Many Latino students at Paso Robles High School have a Mexican background and are Michoacanos. A term which refers to people who come from the Mexican state of Michoacan. PRHS has Latinos from the state of Michoacan, and the entirety of Mexico, and Latinos from many other Latin countries as well. 57% of students at PRHS are of Latino/Hispanic descent.
Young people need someone to look up too, trust, and to teach them good morals. Someone who supports and teaches them what matters: Alba Cazares, a Spanish 3, 4, and ELD teacher. Just like many students she is also from Michoacan, Mexico. Many students can connect to that aspect of herself because perhaps their parents or even themselves are proud Michoacanos. They can find comfort in someone who shares the same background as them and tries to get more representation to Latino students in PRHS. She tries her best to make her students always feel included and let it be known they belong somewhere.
Her decorated classroom reflects her bubbly and outgoing personality, she attempts to create a safe space where any student can feel welcome on campus. Junior, Elizabeth Vega Vargas comments on Sra. Cazares’ classroom by saying, “I believe Sra. Cazares does a very good job giving Latino representation at our school and even includes this in her classroom.” She herself states that she’s very chatty, “I also talk a lot so they can find someone that they can trust in school.” Cazares said. To try and spread the Latino culture around campus, this year on the day of the dead she set up an extravagant ofrenda that caught the eye of many students. It definitely had some students buzzing about the day of the dead.
PRHS currently has things that Latino students currently familiarize with, we have M.E.c.h.A club, an occasional baile, and many foods of Latin origin served at our lunches and nutrition. For example foods like conchas, pupusas, and burritos. This is for all of the student body, not just students who identify as Latino. These things connect all of us as students, sharing the authentic culture of where we come from can bring people to enjoy it even more. Vega acknowledges that she is one of the only Spanish teachers at PRHS who covers topics of Latin history. When the M.E.c.h.a club spirit week was brought up Cazares said, “I love the music. I was dancing by myself for a while, but I think it’s because our students feel shy, and maybe they’re not used to showcasing our cultures and our different traditions. So I think that perhaps as we go along and we embrace our culture, others can also embrace our cultures and our traditions.” She believes that nobody should ever be ashamed of their culture or where they come from, but instead should proudly express and share it with the people around.
