In honor of Alisal’s 60th Anniversary, this is the 16th in an ongoing series of staff/alumni profiles.

From student to teacher, math teacher Pedro Ramirez-Maldonado has stayed connected to the Trojan family as a way of giving back to the community. 

He was born in Salinas, California, and comes from a background of parents who worked in the fields and coolers. “Fortunately, they were usually home after school, so I was not alone.” Ramirez said. 

As a student, Ramirez was involved in Mathletics and chemistry competitions, and he was also a part of baile folklorico. In those activities he earned many awards like taking first place in a chemistry competition at CSUMB. “The highlights for me were definitely the baile performances and competing in academic events,” Ramirez said. 

Struggling to fit in with the rest of the students was difficult for Ramirez, since most of his middle school friends decided to take the wrong path, which made it hard for him to find a sense of belonging. “During my freshman and sophomore years, many of my middle school friends became involved in gangs and began glorifying that lifestyle,” Ramirez said. “However, things changed my junior year when I found a group of friends who shared the same interests.”

But once he found connections who shared similar interests, it encouraged him to take challenging classes and helped him perform better in baile folklorico. For Ramirez, folklorico was a place where he wouldn’t be surrounded by academics. “It was the first experience that made me genuinely proud to be of Mexican origin” he said. 

Upon graduating in 2009, he attended UC Davis and graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s in Math and a minor in economics. During his time at UC Davis he was a part of the Chicane community and also helped STEM majors with math. “Teaching others strengthened my understanding of materials,” Ramirez said. 

Later on, he attended NYU to pursue a master’s in math and graduated in 2016. At NYU, he had a different experience compared to UC Davis. Of course, moving far away from his family brought along many challenges and conversations with his parents, which at some point he was against moving farther away. Fortunately for Ramirez, he completed a semester earlier and got to move back home earlier, but it made him not attend his walk at graduation. “Ultimately, I chose to step out of my comfort zone,” he said. “I loved every minute of that experience, it expanded my worldview and strengthened my independence.” 

Making a difference in his community played a huge role in what he wanted as a career. His plan originally was to teach at the community college level. But his ultimate goal was to help the youth by giving them a second chance. “However, I quickly realized how competitive full-time community college positions were, and I needed a backup plan,” Ramirez said. 

Once he moved back home from NYU, he taught part-time at Hartnell and he tutored on the side. Tutoring helped him realize that he could do so much more for the community and many of his high school students motivated him to teach high school. “I wanted to connect those two worlds and provide support before students got off track,” he said. 

He gave high school a shot, however it wasn’t how he expected it, therefore, he left after a quarter. Once he stepped out of high school teaching, he tried out the private sector where he worked full time and also part time at Hartnell and MPC. 

Over time, he felt unsatisfied working in the private sector and often found himself missing the classroom. “By then, I also had a more realistic understanding of what high school teaching required,” Ramirez said. 

Now he works at both Alisal and Alvarez as a math teacher. He is doing Pre Calc/Trigonometry as a dual enrollment course for students, which allows them to get high school credits as well as college credits. He also has an afternoon statistics class at Hartnell and is hoping to be able to teach statistics during the summer as well for high school students. “When dual enrollment was introduced at Alisal, I immediately volunteered,” Ramirez said. “I was surprised to learn I was one of the few qualified to teach those courses, but I have truly enjoyed bridging high school and college.”

Moving back to Salinas, he found that the habit of running was shared amongst many teachers at Alisal. Ramirez’s running habit was found while he was studying at UC Davis. It began as a challenge, inspired by an article about a person with a prosthetic leg running an 8-minute mile. Surprisingly, Ramirez ran a mile in less than 8-minutes, which sparked something in him to start his journey on running.

He has trained with Mr. Rojas and Mr. Iturbe to run the Salinas Half Marathon, which was his first ever half marathon, and then later on the LA Marathon which was his first marathon. Running has helped him build a community amongst himself. 

Currently, he runs as a regular part of his routine and is currently training to run the Big Sur Marathon. “Overall, running has become a way for me to temporarily step away from my responsibilities and focus on simply moving forward,” Ramirez said. “It’s had a significant impact on my life, especially during times when I’ve needed clarity and balance.”

Working with teachers who were once his teachers is awkward for him. While they are now his co-workers, they still play the role of teacher and student. For instance, Ramirez seeks out to Mata (Math teacher) for math help.  “Regardless of our status as co-workers, I still see them as my teachers,” Ramirez said. “I still find myself seeking them out for advice, and in those moments, it truly feels like  I am still their student.”

He thinks the most noticeable changes at Alisal is the overall sense of safety and belonging at the campus. During his time there, he remembers the students more involved in gangs. Now he believes the students no longer face the same initial struggles that were once common. “I don’t see the student body glorifying gang culture as much as they used to,” Ramirez said. According to Ramirez, the campus feels more connected than it did in the past, with students connecting more with one another. 

For Ramirez, Alisal is not important for the campus itself, but the students who make it whole. He believes to share a connection with the students, since they come from the same community he grew up in and face many of the same struggles he once did. The connection is what creates a purpose in his work and the students are what define the school. “If the demographics of Alisal ever changed, it wouldn’t feel the same to me,” he said. “The students are what make Alisal and this job special to me.” 

Updated 4/27 @ 2:14 pm