In honor of Alisal’s 60th Anniversary, this is the third in an ongoing series of staff/alumni profiles.

Over the years, Alisal has changed tremendously. From being considered one of the worst schools in the district, to now being praised as the best high school you can attend in Salinas. 

This change wouldn’t have been possible without the help of all the previous students who came back to make a change, and Ignacio Mendez is one of the returning students who is making a huge difference here in the community.

Mendez graduated from Alisal in 1996. During his years at Alisal he was on the both the football and track and field teams for his full high school career. In football, he was a starting wide receiver for his freshman team, JV team, and was also a starter in senior year on the Varsity team. For the majority of his track and field career he ran the 100, 200, 400, 4×100, 4×400, and for the second half of his senior year he ran the 800.

During his freshman and part of his sophomore year he was a part of the school’s basketball team, but during his sophomore year he made a big decision switching from basketball to soccer for the rest of his high school career. “I was not getting any playing time, even after spending the entire summer playing with the JV team,” Mendez said. “Someone recognized me at a basketball game and asked me why I didn’t go back to soccer where I would definitely get playing time, so I did.”

What he enjoyed most about the school was that its community was very strong and that it felt at home, even with all the problems that Alisal had when he was here, “I liked the community, teachers, and students,” Mendez said. “Though the school had major issues like gangs and lack of educational opportunities, Alisal felt like home.”

After high school, Mendez attended both UC Berkeley and Harvard Graduate School of Education to receive his degrees. “I attended UC Berkeley, where I received a Bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Spanish,” Mendez said. “I then attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education where I received my Master’s in Education.”

Looking back on when he was in elementary school, Mendez started to find his path into teaching when many of his teachers started to see leadership and teaching qualities in him. “I believe my path to becoming a teacher was chosen for me in elementary school,” Mendez said. “Teachers always used to tell me that I had a future in teaching.”

Even though he always knew he was going to be a teacher, he wasn’t always certain to become an English teacher. “I originally was going to be a Math teacher, and my first job was teaching Pre-Algebra and Algebra to inner city kids in Houston,” Mendez said. “During the end of my sophomore year in college, I decided to change majors to English.” He always enjoyed reading, poetry and writing, which helped solidify him into becoming an English teacher rather than teaching math.

Mendez returned to Alisal in June 2002, teaching a summer school class, but once the new school year started he began teaching during the regular year. After being back, Mendez saw a big change from when he was here. “One of the most important [changes] is academics,” he said. “For a long time Alisal High was known for other things, not for sending kids to some of the most prestigious schools in the nation. Alisal High is now the school parents want to send their kids to school for academics.“ 

Although with these changes that he saw, something that didn’t change was the campus. “The campus looks like it did when I attended,” Mendez said. “The campus has that East Salinas feeling, a place that is home.”
Once he became a teacher at Alisal, he felt that the transition was a bit awkward at first once he started working with his old teachers. “At first it felt awkward working with teachers or coaches who had influenced my life, like Mr. Egan who was my English Honors teacher, my Spanish teacher, Mr. Saucedo, Mr. Battaglini, who was one of the freshman basketball coaches, and Ms. Albano, my CSF advisor.” Mendez said

After teaching here for 24 years, Mendez revealed what is the best part of being a teacher. “One of the most rewarding things about being a teacher is seeing students succeed and go on to accomplish their goals,” he said. “For example, there are many of my former students that are now working at Alisal High like Mr. Fernandez, Mrs. King, Mrs. Cruz, Ms. Ochoa, Mr. Grant, Mr. Ramos, and Ms. Marquez.”

Alisal over the years has always had that special spark that everyone sees in the school, and Mendez is no exception. “I believe what makes Alisal special to me is the community, parents, staff and the students,” he said. “At Alisal you are treated like family by everyone.”