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Ohio's public schools serve 1.6 million children - 90 percent of students in the state! What happens in the classroom has impacts far beyond the walls of the K-12 school building or higher ed lecture hall. So, on behalf of the 120,000 members of the Ohio Education Association, we're taking a deeper dive into some of the many education issues facing our students, educators, and communities. Originally launched in 2021 as Education Matters, Public Education Matters is your source for insightful conversations with the people who shape the education landscape in Ohio. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on Public Education Matters? Email us at educationmatters@ohea.org
Various student voices 0:08
Public education matters. Public education matters. Public education matters.
Jeff Wensing 0:15
This is Public Education Matters brought to you by the Ohio Education Association.
Katie Olmsted 0:26
Welcome back to Public Education Matters. I'm Katie Olmsted, and I'm part of the communications team for the Ohio Education Association and the nearly 120,000 public school educators OEA represents around the state as members of a labor union. I guess a fair number of these educators know at least a little about Cesar Chavez, considered by many to be a true hero of the labor and civil rights movements in American history. Cesar Chavez was a first generation American whose family became migrant farm workers after they lost their farm in the Great Depression. He went on to become a community organizer and co founder of the group that eventually became the United Farm Workers labor union. Now nearly a century after Cesar Chavez was born and more than 30 years after he passed away, his life's work is carried on by the Cesar Chavez Foundation and by his grandson, Andres Chavez, who serves as the Executive Director of the National Chavez Center in California, in his role as speaker with the Cesar Chavez Foundation, Andres Chavez shared his grandfather's legacy and lessons with students in Orange City Schools here in Ohio earlier this year. We sat down with the Orange Teachers Association member who made that happen to find out why take a listen.
Emily Macias 1:53
I'm Emily Macias. I'm a high school Spanish teacher at Orange City Schools in Pepper Pike, Ohio, and I'm also a member of OTA Orange Teachers Association as a building representative.
Katie Olmsted 2:06
And this past fall, you were able to bring a really special guest to your students at Orange High School and really to the community. What can you tell me about that?
Emily Macias 2:18
So this year, we my colleague Gary DiBianca, and I really wanted to make the Hispanic Heritage Month kind of come to life, essentially, which starts in the middle of September and ends in the middle of October. In addition to that, I teach Spanish 3 and a major part of our curriculum in the spring has to do with immigration, and what the experience is of immigrants that come to the US, specifically migrant workers. And we do a reading about Cesar Chavez, who, while he was born in the US, he's Mexican American and is considered, you know, an incredible labor leader, and as well, as you know, truly telling the story of the immigrant experience. And so my students really kind of got into that story last year, last spring, and I thought, I wonder if there's any more to this, if there's any more information out there, or what else we can do to kind of continue this lesson. So I did a Google search, came across the Cesar Chavez Center and the Cesar Chavez Foundation, which is in southern California, and reached out to them and immediately heard back from their education center, and they had all these resources that to share and to kind of put out there. And in addition to that, said, "Would you be interested in looking at our speakers bureau?" And I said, "Well, sure, I'd love to. I'd love to see who's out there". And I we kind of landed on just kind of organically when I was explaining to the foundation, you know, my students are really into this topic. I'm also very into this topic. I as a very proud union member, as well as I, my family owned a farm, and so there it kind of was, two worlds colliding for me. I said, I I have a lot of interest in this topic. And they suggested Caesar's grandson, who is Andres, who also happens to be the executive director of the Center, and who was, I would say, just as excited to come to Orange as we were to have him. As it would happen at the same time this, this all kind of timed out perfectly. We are looking into what's the Caesar Chavez 100 so next, not this coming March, but the following March, he would have been 100 years old. And the idea is, how are we going to kind of reinvent and reenergize his message. How are we going to bring him into this next to this next generation of kids, and what's that going to look like? And so while Cesar Chavez is really well known, and that's a common name in if we're in California, for in Texas, Arizona, but up here in Ohio and Michigan and you know, New York, it's not. Kids aren't as aware of who he is. People aren't as aware of who he is and why he matters and why he's important. So while Andres happened to be came here, he also came with his team, some archivists and a campaign manager, and the idea is that they're going to start to launch the campaign for the Cesar Chavez 100 so while they were here, we also had the opportunity to meet with a lot of community members, board members, both in orange and in the city of Cleveland, to start to create that message and get people interested, get them on board, let them know what it looks like, why it matters. So it was really kind of a fact finding mission, as well as just the incredible luck of having him here to talk to kids. Now, while he was in the building, while he was in the district, he went to every single building he visited all the way from the preschool to the high school, which I think is really incredible. And in each building, teachers had the opportunity to share with him lessons that they were doing, whether it was about Hispanic Heritage Month, whether it was about his grandfather, whether it was about the labor movement, the farm labor movement, and then he was able to give feedback or to answer questions and bring that curriculum to life. So it was really just a very special week all around, getting to see him work his team work, and then also getting to see him interact with our kids.
Katie Olmsted 6:46
And I think you hit it right on the head, about just bringing it to life. It's not about learning about in a textbook or looking it up on Wikipedia or whatever it's going to be. It's about seeing the living legacy, not only through his grandson, but also through his work and the impact on our lives now. You mentioned a lot of people in Ohio. We might know the name, but we don't know the legacy necessarily, personally.
Emily Macias 7:13
Right.
Katie Olmsted 7:13
What do you what did you want your students and the community members who came to see Andres Chavez speak? What did you want them to learn and to walk away with?
Emily Macias 7:23
What I wanted them to understand or to learn specifically was why farm workers matter, why immigrants matter, why that is so important to the human experience here. But beyond just that, you know, when we think about Cesar Chavez, he we always, of course, think about the farm workers union, right? I mean, that's the first thing that comes to your mind. But in addition to that, he was truly on the forefront to equal rights. He was, he was a civil rights leader as much as anything else. So really, was outspoken about women's equal rights, for rights of equality for the LGBTQ community, long before it was something that was truly accepted. And so how do we bring that message of equality and into bring it forward, you know, from that place in history, but it's still a message that matters today. So the the message, what I was hoping for the kids in the community to learn was was twofold. One, you know, what he did, what he created with the union, and why that matters, and and, and why everyone deserves to be paid for the work that they do and deserves to have dignity from that work, right? And then how that translates to what we're still fighting for today.
Katie Olmsted 8:50
Right. So at that time, it's a revolutionary thought that, you know, humans should be treated as humans and paid as such, but that was not we have not come so far as some of us would like to think from that, and we see that a lot.
Emily Macias 9:03
Right, right. And I, you know, one of the things that we talked about in class too, is that when they first did, when they when they did the first strike, right, the grape and the lettuce strike, that that went on for five years, and so too. So it's hard to imagine asking someone, you know, and not just someone asking all of these people for five years, I need you to not work, I need you to not earn money, and I need you to stand behind me. I mean, that is, that is such an incredible ask, in the fact that he was able to do that and influence people all across the country, and from the farm workers to, you know, the very privileged people, getting them to boycott eating the food. So I that's just. Thing I always keep in mind. And one of the things that Andre said to me was, you know, my grandfather would say, you can speak to 100 right? You can speak to 100 people. Two of them will listen, you know, and what those two do with it matters. And so that kind of, those words, kind of came back to me when I was talking to my students, because I said, you know, when we were watching, when they did the March, when Cesar Chavez did the march all the way from Delano to Sacramento, which was 330 miles right, they marched all the way. And he started with 60 some people, and he, when he reached the Capitol, they had 10,000 and so I said to the students, you know, like I every day, I speak to 100 of you. I hope that two of you listen. But what matters is that when I get to the end, there will be 10,000 of you and so as teachers, I think that really speaks to us as well. You know, we were essentially putting together a labor union of our own.
Katie Olmsted 10:56
In the very best way, the way that we make the world better is by educated citizenry and people who are engaged and willing to stand up for what they believe in.
Emily Macias 11:06
Exactly.
Katie Olmsted 11:08
So how did your students react when they when they got to not just hear him speak, but I believe there was a question and answer segment with him as well at that, plus he went to all the schools.
Emily Macias 11:17
Yeah, I think they were just really, just so it's hard to it's hard to kind of put into words, and it's the same way I felt the first time I saw him thinking like, this is living history standing in front of us right now. You know, we'll never be able to meet Cesar as he has passed for so long, but here we have somebody who is his living history that is continuing his legacy that has come here, and he's just is such a wealth of knowledge and truly is supporting the cause, and one of the most knowledgeable people about his grandfather and the kids were really impressed, very excited to meet him. Even the preschoolers, it was very, very sweet. Their questions were a little more simple things, like, did, did your grandfather own cows? You know, they just were very curious all the way up to the high school. Kids really wondering about that legacy and why legacy matters, and what their legacy is going to look like someday,
Katie Olmsted 12:24
Knowing what we're facing today, with issues with with immigration being sort of a flash button, issue with attacks on labor, with it's a it's a uphill battle in a lot of ways, for the very things that Cesar Chavez was fighting for, that that Andres Chavez is continuing to fight for today. Does that factor into why you had him there? Or did it scare you a little bit away from doing it?
Emily Macias 12:55
That is exactly why I felt like now is the time we cannot back down and we cannot shy away. We have to stand up for what we know is right and for what we truly believe in. And I think about Caesar in moments like that, like now is not the time to stay quiet. Now is not the time to not fight for what we know is right. And I think given any other time in the history of my life, I would have been thrilled to have had this experience, but it was more meaningful now than ever because of what we are currently going through. And I have to say that I am extremely fortunate to live in a community and to work for community where those beliefs are supported, and I never worried for one day that I would not be understood or heard or trusted with this project, even in a very tumultuous time, which can be considered a difficult time politically for all of us, I never received anything but support.
Katie Olmsted 14:19
And this is just one of several ways that you are connecting your students to the world. The Peru trip, you just got back from Peru with your students, you did. I cannot begin to tell you how jealous I am, but I want to hear all about it.
Emily Macias 14:36
We were there for nine days. It ended up being 10 days. We had a little bit of difficulty returning back to the US. It was very busy travel time.
Katie Olmsted 14:45
Yes, because you went right around Thanksgiving break.
Emily Macias 14:48
Yeah, we went the week of Thanksgiving. So however, for one portion of the visit, for three nights, our students stayed with host families, and that's that, to me, is the most meaningful part of any trip that we take. We always, always, always include a home stay for a period of that time. And we find that kids, that's where they really get the most out of the trip, where they form these relationships with these families in a very short period of time, they use the language they communicate to the best of their ability, right? There's always, there's always some misinterpretation, but they always work through it, and have have a really, really wonderful experience with that. So the students, when we first got there, they did stay with families for three days, and then from there, we did travel on to we left Cusco and we went to Machu Picchu. And then after that, after seeing Machu Picchu, we saw the Floating Islands and Punos, and just kind of travel through some of those more well known areas, getting to see a lot of the the ruins that are left over. And it's just, it's, it's breathtaking. There really are no words to describe. It's one of those things that you see and you think to yourself, I really never thought I would see this with my own eyes, you know, to really see what is still here and what we now know about it. So that's, that's truly incredible. And the kids, the students were just amazed, amazed by that.
Katie Olmsted 16:27
What was it like for you as an educator to see your students experience that and to see what they how they grew in those three days of those home stays, especially?
Emily Macias 16:39
Yeah, I love it. Any teacher will tell you they love it. So when we have our tour guide with us, right? And often as teachers, we're the ones who are kind of facilitating, like, Oh, does anybody have a question? I have a question, and I can just really watch, and they are the ones who have the questions. They are the ones who, Hey, I've been thinking about this thing that you mentioned yesterday, and I have a follow up, or I, I heard you say this. Can you tell me more about this? And so to see them inquiring, to see them questioning, that's how I know it's connecting, right? They're getting, they're getting so much from this. They're not just, they're they're taking it in a much different way, that they're also seeking additional information.
Katie Olmsted 17:25
I mean, when I said I'm jealous, I was like, Oh, that's a great vacation, but that's not a vacation that is truly a learning experience, which now I'm like, Oh yeah, that's that's what I should have been. I'm jealous of their learning experience for the record, yeah. But truly, like, why is this so important, not just for students, but as global citizens, as people who are carrying on the legacy of caring about other humans and wanting them to be treated like humans.
Emily Macias 17:52
So I mentioned my colleague earlier, Gary DiBianca, and the two of us one of our goals for students, because we do get these opportunities to take students on trips, right? And from the very beginning, I said to him, because we we our very first trip we did together, we went to Costa Rica. And I said, while it is beautiful there, it's safe, it's wonderful, everything is wonderful there. I said, I want to take kids where they're never going to have a chance to go, because you the families can easily access Costa Rica, right? So I want to take them to places that they're not going to get to, and have them experience things that they would not normally have the opportunity to do so and so one of those is that's why we started our folk to focus on South America, because it is a world away. We are connected, but it is truly a world away and and I want them to see what that looks like. What does it look like to live in a remote area of South America, and it gives you this whole new perspective and appreciation truly, for what how we live and for what our lives look like. And I think that's so important, too, at this age, for them to see we did visit a school, and the school is in an incredibly remote area, and they just they have nothing, right? And so we took school supplies with us, but they spent the whole day playing soccer and playing volleyball and making friends with these other students from Peru, and they're following each other on Instagram now and but I just think how important it is for you to see what the world experiences, not just what you experience.
Katie Olmsted 19:42
Because someday, your students might be the ones who are asked to boycott the grapes.
Emily Macias 19:48
Right, right, or to understand what it looks like outside of your own life, right? Can you have empathy? Can you see what it might be, or can you have sympathy? Can you see what it would be like to not be you?
Katie Olmsted 20:03
That is probably the most valuable lesson of all. And Emily, I thank you so much for sharing that with your students, with the community and with us.
Emily Macias 20:12
Of course, my pleasure
Katie Olmsted 20:17
That does it for this episode of Public Education Matters. If you want to see more from Andres Chavez's visit to Pepper Pike, there are links in the show notes for this episode. And while you're there, please make sure you subscribe to public education matters, wherever you get your podcasts, so you don't miss an episode in the future. Next week, we have a special Valentine's Day episode you don't want to miss we're hearing from a husband and wife who spent a combined 112 years teaching in Ohio Public Schools and who both still work with students post retirement. I don't want to give it all away, but I have to tell you this their love story started when she was the band director at one high school and he was the football coach for another high school. She dropped her papers in the end zone. He helped pick them up. She waited and waited for him to call her before she finally got his friend, the band director for that other high school, to give him a nudge to pick up the phone. And I'd say the rest is history from there, but they are still writing their story today. The story of Ohio's Public Schools is being written every day too, and that's why we bring you new podcast episodes every week as we continue to hear from the people who are shaping the public education landscape in our state. Because in Ohio, public education matters.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai