Welcome Back, Teacher

Ismael Jimenez had two choices: Stay on a team of UCLA scientists searching for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease or return to his old high school as a science teacher.

Diane Hernandez, Julie Padilla and many other alumni had career options as well, but they all chose to join the faculty at their alma mater, San Fernando High, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s second-oldest high school, where nearly 18% of the students who enroll as freshman leave before graduation.

Although the district does not keep track of how many students return to their old high schools as teachers, San Fernando High educators notice.

About 10% of the 220-member faculty are alumni, and the 4,500-student school hopes to see the percentage grow, said Maria Reza, a former San Fernando High School principal who is now a district administrator.

“Our kids need more role models,” Reza said. “They need somebody they can look up to.”

San Fernando High alumni teachers could offer plenty of excuses not to come back: better jobs and higher pay in tonier parts of the city, for example, but they cannot forget their strong ties to their alma mater.

Their bond with students is more cultural than geographical, they say.

“We have brown faces just like they do. They look at us and feel more connected,” said Padilla, class of 1987 and a bilingual teacher at a school that is 98% Latino. “I feel we can make a difference by coming back.

“Here is where I want to work in the long-term,” said Padilla, 31. “I’m happy here in San Fernando.”

Padilla; Jimenez; Angel Ortiz, a computer science teacher; and Priscilla Hernandez, an English teacher, are among those who still live in the old neighborhood. They recall sitting in the same classroom chairs and going home to an environment similar to that known by today’s students: busy, blue-collar parents and after-school jobs.

And just like many of their students, most alumni teachers are bilingual. They understand, for instance, that a student sitting alone in the back of a class, rather than being shy, might not speak English.

Many Students Feel Pressure to Quit

Diane Hernandez, class of 1970 and a social studies teacher and dropout prevention coordinator, said she understands the pressures that cause many students to consider leaving school. Every year she gets a list of about 800 students who want to quit. Sometimes she is able to persuade them to work toward a high school equivalency, sometimes she can’t.

When Hernandez, 48, was a student, classmates talked about the need to work part time to help support their families, she remembers. Soon the students’ jobs became full time and they began dropping classes and then left school altogether.

“Yes, we have students who go on to Harvard, MIT and Yale,” Hernandez said. “But the majority don’t. Nothing much has changed. I see the same problems as when I was in high school--students who do not think they are college material.

“They just need a little push, somebody that can tell them you can,” she said.

Expecting More From Students

Ortiz, class of 1987, said he pushes his students by assigning additional homework and making the class atmosphere less fun and more challenging.

“They must think I am a jerk, but later on they will appreciate what I am doing,” said Ortiz, 32. “When I went to Berkeley, I was just surviving classes. I was getting A’s and Bs here, but the reality was I did not have the foundation to take higher education courses.”

Jimenez, class of 1993 and a science teacher, hopes his students will see a reflection of themselves when he talks about earning his college degree in molecular cell biology and becoming a UCLA senior research associate. His high school teachers helped him believe he could fulfill his dreams, he said.

When Jimenez realized how few Latinos were in his 1998 graduating class at UC Berkeley, he said he decided to become a teacher and try to improve the numbers.

“This is the best form of activism,” he said.

Priscilla Hernandez, 27 and a 1991 graduate, agreed. That is the reason she chose to teach freshmen instead of juniors and seniors.

“I want to be able to help students early on,” she said. “It’s never too late to learn, but it’s better to have more time to work on a student’s weakness, when they are just starting high school.”

San Fernando High School, founded 103 years ago, shows its age. In addition to old buildings, its classrooms are crowded and its schedule is year-round to accommodate a growing student body.

Assuming the Job of Role Model

While the look of the school may be familiar to Jimenez, he said he is more excited this time around. He came back to become not only a teacher but a mentor or role model.

Many of his friends, he said, feel he’s making a big sacrifice.

“Sure, the title ‘scientist’ sounds fancy,” he said. “But look at me: I’m 25, with plenty of time to return to the world of science.”

Starting pay as a researcher was not much different from his first-year teacher’s salary of $33,000, he said, though in the long run scientists can make a lot more money.

For now, Jimenez said, he hopes to use his youth, culture and past to inspire at least a few of his students to become scientists.

Earlier this month, in one of the first meetings with his freshman introductory science class, he told the students that science need not be boring.

“Biology becomes the study of life, instead of science that deals with origin, history, etc. . . . And scientists become investigators of life instead of those old men and women in white coats,” he lectured.

“Scientists try to find solutions to life’s problems. When I was a scientist, we used to use rats for our experiments to find cures for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s.”

The students already seem to be taking notice.

Said 10th-grader Indira Linares of North Hollywood, “I don’t know if I want to become a teacher, but science does not seem that boring.”

Tony Herrera, 14, a freshman from Sylmar, said he walked in thinking his introductory science class was going to be full of complicated equations and big words. Instead, he found he can walk up to Jimenez and ask for help if he falls behind.

“He is like one of us,” Tony said. “I’m glad he is teaching this class.”

Jimenez said he plans to teach at least two to three years.

“I may end up liking this job and stay forever,” he said. “Maybe I came back for good.”