Hollister
– This week will likely be a memorable one for all newly elected
school board members being sworn in, but for Hollister School
District Trustee Bea Gonzales-Ramirez, the event will be just a
little more special.
Hollister – This week will likely be a memorable one for all newly elected school board members being sworn in, but for Hollister School District Trustee Bea Gonzales-Ramirez, the event will be just a little more special.
“I’m so pleased to be able to serve this school district,” she said.
As a former educator and longtime Hollister resident, Gonzales-Ramirez appears to be a natural choice for a school trustee. But she has faced many challenges to get where she is today.
“I was one of 10 children,” she said. “We didn’t have a whole lot financially, but our family wanted to be a part of the community.”
Though she would go on to be an educator herself, Gonzales-Ramirez said she did not always hold education in such high regard. At the end of her sophomore year, she dropped out of San Benito High School and at first had no intention of returning.
“I was a teenager; I thought I knew everything and wanted to get out into the workforce,” she said. “I figured out pretty quick that I actually didn’t know anything. But I did know I needed my education.”
Gonzales-Ramirez re-enrolled, not at SBHS but at San Andreas continuation school, where she says a nurturing staff, including Principal Mike Sanchez, helped her turn her life around.
“They really helped me find my sense of self and what I wanted to do. The lessons I learned there have stayed with me,” she said.
Sanchez says he was particularly impressed with Gonzales-Ramirez’ attitude when she first came to San Andreas.
“She had a very cheery attitude and a positive aura; that’s what really sticks out in my mind,” he said. “If you grow up in a big family, you’re bound to develop some good people skills. She was always very focused on getting her education, and she still has that same personality.”
After only a semester, Gonzales-Ramirez was able to make up her deficient credits and re-enroll at SBHS, and she was able to graduate with the rest of her class.
Shortly after graduating, Gonzales-Ramirez gave birth to her first child, and put her education on hold to raise her children and be the best mom possible.
“I still knew I wanted to get my degree,” she said. “My teachers had always encouraged me to go to college, and that drive stayed with me.”
Eventually, she did return, and was a member of the first graduating class at CSU Monterey Bay. She was honored with the chance to speak at the university’s dedication ceremony on Labor Day 1995, along with Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, Sen. Barbara Boxer and President Bill Clinton. In 2001 she completed her law degree, as well.
“It was absolutely unreal,” she said. “And I’m up there next to the president looking out at this sea of people, and guess whose face I see right up near the front? Mike Sanchez is giving me a big thumbs up.”
Gonzales-Ramirez was active in the local education community for many years, teaching at Heald College and substituting for local schools, including San Andreas.
“Being able to go back and sub was really a great experience,” she said. “It hadn’t changed – all the teachers were still there and working very hard for the students. I like working with those students because I don’t need to go easy on them, but I can respect them.”
Gonzales-Ramirez ran uncontested for a HSD school board seat this fall, and was told she could pick anyone to swear her in. Sanchez, she says, was the first person that came to mind.
“I’m so thrilled to do this and I’m so happy for Bea and her family,” he said. “To be able to see a student stand next to the President of the United States, and then to come back and be a Hollister School District Trustee, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
