Day 2: [Session 1] Ethnic Studies in Coachella

Speaker Bios:

Alfonso Tabouda was born and raised in the Coachella Valley. In the 1990s, he joined MEChA and became politically active in helping empower his community. He became involved in organizing students throughout the Coachella Valley against Proposition 187 (anti-immigrant bill), 209 (anti-affirmative action), and 207 (English-only education). He attended UC Riverside, where he received his B.S. in Anthropology. At UC Riverside, he organized a collation of students, organizations, and community members for a Latina Chancellor. After graduating, He began working in the Eastern Coachella Valley on a research project looking into the farmworker’s colonials. During this time, he found the passion to teach. This is when he returned to school and received his Master of Education and Teaching Credential at Claremont Graduate University. He has taught for the Coachella Valley Unified School District for the last nineteen years. He is a co-founder of Ethnic Studies at CVUSD.

Day 2: [Session 2] Education as Liberation: The Struggle for Community-responsive Ethnic Studies in PVUSD

Speaker Bios:

Lourdes Barraza was brought to the United States as a young child. She grew up in Watsonville and attended PVUSD schools K-12. She graduated from Watsonville High School in 1990. When she graduated from college in 1994, she returned to Watsonville and began working as a teacher for Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD). She taught for ten years and then returned to college to complete a doctorate in clinical psychology. After graduation, she once again returned to Watsonville to serve her community. As a parent with children who are now high school students who will be affected by the decisions of the PVUSD school board, she has organized for an ethnic studies education that is responsive to the people of Watsonville.

Gabriel Barraza was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in psychology. He began working in the mental health field in 1994 and moved to Santa Cruz County in 1996. He has been working in social services for the past 30 years. He moved to Watsonville with his wife, Lourdes, and his two children, Maximiliano and Ixel, in 2013. Gabriel's children are now both PVUSD high school students, and he wants them to learn the authentic history of marginalized people. This is the reason he has joined the fight to bring back the Community Responsive Education (CRE) contract.

Maximilliano Barraza was born in Santa Cruz but moved to Watsonville when he was 4. He has been a student at PVUSD since kindergarten. He is a sophomore at PV High School and took Ethnic Studies as a freshman. He will continue studying ethnic studies this coming year. He is on the PV High basketball team and also dances Mexican Folklorico. Maximilliano became involved in the fight for the CRE contract because he wants to be taught Liberated Ethnic Studies, not some watered-down version of it.

Ixel Barraza was born in Santa Cruz but raised in Watsonville from the age of 3. She has been a student at PVUSD since kindergarten and is an incoming freshman at Pajaro Valley High School where she will be taking ethnic studies. She is an artist and dances Mexican Folklorico. She has been attending school board meetings since she was in the eighth grade because she is committed to ensuring that both she and her peers are afforded the opportunity to have the ethnic studies education that was initially agreed on by the Board of Trustees in the district.

Jo Holo received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in Chemistry and Geophysical Sciences and her Master’s from UCSC in Earth Sciences. Jo is starting a teaching credential program and Master’s of Science Education this fall at San Jose State University with a focus on social justice and equity within STEM educational practices, and she plans to become a public high school teacher in the Bay Area. As a queer, Filipina Jew, Jo is an advocate for Palestinian liberation and an active member in both Santa Cruz Jews for a Free Palestine and Palestine Solidarity Central Coast. She is committed to intersectionality, abolition, and the liberation of all people from oppression.

Eli Davies (they/them) is a CSUMB student majoring in Ethnic and Gender Studies. They are pursuing education to be of service in the mental health field, especially for low-income LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. Eli has been organizing within the LGBTQ+ community for years, specifically around creating spaces to meet the needs of folks not served by bars/nightlife, such as neurodivergent individuals and those in recovery. They have also been focusing on building outdoor gatherings during the past four years of the pandemic, hosting an outdoor monthly queer sea shanty singalong and afternoons at the archery range. Eli lives in Aptos and found out about the PVUSD ethnic studies decision in late October after an assignment at CSUMB asked students to attend/watch a city council or school board meeting. They have been attending board meetings ever since.

Bobby Pelz is an ethnic studies teacher at Watsonville High School. He is also the founder of 25Books, a program that provides free books to kids. He earned a BA in English from the University of Washington, an MA in Education from the University of San Francisco, and an MA in Education Leadership from San Jose State University. He began his career teaching at Cupertino High School before taking a break from teaching to focus on investing and philanthropy. During this time, he founded a free book giveaway program called 25Books. He has since returned to teaching and now enjoys both gifting books to kids in his district through the program and educating them when they get to WHS.