In honor of Alisal’s 60th Anniversary, this is the 10th in an ongoing series of staff/alumni profiles.

Alisal High has always been immersed in the culture of the school’s primarily Latino population, which is highlighted by the Baile Folklorico classes. Following Ramon Silva’s departure from the Folklorico program, the school needed someone to fill in the large legacy he had cemented. The school tasked Alisal alum Oscar Benavidez to fill in the shoes Silva once wore. “Coming back, I knew that I had to continue sustaining the great program Alisal had,” he said.

Benavidez graduated from Alisal in 2014. His time as a student was highlighted by his major involvement in the community as he was an active member of Link Crew, Library Guild, cheer, and the band, where he played trombone. He said he always knew that he wanted to teach, having major experience in his tenure working with migrant students, and tutoring students in his time at Alisal as a student. 

Though he was an avid member in all of these programs, he found that being in cheer definitely outshined the others. “Being part of the team and having the coaches I did, taught me the discipline that is needed to be a performer,” he said. The discipline Benavidez learned through cheer, he was able to apply it to Baile here at Alisal.“When I was here I really enjoyed dancing, and I didn’t know that years later I was gonna come back and take the program.”

After graduation, he earned an associate degree in liberal arts with emphasis in performing arts from Hartnell. Following his graduation, Benavidez was an avid member of Baile in the Folkloriko Group at Hartnell College as the Artistic Director, before transferring to San Jose State.

Though teaching Baile at a studio inspired him to go into a teaching position, he didn’t start teaching high school. Benavidez didn’t know which age group he wanted to teach, so he started off teaching with elementary level students from 2014 to 2019. “I worked at an elementary school, and I don’t think it was for me, seeing the same students all day,” Benavidez said. “Nonetheless it was nice, finding out that I wanted to work with students.”. 

He expanded his passion in dance following his tenure in elementary level children, through his time working at a Folklorico Dance Studio in 2020. “I started working at a Folkloriko studio and teaching [baile], and I knew it was for me,” Benavidez said. 

His experience with elementary level children, and working at a Folklorico studio gave him the desire to teach at the high school level. Once he was sure that teaching Baile was for him, he knew he wanted to earn his teaching credential at SJSU. 

This goal would not come easily for Benavidez since getting support for the EdTPA, a portfolio assessment to measure readiness in the field of teaching, was difficult, as he was the first person focusing their project on Mexican Folklorico dance. “Proudly, I overcame this challenge, and I have been giving back by helping other credential candidates throughout the state who also want to teach folklorico,” he said. Benavidez, knowing he had limited support, was able to overcome this obstacle by applying himself towards doing as good as possible on his project, earning his teaching credential in May, 2021.

Perhaps by fate, Ramon Silva retired in 2020, when Benavidez was finishing up in school. Since there was an opening for the program at Alisal, and Benavidez had been highly encouraged to apply for the job by Ramon Silva himself, he chose to apply for the position in the summer of 2021. Once he went through the interview process, Benavidez was offered the position and he began leading the Baile program at Alisal.

He returned to his alma mater when Alisal returned from online school in August of 2021, to pursue his passion as an educator and in dance. “My first day of work in 2021 was when I ultimately decided I made the right decision,” Benavidez  said.

Benavidez prides himself in returning as a teacher. He views this role as continuing the support he once received in his time at Alisal. “I get to come to work and remind myself that I worked very hard to be here,” Benavidez said. He is happy that he is able to “provide a great education to [his] students” and he hopes his former teachers felt the same way.

The adjustment was a little strange, since he had to go from being a student, to being a colleague, as many of his former teachers still worked at Alisal. “At first, it was really weird, coming back and seeing a lot of the teachers that I had,” he said. 

Benavidez credits his former tutoring experience with tutoring within the district, into making the transition more seamless. “The training I had prior to coming here really helped me,” he said. “I was part of a program called California Mini-Corps, where we worked with migrant students, and I found that I really enjoy working with students.” He feels he had a more maturely established relationship with his teachers through this tutoring experience and time as a Student Aide. “I tutored at the same school that I went to so a lot of my teachers were essentially my colleagues.”

Though it’s been over a decade since he graduated, he believes that the school remains relatively the same. He has seen Alisal’s development over the last decade, and believes that though the staff at Alisal comes and goes, the culture will always remain.

He hopes to continue and further the established culture of success here at Alisal by demonstrating his compassion and care for his students. Alisal has been a very special place to him and has provided him with the opportunity to come back and serve the community through the arts. “The reason Alisal is special to me is because it is where I found my voice,” he said.