Ross Chavez Jr. spent 23 years as a teacher and a year and a half as a principal — all at Española Elementary School.
He now begins a new chapter in his life after retiring this spring.
Chavez was born and raised in Española and graduated from New Mexico State University in 1986 with a degree in business, he said. He lived in San Diego for about five years, where he worked as a human resource analyst for General Dynamics, a defense company. Then he moved back to Española and worked at human resources at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for about three years.
Initially he planned to have a career in business, Chavez said.
“It was just coincidence that I went into education,” he said.
When he started to take education classes at New Mexico Highlands University, he thought about how he could make a difference and decided he would like to try it for one year, he said.
That one year became 23.
Chavez said he earned his education license at Highlands in 1991 and then his Masters in Business Administration at Highlands in 2001.
He taught third through sixth grades and said he enjoyed fifth grade the most, because he enjoyed working with his students on the math, history and reading materials for that particular age level.
Española Elementary School is a great school, he said. The staff and principal have developed a strong community — the principal sets the school’s foundation, while other teachers provide a foundation for the next grade level ahead.
Chavez enjoys camping, riding his four-wheeler, skiing, traveling and work ingon real estate, he said. He has gone to Peru, Costa Rica and New York and has also traveled on cruise ships.
Inspired to Inspire
Chavez said he comes from a family of educators, including his uncles, his sister Lori Gonzalez and his deceased father Ross Chavez Sr.
He said his father and sister seemed to genuinely care for their students and would stay after school and grade papers late at night.
“They’d really go all out for their students,” he said.
Gonzalez taught kindergarten through sixth grade special education and homebound instruction with the public schools for 20 years, she said. After retiring, she just completed her third year at Los Niños Kindergarten Center with Title I students, which are students above or below benchmark level.
When told her brother felt inspired by her, she said, “I’m very honored that he felt that way.”
Her father also inspired her, because she saw students really liked him, she said, adding that after he died, many people would remember him and say he was a great teacher.
“I think my dad was a No. 1 inspiration on my brother and myself,” Gonzalez said.
She said she never observed her brother teaching, but always heard positive comments about him from others.
“He’s a very, very hard worker at home and in his personal life,” she said. “He puts family and God first in everything that he does. He loves his wife dearly, and they do everything together.”
Among Gonzales’ family of teachers, “We always had a lot in common, that’s for sure, around the kitchen table,” she said.
Chavez said he learned a bit from each of the jobs he held.
“I believe along the journey of life, we always take things with us,” Chavez said. “We work in certain jobs and we take things with us and it becomes who we are today.”
Chavez said students can come to school with a variety of situations. “Life can be hard for many of them, and sometimes school is that little safe zone,” he said.
He said he would play basketball with his students and try to engage them in activities they enjoyed and make it fun.
“You have to connect with them,” Chavez said. “I think that’s the first thing. They come into school, and they’re looking at you and not knowing what to expect. You start telling little jokes, and you try to inspire them, and then you have them and you can start educating them.”
He said he would remind his class they were like a family for the school year, and they needed to all work together and learn from each other.
Chavez taught brother and sister Antonio Trujillo and Ashlynn Trujillo when they were in fifth grade, the siblings said.
Now, Ashlynn Trujillo said she will be starting her third year of college at Highlands, and Antonio Trujillo said he will be starting his first year at the University of New Mexico. Both siblings are majoring in biology.
Ashlynn Trujillo said Chavez inspired her and was one of her favorite teachers.
She still continues to stay in touch with him, she said. She recently had lunch with him and his family, because his daughter is thinking of attending Highlands, and she gave his daughter advice and discussed her own experience at the University.
“When I was in his class, he was always going the extra mile,” she said.
Chavez always made an effort to know the students’ parents and care about students’ success, she said.
“What I loved most about him was he had high expectations for us,” Ashlynn Trujillo said, adding that this helped lay a foundation for high school and college.
Antonio Trujillo said Chavez created an on-task, positive learning environment and expected a lot from his students.
“People were always trying to do their best to please not only him, but themselves,” he said.
Antonio Trujillo said Chavez made learning fun with competitive games and other tactics.
“When he spoke, everyone wanted to listen,” he said.
Chavez said he hoped to make learning fun and picked up a lot of games from Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation seminars.
Antonio Trujillo said Chavez had a strong rapport with his students.
“Everybody at our school just adored him,” Antonio Trujillo said. “All the kids, everybody wanted to be in his class. He was a great teacher.”
Antonio Trujillo said Chavez helped students feel he cared about them.
Non-stop
Jeanine Martinez taught for 18 years with the Española Public Schools and met Chavez 11 or 12 years ago when they worked together at Española Elementary School, she said. She currently works at Española Valley High School. Last school year she worked as a student success specialist, and this school year, she will teach.
Calling him a master teacher, she said she learned a lot from Chavez.
“The moment he walks into his classroom, it’s just non-stop for him, and he gives as much as he can to the students and tries to get them where they need to be,” she said, adding that he reminded students they were being prepared for the next grade level.
Martinez described the environment in Chavez’ classroom as positive, loving, fun and nurturing.
She said he had a positive relationship with the staff at Española Elementary, adding she couldn’t think of a single person he did not get along with.
“He can get along with a rock if you let him,” she said with a laugh.
Of his memories of Chavez, Antonio Trujillo said, “I remember him really believing in all of us. He would treat every individual, and make them feel special. He would really show care and interest in them.”
He said Chavez taught his students they could do anything they set their minds to, which instilled confidence in them.
“He taught us about morals,” he said. “He didn’t only teach us the school curriculum, but also how to be good people.”
Words of Wisdom
Chavez said he used to tell his students anecdotes about his life and the lives of others.
“My philosophy of education is to make it fun — to make learning fun,” he said. “So I always try to inspire the students, to motivate them, to tell them real-life stories, not only of myself but about other people, movie stars or actors and how they came to be successful.”
He said he would tell his students he used to work at McDonald’s after he graduated from high school and was not planning on going to college, then he decided that he wanted something different for his life and went to college instead.
Chavez said, “I think that’s really the success — when not only you can be a good teacher, but you could be inspiring to them, you can be motivating to them, and they could know that you care.”
Little everyday sayings were also part of Chavez’ work in education.
“He didn’t just teach us academically,” Ashlynn Trujillo said. “He also taught us life lessons.”
Both she and her brother remembered one phrase Chavez would say in particular, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Antonio Trujillo said, for him, this meant negative music, movies, television and other forms of media could negatively impact someone’s life.
For Ashlynn Trujillo, this meant that people are influenced by their surroundings, and when they avoid negative situations and instead surround themselves in positivity, they are not as heavily impacted by negativity. This resonated with her as a fundamental value not to get caught up in negativity, she said.
Don’t give up
Martinez said Chavez would encourage his students not to give up and to try their best.
Chavez said he would tell his students, “I know it’s going to get hard sometimes. Math gets hard, reading gets hard. But winners never give up, and losers always quit.”
Martinez said Chavez was an inspiration to her.
“I’d always tell him, ‘I want to be you when I grow up,’” she said.
She has been in situations where she needed to put her foot down, and Chavez taught her that strength, she said.
“Even if it meant going against higher authority, he taught me to always stand for what was right and especially to defend our students,” Martinez said.
Apart from this, she said Chavez stood out when it came to his positivity and spirituality, and that helped her push herself forward on days she felt down.
“His spirituality, his positiveness, it shined,” she said. “It’s kind of that, ‘Let your light shine.’ His light did shine, and it was always very positive, and he would always tell me, ‘Don’t let anyone steal your shine,’ and it’s right.”
Looking Back
Chavez has a few hopes for the future, but also wanted to remind parents and the school board of a few things.
“Teachers are doing their best, and it’s not an easy job,” he said.
Many teachers genuinely care about their students and frequently buy their own classroom supplies, he said, adding that people respect teachers when they see their hard work.
Chavez said he suggests parents get involved, go into the classroom and ask questions about how their child is doing academically or how a parent can make the school a better place. He encourages parents to take an interest in their children, and not just for parent-teacher conferences.
He also suggests that the Española School District Board allow teachers to have more time in their classrooms to prepare for the day and be organized, as teachers tend to be more productive when they are prepared for the next day, he said.
Chavez said he enjoyed his career and feels he made a difference in many students’ lives.
“We learned together,” Chavez said. “I learned a lot of things from them, and they learned a lot of things from me. It was a two-way street. I respected them and they respected me.”
His students taught him to laugh more and not take things so seriously, he said.
He said teaching impacted his life overall.
“It (teaching) made me grateful for the things that I have, and knowing that I have the ability to enhance a student’s life, to motivate them,” Chavez said. “I’ve been using that word a lot, motivate and inspire. And that I made a difference, and they know that they can remember me as they become successful in their life and that maybe I was one of the many teachers — and again, one of the many teachers — that helped them to get to where they’re at today.”
Future of possibility
In his retirement, Chavez plans to spend more time with his family, work around the house and complete projects that have not been finished, he said. His family hopes to move to Rio Rancho someday.
He said he is also considering running for a position on the school board.
“Only God knows the future,” he said.
When asked what he will miss the most about teaching, Chavez said, “My students.”
He said he enjoyed teaching, motivating and inspiring his students.
“It wasn’t just for them, it was for me, because I enjoyed it, I got all worked up and fired up when I taught them about history and science and things of that sort — and I’m just going to miss them themselves,” he said.
Chavez enjoys seeing students out and about and hearing they are doing something successful, which could mean they are in high school or college or have a stepping-stone job, he said. He also enjoys when former students talk with teachers and compliment them or invite them to their graduation.
“It’s not the extra money, but it’s to know that they’re succeeding and they’re going places and they’re becoming,” he said.
Chavez had positive advice for anyone interested in a career in teaching.
“It’s not an easy profession,” he said. “Their heart has to be in it and to not give up when things get tough and enjoy the journey of every year and enjoy the students and have a positive attitude.”
Chavez said the career itself is satisfying and fulfilling.
“That child is right there for you to mold and shape and inspire,” he said. “You can either build them up or tear them down, and you want to build.”
Ashlynn Trujillo said Chavez deserved a happy retirement.
“I’d like to wish him the best of luck and to enjoy every moment, because he’s worked so hard and he deserves it,” she said. “Just to thank him for the impact on my life, not just on my academic career, but overall.”
Antonio Trujillo also said Chavez made a major impact on his life, and he would like to thank him for that. He said Chavez will be missed.
Martinez is not sure what road he will take, but she wishes him the best and hopes he will find happiness in whatever he decides to do.
Chavez said, “I’m very happy with all the students I taught in the past. I would like to wish that I made a difference in their lives, and I hope to see them as they go on their journey to succeed in life, and I wish them the best and to remember not to ever give up. Life is not always easy but to never give up, and I sincerely cared about each and every one of them.”