UNCENSORED — Full Text of Jonathan Guajardo’s Letter to the Baytown Sun
To The Good People of Baytown:
I have recently noticed the fire under which Dr. Salvador Cavazos and the Board of Education have been placed. Many parents/adults are unsatisfied and upset with the recent decisions Dr. Cavazos and the Board of Education have made concerning the rearrangement of school principals and the focusing of funds. I present my opinion as an adult and former student under GCCISD jurisdiction. I agree with the decisions Dr. Cavazos and the Board of Education have made full-heartedly. My name is Jonathan Guajardo. I am a student at Baylor University, graduate of Goose Creek Memorial High School, and former Head Coach of the Baytown National Hispanic Institute group.
I have spoken to many people, students included, concerning the new principal of GCM and I have only heard nothing but positive things about her. I have not heard of one single bad thing. In fact, I have heard that she loves kids; works well with staff members, and will be a great leader for Goose Creek Memorial High School. In her previous administrative life, she opened courses such as FFA, and AP Spanish, all in the setting of a junior high. She gave junior high school students the opportunity to receive college credit before they even reached high school. This administrator is topnotch and she truly deserves this position. I know she will bring nothing but greatness to GCM.
To bring in further support in favor of Dr. Cavazos I will present the magnitude of which this man has helped me, despite the fact that I have only met him a maximum of five times, all of which were brief moments. As I previously stated I am a former head coach of the Baytown National Hispanic Institute group. Now, this isn’t really an institute, in reality it is a small group of High School Students that get together to speak about issues in the Latino community to promote leadership. To clarify this group is not exclusive only to Latino’s, this group has contained and does contain members of different ethnicities, which work together in order to sharpen our debate and critical thinking skills that will prepare us for college, graduate school, and life. Every year there is a competition during the summer in Austin for the freshmen and in Georgetown for the sophomores. Juniors and Seniors teach and train the underclassmen how to debate. These competitions are costly though, about $500 for each student. My freshman and sophomore year I remember participating in fundraisers in which we were just able to scrape together enough money. Our teachers and concerned community members had to dig in their own pockets to help complete what our fundraiser could not cover. We struggled much and only managed to bring about 10 students to the competition. To truly qualify for the competition we needed 25 students. We would be able to compete but not win the cup. Then Dr. Salvador Cavazos came into the picture and funded Baytown NHI. Mind you, previous superintendents could not be bothered by our repeated pleas for assistance with this worthwhile program. That year we had over 25 students compete and a good number of them made it to the sweet 16, the top 16 teams of each category. This had never happened at this magnitude. These competitions change lives. It changed mine when I was a freshman; it made me realize that we live in a super-competitive world and if I was going to make a difference I had to work three times as hard. I can absolutely say that if it weren’t for NHI I definitely would not be at Baylor. Imagine what it will do for other kids and the current students in Baytown NHI. I humbly present myself as living proof.
I present another instance in which Dr. Cavazos helped me immensely. My senior year, unlike other students, I decided to challenge myself in order to prepare myself for college. Against my counselors advise I took 7 AP Classes and was in the Varsity Tennis Team. That year was pretty hellish, but I got through it and managed to maintain a 3.98 GPA contrary to what others had predicted. Then AP testing season came and a sudden realization hit me. Each exam costs $89. I had seven to take, which added up to $623. That was $623 that I did not have and that my family did not have. I was lucky, that year Dr. Cavazos and the Board decided to pay for every students test. I didn’t have to pay a single penny. I was overjoyed. I took the tests and was further prepared for college. I was ecstatic. Now I read that parents/adults are upset with Dr. Cavazos and the Board of Education. I present myself humbly before you today as an example of the good work Dr. Salvador Cavazos and the Goose Creek Board of Education have done for our district. Without these great men and women, I would not be where I am today. Allow me to also say that I am not the only one. Many, many more young people, such as myself, have benefited from their foresight and forward thinking. In regards to the moving of principals, I know there had to be other reasons than “just because,” as some people have mentioned. In fact, I know firsthand why one of them was moved. On that note, I implore the parents of Baytown, ask your children about their schools, their principals, their workload, what is going on in classes, all the things that one needs to know from those closest to the situation. The students know much more about the current condition of their schools than they get credit for. I know. I was in their shoes not too long ago. That is why I am speaking to you today.
In closing, I just want to reiterate my support for Dr. Salvador Cavazos and the Goose Creek School Board Members. My future would not have been so bright if it was not for them.
With my kindest regards,
Jonathan Guajardo
Get the full story on the firing of Dr. Salvador Cavasos here.
