At John C. Fremont High School STEAM Magnet in hardscrabble South Central Los Angeles, students face an uphill battle against social and economic hardship, with neighborhood violence sometimes seeping onto campus.
This school year, Fremont High has experienced security-related lockdowns on an almost monthly basis, including an incident at the beginning of the year in which a gun was found in a student’s backpack.
But Marisol Pérez, who has taught at Fremont for more than a decade, said students at the school can find their way out of the concrete jungle through the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
Perez is a retired Coast Guard veteran who served as an active duty technician for eight years before becoming a teacher. Perez knows from personal experience the value of education and the power of following your dreams.
Now Perez has made it her life’s mission to equip her students with the tools to succeed in an increasingly technology-driven world.
“The United States struggles to produce enough qualified people for STEM jobs, which often leads to these positions being outsourced to other countries,” Perez says, “leading to a loss of opportunity here at home.”
In recognition of her dedication, Pérez was named the Robert & Patricia Kern Teacher of the Year in November, earning this honor through a national nomination process for excellence in STEM education.
In an interview with The 74Pérez discussed the challenges her students face in pursuing STEM fields at South Central and how investments in new STEM programs can have a significant impact.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
South Central LA can be a tough place to grow up. How does the environment there affect students’ ability to study at school?
Students come to school and say they can’t walk home late because these aren’t the kinds of areas where it’s safe to walk around.
The demographics here present unique challenges. Our students, as much as we want them to focus on their homework and their education, often have other and more immediate concerns. Unfortunately, many come from broken homes, and their concerns are far removed from those of the average student outside this community. They think about where their next meal will come from, or rush home because they have to go to work.
In my opinion, it is difficult for them to focus on academics in the same way that students in other demographics might do. The dynamics within the Black and Latino communities here are very similar: they face significant hardships to overcome. At the same time, they try to get an education and force themselves to meet the standards. They often have to work three to four times as hard to meet those expectations. It’s incredibly challenging.
What has teaching at South Central for more than a decade taught you about public schools in these communities?
I don’t think we have as many resources as we would like, and that’s usually where the struggle lies. This is a Title I school. That’s why our budgets are very low, not where they need to be. In reality, schools like ours should receive the most funding because we lack critical resources. We have a student population of approximately 1,900, most of whom have poor incomes. This is exactly where additional resources are needed.
However, when funding is distributed, it seems that it rarely reaches schools like ours. Ultimately, we fall short and do not have enough budget to maintain resources. Even for programs like this, I’ve had to spend a lot of my own money to cover the things we need. Getting an engineering degree is expensive – very expensive – and I constantly struggle to find additional funding. I have applied for grants to cover the costs of the consumables that the students use on a daily basis.
This program alone has required me to obtain additional certifications to qualify for in-state grants because the school simply does not have the money to support these types of programs. In addition to my technical background, I pursued these certifications so that I could apply for state grants and possibly secure the funds to expand the program and open more technical opportunities to the students.
Why is STEM so difficult for your students to deal with?
I have a background in STEM and I can tell you now that as a government mechanical engineer, most people don’t look like me. There are very few Latinas or women in this field. I have both under my belt – I’m a female Latina – and engineering is overwhelmingly male-dominated.
Bringing STEM programs to communities that are predominantly Black and Latino creates the opportunity to introduce something that many people may not have known about. These communities may not realize that there are excellent jobs in STEM that they too can pursue. When they see someone like me – a female Latina from their area – they can say, “She did it, so why not me?” That’s the mentality we’re trying to encourage here, that we can do it, and then there’s no excuse not to do it.
What is the school environment like for students?
When we finish our work, we have to make sure we call the parents and make sure they come to the parking lot so that our children can get home safely. If that is not possible, we will arrange transport for them. Something as simple as this may seem unnecessary to someone outside the situation, but for us it is essential.
I live just a block from the school, but even that short distance can be intimidating because our community can be a bit dangerous. However, the school itself is a safe and nurturing environment. It feels like a little oasis for the children, a place where they feel safe and at ease. But when they go home, they instinctively know that when the sun sets, they have to hurry and get there quickly.
What is your teaching philosophy?
I always tell my kids, I never want a company to hire you just because you’re a woman or because you’re a brown woman. I want them to hire you because you have the skills, because you bring something valuable to the company that they need.
I do my best here to not only teach them the necessary skills, but also to help them understand that this is not the way they should expect to be hired – and this is not the way they want to be hired . You should be hired because you are competitive and capable.
What changes do you think LAUSD should make?
LAUSD should focus more on STEM programs and allocate additional funding to them. The entire country recognizes a problem with STEM education because we are falling short compared to other countries.
We are falling short with STEM. As a result, these jobs end up being shipped to another country.
In the 21st century, with developments such as artificial intelligence, automation, electric vehicles and even potential hydrogen technologies, it is crucial to prioritize STEM education, especially since that is where our biggest global competitors are heading.
This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
