A unique thing about Alisal High School is how many people who once attended Alisal, come back to either teach or have an administrative role. That goes for English Learner Specialist, Estella Gutierrez who is an Alisal alumnus. She is a former social studies teacher who graduated from Alisal in 1991.

During high school, she was a part of different clubs and a sports team. “I was part of leadership, I was the junior class president and senior class president,” Gutierrez said. “I was also a bench warmer for softball.” 

She was also a part of a club called Close Up which was a club that fundraised and took trips to different places. “At the time that I went to Close Up, it was just Washington DC and because everything’s so close back east, we did go to Virginia,” she said.

Gutierrez attended Fresno State her freshman year of college. She majored in Criminal Justice and then transferred over to San Diego State, which is where she graduated from. 

During her senior year in San Diego State, she had taken field trips to different prisons. “It was a prison tour, and basically we were in San Diego and we would spend a week touring prisons all the way from San Diego, all the way up north to Pelican Bay,” she said. 

Seeing all the prisons, she realized that wouldn’t want to work in criminal justice. “It was just so challenging, emotionally draining and it was just heartbreaking to see,” she said. “I was close to getting my degree in criminal justice, but I realized then that if I went into criminal justice I don’t know how much I would be helping others.”

She decided in her spring break of senior year that she wanted to change from working in criminal justice to teaching. 

Since she studied criminal justice, she needed to take some more courses. “I needed to take 9 additional courses to be able to be certified to teach social studies,” she said. “I did have to go back as a graduate student and take these undergrad social studies classes.”

Gutierrez’s first teaching position was at El Sausal as an opportunity teacher in the summer of 2001. She then transferred from El Sausal to Alisal High School in 2005 as a social studies teacher. 

Due to a promotion in 2015, she transferred to Harden Middle School to become an administrator. She returned to Alisal in 2021 because the administrative role was very stressful and she needed to take a step down. 

In the years since she attended, many things about the school have changed. Gutierrez feels that technology has changed a lot at Alisal and it has impacted the way kids relate to each other. “Technology has had a positive impact in the sense that we have a lot more information at our fingertips,” she said. “I think a negative aspect of it is because it’s really limiting in the way young people navigate life and socialize and it’s hindering communication skills.”

As for the school, she believes that the school spirit has been decreasing over the years. “Unfortunately, I feel like in terms of the spirit that we used to have and the participation in some of the events, you know, Friday rallies, dances, we used to have all kinds of lunch activities,” she said. “We see elements or pockets of it throughout the year, but it’s not like a weekly thing.”

When she was a student at Alisal, she had many teachers that she liked, but one who stood out was Mary Smathers. She stood out because she was someone who made her want to become a teacher. “She was my U.S. History teacher and she is now a published author,” she said. “I think she was definitely someone who had an impact on me.”

Gutierrez believes that Alisal is very special because of the students and staff. “Alisal is special because of the students,” she said. “We have the most respectful, caring, humble kids who work hard to make their family proud. The staff is also pretty special [because] we have a significant number of alumni who come back to serve and to help make a difference in our community.”