Someone you should know
Maybe students visit his office to dip into the bowl of multi-flavored jelly belly beans that accent his desk. Maybe they come to view the painted maps of Chile or hear his patented phrase “No guiri guiri con papas,” which translates: No blah blah with potatoes. But most likely, students visit his office seeking advice and encouragement from an adult they can relate to. Relate to, because like many teenagers attending Santa Ynez Valley Union High School, Guidance Counselor Alfonso Gonzalez faced unsettling circumstances and unique challenges on his quest to further his education; a quest that did not always have a final answer or straight road.
“My mother used to say ‘No guiri guiri con papas,’” Gonzalez said, recalling how she would use the phrase when her 12 children were being unruly. And with a household of twelve, it’s no wonder the phrase has become a permanent fixture his students remember him by. “Nothing too crazy happened in his class, but he’s funny,” said senior Megan Walsh, laughing. “He used to say no guiri, guiri con papas, to help us pronounce and learn Spanish words.”
Even Gonzalez’s co-workers value his genuine approach to mentoring kids. “He has a very good connection with students,” said Guidance Counselor Danielle Lageman, who has worked at Union for 11 years. “He is approachable and takes the extra step.”
Learning Life’s Lessons
Taking an extra step is a practice Gonzalez is not only known for, but has lived by. Born in Yurecuaro Mexico, Gonzalez’s family immigrated to the United States when he was three-years-old. “At the time, (1962) U.S. immigration regulations only allowed three family members to come into the country,” he said. “So my mother, younger sister Connie and my older brother came over with my father.” It would be two years before the entire family would join Gonzalez in Crescent City, California. And not long before the entire family would be up-rooted again. Shortly after moving, the family was one of many victims involved in the 1964 tsunami that destroyed countless homes and businesses in Crescent City.
“I still remember, at midnight my father saying ‘everybody into the car, the river is rising,’” Gonzalez recalled. “I put a sheet over my body, and we were off.” Off to Smith River, where it would be a year before Gonzalez would have the resources to return to school. “We lost everything,” he said. “It was a year before I could even go to kindergarten because I didn’t have any clothes.” But he did finish kindergarten and made it through the 5th grade before his father decided to move the family back to Mexico. “It was tough to grow up in that era,” Gonzalez said. “I was a boy without a home. “In the U.S. there was the Civil Rights Movement and I was teased for being Mexican, and when we moved back to Mexico I was teased for being an American.”
After spending four years in Mexico and entering the University of Michoacán, yet again, his father decided to move the family back to the U.S. “When my father sent word for me, I knew something was wrong,” Gonzalez said. “And sure enough he wanted to move back to the U.S. I literally didn’t sleep that night. There I was a college student who was tremendously dedicated to my family. So there was no other choice but for me to move.”
After returning to the U.S., Gonzalez attended high school and worked full-time in a lumber mill before entering community college and finally being accepted into Humboldt State University, where he received a Bachelors of Science with and emphasis in accounting as well a Minor in Ethnic Studies.
Though times were stressful for the young college graduate, he persevered and became the only of his siblings to earn a Bachelors degree. Sometime you make your way, and other times a force greater than you is the guide, Gonzalez said, remembering how he found his way to the teaching profession.
Evolving to be an Educator
He says he took a break from college before graduating and decided to visit his cousin who taught 50 children in Mexico. Reversing his chair so the back of it pressed against his chest, Gonzalez shows how he witnessed the students in his cousin’s class use the tops of church benches to write. “When I saw this, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher.” And that he did.
In 1985 Gonzalez was hired as a business teacher for Union High. He began his 22-year career by teaching computer keyboarding and accounting. “It’s neat to have my ex-students as colleagues now,” he says jokingly. “But it makes me feel old.” A few years after working at Union High, Gonzales says he jumped at the opportunity to teach Spanish. “I knew it was important for students to learn the language,” he said. “More important though was for them to learn the culture of the people.”
Though Gonzalez loves teaching he admits there were trying times when he considered leaving education and changing fields. “In 1997 I was burnt out,” he said. He was burnt out from caring more than some of his students about the value of education. Just when his wife started suggesting he take a break from education, Gonzalez got the opportunity to participate in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program in Chile. “I knew I wanted to do this,” he said. “It was hard. I sold my two cars, rented out my house, packed up and headed for LAX.”
A Trip to Chili Rekindles a Love for Teaching
He flew from LAX to Miami and Miami to Chile, where he was warmly welcomed. “Some of the students thought I was a joke when I showed up,” Gonzalez said, smiling. “They thought how could anyone who looks like me teach English.” But by the end of the year, Gonzalez had found a place in the hearts of many Chilean students. “I was sick one time with the flu, and some students came to my house and brought me an entire basket of apples,” he said.
“The experience is a highlight in my life.” “After going to Chile, I knew I had to return to California and continue my dream of being an educator.” Now it’s 2007 and you can still find Alfonso Gonzalez at Santa Ynez Union High, lighting the torch of inspiration for the youth of today and leaders of tomorrow.
Just last week, he chaperoned a group of 49 students on an educational field trip that was organized by the school club, OLA, The Organization for Latinos (as) and Americans. The club, which Gonzalez has headed for 19 years, plans two educational trips a year to universities and colleges as well as one fun trip to Magic Mountain. If a student attends one of the educational trips, then he or she is eligible to go on the Magic Mountain trip in May, he said.
“Our mission is to teach students to not settle for the job at Burger King or Mc Donald’s, but to continue their education,” Gonzalez said. “By doing this they will be able to break the cycle (of being un-educated). I see people from the inside-out, not their physical package, like race or circumstance and I like to think of myself as helping students become well-rounded in their journey to success.”