On the CCHS campus there is a place where conversey is needed to keep the classroom curriculum running. Mr. Garibay, a first year teacher, has became a well-known inspiration not just in his classroom full of students (E121) , but also around the community. Student, Celia Osuna, even said that out of all the electives she could have taken she decided to take Ethnic Studies. Even though it is early in the the Semester, students have already learned a lot. Valerie Rodriguez said she “learned how to place certain things and how to name them” regarding our community.

The students curriculum involves race, ethnicity, discrimination, racism, prejudice, identity, and stereotypes. In order to show their identity, Garibay is making the students draw pictures on a Mandala that represent them. This is to help the with an autobiographical essay that they will be typing. The essay will reflect on their race, ethnicity, and culture that shapes their identity. The class itself presents an interdisciplinary study of the U.S. through the social justice lens. Students identify their roles and identities in their communities as it relates to intersectionality and in society as a whole. Garibay’s main goal is for his students to use YPAR (Youth-led Participatory Action Research). This is an opportunity for students to engage their leadership, critical thinking, problem-solving, service learning, and strategic-thinking skills.

Even though Garibay uses this curriculum he also uses other means to teach his students about the real world. One day each student was told to write down the meanest and nicest thing someone has even said to them and to keep it anonymous. Garibay then took the papers and put them into a bag and shook it. He then took a balloon and said “Each time I pick a mean thing out of this bag I will blow air into this balloon but something nice gets pulled out I will deflate the balloon.” He then proceeded to pull out cards and by the time he was done the balloon was very big. Garibay then stated that “This balloon represents a person and that anything you say to someone can affect them. At any point someone could just…POP!”

This affected a lot of students and changed the way they viewed others. The main goal to take away from Ethnic Studies is to take what you have learned in the classroom and to apply it to your life. Overall the class is inspirational and controversial and is protected by a warm environment. From the walls decorated with student art, black power poster, Frida, Malcolm X and more significant people who helped shaped the U.S. to the Tupac music that circulates through the air, Ethnic Studies is a safe place.