the vigor that you did? Or did it literally? Was that the moment where you're just like okay he just gave me another.
Speaker 3:He just gave me another poke in the back. Okay, that's what he did, yeah so you're already there.
Speaker 1:But that kind of supercharged yeah so you're thinking on that.
Speaker 3:Yes, I wanted a better life. I wanted something better. I didn't want to be an average person. I didn't want to be the Mexican laborer who did your gardening, or you know. Oh, I was going to garden. Maybe I'd be an auto mechanic or something, I didn't know what.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but you. So you had two parents that did not go to college. And here you find yourself. Ucla today is a very prestigious university. I'm assuming it was back then.
Speaker 3:Oh, yes, it was. It's always been, I think it's always been.
Speaker 1:What was?
Speaker 3:that like. Well, my last year of East Los Angeles College I did very well. I got something called Alpha Gamma Sigma membership. They sent me a letter and said what was this? I said, oh, you have good grades. I said, okay, all right.
Speaker 3:So when I was leaving East Los Angeles College I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go for a four-year university, but I knew I wanted to continue because I figured I think I want to be a lawyer and a lady. You know, sometimes lucky things happen to you in life. A lady put an application on the table and said she said here, fill this out. I said okay, well, what's it for? She goes it's a. I want you to fill it out. It's going to. It's for UCLA, ucla. I said okay. So I filled it out and then a couple of months later I got an acceptance letter from UCLA Congratulations. I said wow, what was that like you got? I jumped up. I said wow, yeah, really, really. And they're going to give me money. They gave me a BEOG grant, a Pell Grant at that time, basic Educational Opportunity Grant. I got money, I got acceptance. I'm going. Yeah, you, I know I want better, so that's why I went.
Speaker 3:I'd like to thank that lady, whoever it was, I'd sure like to hug her and thank her and give her a gift or something, because that was a pivotal moment in my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when you get accepted to a university like that, did you feel like, okay, that's it, like I'm firmly on the path that I want to be on now. This kind of like solidifies that. And I graduated from school. I didn't go to the most prestigious school in the world. I got a very good college education, but it's not UCLA, it's a good college.
Speaker 3:Cal State Fullerton is wonderful.
Speaker 1:It's a great college. What was it like when you were there, though? Because you had mentioned earlier about being a product of your environment. When you're living on that street Now, you're going to a very prestigious university, you're surrounded by highly intelligent individuals and professors, and things like that, so just tell me about that experience of being further broadening your horizons with regards to what was possible.
Speaker 3:First I want to tell you that you went to Cal State, Fullerton. They have an excellent business school. Okay, You're no seconds. Okay, You're first. Thank you.
Speaker 1:I don't know why I always give myself a Put yourself where you belong. It is a great school Put yourself where you belong.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you earned it, you earned it. Yeah, thank you. Don't give yourself any less. Be who you are, thank you, it's not me, you have to thank it's yourself. But I understand, you're welcome.
Speaker 1:We don't have an awesome football team. That's all I'm saying, right, yeah, that's what I am. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3:But yeah, so you-. So I went to UCLA and you're right, I was out of my environment. I was a little bit afraid, a little bit. Can I do it? Can I do this? Wow?
Speaker 1:I'm going to try, do you feel like?
Speaker 3:you didn't belong there. Is that why I felt kid from East LA, east Los Angeles College although I went to East LA College, I saw these kids with these little white, these little hats on their heads Jewish students. They were Jewish students and I said, wow, I'm going with white people. There's a lot of white people here and I'm looking for Mexican people, people like me. Who are the people like me?
Speaker 3:And you know, part of what got me into UCLA, I think, was something called the Academic Advancement Program and I think they were trying at that time. They were trying to recruit students from minority groups and I think maybe that might have been some of the impetus. I don't know, maybe if I were to research it I'd find out more about it and how I was able to get into UCLA. But I was up to it. I did struggle.
Speaker 3:The first couple of quarters I didn't know if I was going to make it, but I started making it and by my second year I went two years and a half. But as the longer I was in, the better I got, and just as I was getting, really I got the idea. I knew what I was doing how to write papers, how to talk to the tutors, how to talk to the going to see the professors. I learned the hidden curriculum. This is what you do. You make shortcuts. This is what you do to get more direct answers Right. By the time I was ready, it was time for me to go Right.
Speaker 3:And they called me in when I was mustering out of UCLA. They called me in and why don't you stay for a couple more quarters? I said no, no, no, no. I got acceptance to law school because I had gotten into law school. Oh, you did. Okay, I didn't know that it still exists. It used to be right there across the street from Cal State, fullerton. I don't know if you remember, I do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do actually remember that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but what I didn't like was that it wasn't ABA approved and I wanted ABA approved. What, what the heck is that?
Speaker 1:American Bar Association Okay Got it.
Speaker 3:So I wanted a school. I said I'm used to going to a good school, I want ABA. Well, western State is good, but it's not like it wasn't like UCLA. No way. I used to walk through UCLA's law school with the law library and look at those law students. I think I even made an application. I didn't get in, but I sure admired what I saw in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can imagine. Wow.
Speaker 3:I wish I could be one of them.
Speaker 1:So you're going to be a lawyer and then, you didn't do that.
Speaker 3:I did. I went to law school for a semester. Oh, you did.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But then something happened. I ran out of money and then my parents said they wanted to move to Boulder City, nevada, because they had bought a new home that was being built over there. Okay, and I didn't want to live here in California without my family. You know, I was not that independent If I had been more independent of mine, I would have stayed here in California, but I wanted to be with my family. That's who I love. I love my family. I want to be with them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course.
Speaker 3:So I made a life with them over at Boulder City for about four years, and then my sister told my dad daddy, can we go home now? And my dad said, yeah, let's go home. So they packed it up and here we go back to Los Angeles, and I came back with him.
Speaker 1:What was the I mean cause? Already we've. You know, we're only 20, 30 minutes into the conversation.
Speaker 3:It was an extended vacation.
Speaker 1:And you talked about I'm sorry Already moving. Yeah, many, many times. So that's there was a part. So I'm just curious to that end yeah, what, what, if anything, impacted having all those moves? Did that contribute anything?
Speaker 3:to oh well, eventually I came to the realization. People all my life had told me you ought to be a teacher. Okay, my parents did, and other people told me, and one day, my boss. I went into the office with my boss, mr C, who was a you know owner of a successful company, a furniture manufacturing company. He said, estrada, what the blank blank are you doing here? You ought to be a teacher. Because why you? You ought to be a teacher? Because why you were working where I was working as a cost estimator for a furniture manufacturing company.
Speaker 1:Cost estimator.
Speaker 3:Cost estimator yeah, I helped determine what it costs to make the furniture.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:Oh, I see, I did the materials and my partner did the labor. Okay, so that struck me. I said how does he know me from Adam? I mean, I work for him, but what is he calling me? He's calling me a teacher. He must see something. I don't.
Speaker 3:So one summer I went to Cal State, la. I had taken some classes. I was lost. I didn't know where I wanted to go. Maybe I thought I wanted to go back to law school, but that wasn't inspiring me anymore. My life had changed as I was taking classes. I took a couple of county classes, did very well. But then I saw this introduction to the teaching profession class. I said you know what? I got nothing else to do, I'll take that course. So I took it and before you know it I was filling papers left and right. They sent me to a large school district on a Friday. They hired me Friday. They wanted me to go in a classroom on the Monday. I think that's how it happened A fifth grade classroom, no teaching experience, just a degree Right and a contract promising that if I go teach and I want to stay a teacher, I have to go to night school or to school to get my teacher's credentials Right. So I said, okay, I'll do that, and I did it.
Speaker 1:So, before we get into the teaching profession, there's a theme that I want to go back to, and that is you've mentioned two or three people now that saw different things in you or pushed you or guided you. You mentioned the lady that gave you the application to UCLA. You mentioned this boss or manager of yours that told you hey, I see something in you that would make you a good teacher. So one I guess just surrounding yourself with good people that want the best for you is one theme I heard there. And two you actually listening, because I think a lot of people get advice and maybe just ignore it or continue on, but here you are, surrounding yourself with good people, getting good, sound advice and actually listening to it and just allowing that to guide you.
Speaker 3:Yes, Well, I like to think I'm a better listener than I am, because look how long it took me before I realized I was a teacher. I was 33 when I became a teacher. I don't know, maybe it's because I was diverted, because I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but then I found out. You know, maybe I want to be a teacher and I did and I loved it. I was a teacher for 28,. Actually 29 years, because I had a register. I had 29 classes. I took over for a teacher at my first year of teaching. I think she was very ill and so I took over at the early part of the year for her, so it would have been 29 years with her.
Speaker 1:So I didn't realize that you had actually started teaching at. You started at 33. Yes, is that right? That's late and that's what I'm saying. So I think it's interesting that and I'm just speak for myself too but I don't know that many people would be willing to completely pivot. So you're basically in business, yes, have a type of career, and you've already built, at this point, maybe 10 years plus of experience doing that, yes, and then you just decide, okay, like I'm going to just let all this experience go and I'm going to go completely pivot my career and go do something totally different.
Speaker 3:Well, none of the jobs I had really satisfied me. I wasn't getting, I don't know what I needed, but I needed something more, something that would challenge me, something that I would love, and I didn't realize what it was until I was in the classroom with kids, with students.
Speaker 1:And was the? Did you like you walked into that classroom and was it almost immediate to where you're, just like, oh yeah, this is where I belong, or was that something that it?
Speaker 3:felt like home. It felt like right away, right away.
Speaker 1:What was it? What was it about it? That that?
Speaker 3:drew you to it Because it was an educational environment. It was a place where you taught, where you focused on reading and math and science, you know, where you educated children social studies, history, and you had all these subjects. You could teach these kids. You could maybe make a difference in their lives, right, but little did I realize that they were going to teach me as much as I taught them. Yeah, I remember my first class was so wonderful. There were characters. I mean, this was a hard group. I worked in a rough area. I could tell you some stories, yeah, but I did work in a very rough area.
Speaker 3:If I hadn't loved them as much as I did, loved doing what I was doing as much as I did, I would have been out after the first two years. You'll know why if I have time to explain it. You know I say the kids taught me as much as they'd I taught them. For example, I remember these kids clear as day. Like you know, their names are unusual, but I don't want to mention their names. But their names were like I don't know something out of a script someplace, but they were typical Hispanic names and good names that fit these kids. Yeah, and one day one of them came up to me and said Señor Estrada, quiero sacar la punta.
Speaker 1:I said what I wasn't a fluent Spanish speaker at the time and I said what I wasn't a fluent Spanish speaker at the time.
Speaker 3:And I said, and this other little boy, mr Estrada, I said all he wants to do is sharpen his pencil. Oh he thought he was cussing you out or what. I didn't know what he was doing.
Speaker 1:And then he see.
Speaker 3:This is what I mean by them teaching me Right. I said you know what? He sees my face. He expects Spanish to come out of it. Yeah, so I said I'm gonna go start learning spanish. Yeah, so I did. I watched channel at those times, channel 52, channel 34, read I picked up, uh, the periódico as a newspaper, la opinión. I talked to the parents in spanish. What little spanish I knew. I didn't care if it embarrassed me or not. I said I'm gonna have to learn it right, if I'm gonna be in this community I better fit in, be who, who I look like. So I did. I picked up books. I got a lot of books in my library. Right there you can see how many books I Spanish verb drills. Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish books Cien Años de Soledad.
Speaker 1:And what was this? Just so people get a sense of this you mentioned, hey, it's a rough neighborhood Again, you don't have to give any specifics on that but yeah, I think people want to move to. In fact, it's very common these days when people are looking to buy a house or even like a rental, they look at the school area. There's those grades that you can look at it. Hey, this school is a nine out of 10, or this is an eight out of 10. So many, many people prioritize that and you are going into an area that is really challenging.
Speaker 1:I'm assuming from like a just the the economics of the people that are living there I'm assuming it's more blue collar or even less than that working class poor, and what was just that component of it like and what are some of the challenges that teachers in areas like that face? That maybe is in addition to just doing your daily job, which is teaching these kids.
Speaker 3:They had many areas that I could have worked in and I wanted to work in East Los Angeles but they said, no, we need you in the central part of town. I said, okay, I'll go. I didn't really want to go there because I knew it was kind of a rough area. It was near USC. At that time it was rough. I don't know if you remember the Ronnie King riots.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 3:Well, one of the first years I was there within my first two years, or it was 92, I think it was 1992, yeah, and they had the riots they actually we had in my school, there were actually businesses on one side of the street where they were all burned down.
Speaker 1:Wow. So it was really close and I was there Literally in your backyard.
Speaker 3:I was there at the time. Yeah, it was rough. I said, oh my gosh, I don't think I don't know if we had to go to work those days. I forgot. But I went back. I said I still want to be with my students.
Speaker 1:I don't want to. I said, hey, I mean, that's one thing right. Literally you're in a neighborhood that burned down.
Speaker 3:Yeah, gang infested, and yeah.
Speaker 1:So what are the things that these and these kids are expected to go to school and learn? But I mean, I got to imagine they got a lot of different challenges that they're facing at home. Like what are some of those challenges? And, as a teacher, like, what is your job in all of this?
Speaker 3:well, I think a good thing to do is to know what kind of environment you're in, what kind of school it is. This was known as a chapter one school. It was a school that was provided with some federal funding, uh, for low-income students, and so they got some special programs, some special funding. You know they got free meals, breakfast and lunch. But you know, I think a real helper at that time, and still is, is the USC programs. They used the Joint Educational Project out of USC and they provided a lot of actual school programs and intervention programs for the students there at our school to help them along, you know, with reading or math tutoring, all kinds of programs.
Speaker 3:I used to have fun when I had the JEP students come into my classroom. They were from the School of Music and they'd bring violins, guitars, trumpets, different instruments for the kids to become exposed to and to hear those instruments being played, and that was wonderful. You know that was wonderful for them to become exposed to and to hear them hear those instruments being played, and that was wonderful. You know that was wonderful for them to be exposed to that. And someday maybe some of those kids and I'm sure a lot of them went to usc because they were because of the inspiration that those kids from usc gave, gave to our, to our students also.
Speaker 3:They had a like a dental program. There was a bus there where where the kids could get their teeth checked, Okay, and they're, you know, like part of the job of a teacher is like one of my, I remember, you know, can they see the board? If they can't, you got to refer them to get maybe they need glasses. Can they hear what I'm saying? If they can't, maybe they need to have a hearing test. Are they hurting? Can they eat? So maybe they need to be referred to get some dental care right. So you had also, uh, their mental health. So a teacher, you know, we had a lot of responsibility. The teachers has to wear a lot of hats, yeah and uh, I think one of our important jobs is to refer these kids when they need the help, when you see that they need the help do you think, um, these kids, so it sounds like wonderful that you guys had a lot of resources, or that the kids had a lot of different resources that they could rely on.
Speaker 1:How many of them do you think saw this education as an opportunity to get them out of the situation or at least allow them to maybe advance beyond what they were experiencing?
Speaker 3:You know, that's always been a big mystery to me how far, what was? I wondered what was going to happen to them once they left school, once they went to high school. Well, I know a lot of them went to college. A lot of them got good jobs and, of course, on the other hand, you know some of them didn't make it or had rough lives. Their possibilities in life were as varied as they were, I think, but I heard good things about them. Sometimes they got a good job at the airport, they got into a good university. So you hear about these things.
Speaker 3:And so they were just part of the total society and we live in a country where there's a lot of opportunities that they can make a good life for themselves if they work hard. And you know, the American dream was still in those years, was still there. It was getting harder to catch but it was still there at the time that I taught. But things became more and more expensive as the decades went on, ever since the Reagan administration. I don't want to get into politics, but things started changing after the Reagan administration, I think because there were less guardrails on business corporations. I think because there were less guardrails on business corporations.
Speaker 1:And what is so? You mentioned some of the things that are asked of teachers in this environment that maybe are not so much in areas that are more well off. What was like the motivation for you? I got to imagine it's very difficult, because it sounds like you're being asked to do much more than just being a teacher in the classroom. What motivated you?
Speaker 3:well, the main thing, uh, being a teacher. Uh, of course, is the academics right, but you have to take those. Other things have to be taken care of, because in a low-end community they have many other needs. You know, there were points where they needed clothing also and there were opportunities during the year where they could get some free clothing or things that they supplies that they needed or even food.
Speaker 3:But, as an academic, what motivated me was I have a reading specialist credential. The reason I got that area during when I earned my master's degree, because I know how important reading is to children. I enjoy teaching fifth, but I want to go down to the first and second grade because that's where the reading education was taught and I enjoyed teaching them how to read, getting them exposed to literature. I used to buy a lot of literature books and read them a story every day, something new, and they loved the stories. They loved listening to the stories and I was trying to inspire them to read and I loved reading time. So I can make my groups, divide them into groups and focus on each one to help them with their special needs and reading. Where they needed to strengthen up and reading, and first and second grade especially, is where you can catch them. I love getting them into the macaques and the use of language you know and getting them to read to read.
Speaker 1:So you cause that's a hard age, but sounds to me like you were drawn to that the first and second grade, because that's that's basically where the foundation is being laid.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly, did you feel like that you could have the biggest impact to their future at that time? Exactly, but that's because, in addition to that, I mean these kids are still learning how to like behave in a classroom and things like that. And one thing I haven't talked about on this podcast is I left the corporate world for a year and I taught high school. Because it's similar to you, I thought I wanted to be a teacher, so I taught high school for a year. I loved a lot of aspects about it. The one part I could not overcome was the challenges of keeping a classroom of 14 year olds in line.
Speaker 3:That's a challenge You're talking about middle school.
Speaker 1:No, we're talking about freshmen in high school.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, that's a, that is a challenge.
Speaker 1:And so it was so exhausting trying to manage the classroom Again, the everything, the getting to know the kids, teaching them, the actual curriculum, loved all those things. But it was so challenging just from a classroom management perspective and getting them after lunch and they're all wired and stuff.
Speaker 3:Well they're going through a lot of changes in their life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that was really tough and that was kind of that and a couple other things. But that was one of the big things where I was just like you know what? This is not for me, and so I went back. So I say that in the context of first and second grader they got they're very rambunctious and things like that. So I'm just curious, you know, you got this really great mission of what you want to do and help lay the foundation, teach them to read, but in addition to that you talked about, okay, I've got to also manage maybe part of their home lives or the things that they don't have or that they need. And then they're also a rambunctious bunch of little kids in the classroom. So I guess, how did you manage all that? It sounds overwhelming, to be honest, is what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:Well, in second grade the children are more loving. They're actually they're easier than middle schoolers the kind of kids you taught that age, because at the age that you're in there's a lot of metabolic changes going on in their body.
Speaker 3:They're growing and they're social. They need to be together so they need to communicate whatever way they can. So I think middle school is more of a challenge than what I dealt with. Yes, there were children some children in my second grade classes that were indeed a challenge, that really didn't belong in their general ed class. I can state that for a fact. But generally speaking, the children at that age are more flexible, they're more open to learning. They're wide-eyed. Anything you bring them in science and math or manipulatives, they get all excited. They want their focus. You bring some artwork their focus.
Speaker 3:Sometimes my class was so quiet you could hear a pin drop you know, so it's just a matter in in in my experience is that you have a you know lesson plans, you have things assigned, you know, ready for them to do things to keep them interested, things to inspire them. So I think it's actually easier with with that grade level, and that's a wonderful time to teach them how to read, a wonderful time to expose them to literature, because they're getting all these ideas, these fantasies or these realities or these histories and they want to know how did this happen? How did they do that? They're open. They might not say those words, but they're open and they're curious, and so in that way it was easy All right, I got to imagine.
Speaker 1:There's just a lot of wonderful moments. I'm going to ask you about that in a moment, as far as just experiences that stuck with you in the classroom. But before I do that, I'm curious what was maybe some of the more, if there's a moment that just seemed very challenging for you, that just felt like you weren't equipped to handle it or you felt helpless in that situation. Again, without sharing too much detail, just to help people understand some of the real challenges that you teachers face, where I felt helpless in the, in that situation, again without sharing too much detail, just like just to help people understand some of the real challenges that you, where I felt helpless when, for example, or I did something, I said I should have known better.
Speaker 3:But they're little, they're little things, they're not important things, you know, like if a child had to go to the bathroom and you said no, no, I'm not letting you go right now because things are too active. They were getting too excited at times. I said no, and then they're peeing on the pants. I said, oh my God, I have to explain this to the parent. Or they get into a fight that you missed, or something happened to them out in the yard that you missed. And then you have to explain it to a parent what happened, and I was amiss or negligent at those times. An elementary school teacher hates to be. I know I did. I hate to miss things because you know I should have seen that, or I should have spotted that, or I should have paid more attention to the child.
Speaker 1:Does the responsibility does it just the responsibility of being overseeing these kids, their education, their, their wellbeing, at least in the time that they're in that classroom with you? Does that ever feel overwhelming to teachers?
Speaker 3:For me, it never felt overwhelming, but it always felt be responsible. You're responsible for those children while they're in your classroom. You're responsible for their safety. You're responsible for their education. You're responsible for their well-being. You not only teach them. As far as I'm concerned, you not only teach them your academics. You teach them how to get along with each other. You teach them. As far as I'm concerned, you not only teach them your academics. You teach them how to get along with each other. You teach them right and wrong.
Speaker 3:Yeah morals you teach them to be kind to each other, right? So that was my responsibility and I had to realize how powerful a teacher can be in their lives. Everything you do and say will have an impact on those children, whether you realize it or not, right? An inexperienced teacher may not realize that, right, but a teacher who's been in the classroom a while will understand. Look, this child's going to remember that. Yeah, and sure enough they do they remember it.
Speaker 1:I mean, you guys have a tremendous responsibility and what do you think parents or just anybody that look at that profession? What are they missing? What are they not seeing, or what's just?
Speaker 3:not as well understood about what you guys are up against. In the school that I worked in, these parents were trying to struggle. They were trying to make a living. Some of the kids were from one-parent families and that's a huge challenge for a parent. I never underestimate that and those parents were trying to survive on their own. But a lot of them were such sweet people, such good people.
Speaker 3:If I asked them to help their children with a project I wanted them to do at home, for example, I used to do this project where they talk about traditions, what they did for traditions in the time of Christmas, I'd ask them to help them do this booklet and the parents would fully participate. You'd see manipulatives, you'd see food, you'd see pictures, you'd see samples of what they did, drawings that the parents helped them with, and we would assemble these books and the parents would be very cooperative. You know most of them wanted to work with a teacher, with their children. They're happy to see their kids doing these activities. You know, I think so.
Speaker 3:There were parents who were highly cooperative and of course there were those that were not, because I always took into consideration, you know, what was happening in their lives. You can't judge anyone because you really don't know what's going on in their lives, especially in that area or in any area actually, any school, yeah, even in the rich areas you never know what's going on. You can't judge any of these children. You just have to see who they are and work with them as they are. Is what you see, right? You know, if I can put it that way. I don't know if I've answered your question.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think just maybe to wrap parents that have elementary age school kids, what can they do to best help the teachers in the classroom and just help their kids get the most out of their education?
Speaker 3:Well, just make sure they're exposed to literacy, to language. Talk to your children, read to them. What's really lovely is when parents read to their children every day, maybe before they go to bed or they find some time in the day to pick out good literature. Go to the library. Books are expensive today. Children's books are very expensive. You could probably make $30 for a 40-page book. Go to the library. Take them to the library on a Saturday for a little while. Get a bunch of books and read to them every night. That's one good thing you could do. Get them involved in activities. Expose them to music, maybe an instrument they enjoy and dance. Just be with them. Talk to them. Talk a lot to them. Write with them, read with them, ask them how their school day went. Just love them the way you know how to love your children.
Speaker 1:That's it, I don't think we can end on a better note than that. So thank you, I really enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 3:And thank you. I'm glad you came to have this conversation. I was really. I really enjoyed it. Thank you very much. All right, thanks, bye, bye, bye.
Speaker 1:Bye, too far from here. If we drive all night, the cold that will do you well In the mountain morning light.
Speaker 2:So let's ride, let's ride on through the rain. Come on and take me anywhere that you wanna be. Let's ride and let's ride. Let's follow the skyline and when we make it to the other side, we'll find all the bluest skies.