Written By:
EVHS Students - Nisa Keshwani, Sophia Zhang
Quimby Oak Students - Sophia Cerbo, Elaine Tran, Helin Trinh, Gianna Vala
On June 1st, two new monuments created by local artist Ramon Franco were unveiled at San Jose’s History Park. Funded by a 30k grant awarded by the San Jose city government, Franco’s creations were inspired by exhibits created by Quimby Oak Middle School’s Lobo School of Innovation (LSI) students. The LSI students worked on the project called, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” in partnership with San Jose History Park.
Last April, 7th-grade LSI students were asked to spotlight people or groups that made major contributions to San Jose by building and presenting an exhibit. Out of the 36 original projects, two were selected by the city government to have permanent monuments installed. The first group, consisting of (Helen Trinh, Cecilia Nguyen, Samantha Mai, Sophia Cerbo, Isabella Wong) advocated for Lee's Sandwiches and the second group (Naliah Lomax, Elaine Tran, Naveen Gahir, Truc Lai) advocated for Janet Gray Hayes.
From left to right: San Jose city council member David Cohen, Evergreen Elementary School District trustee Dr. Stan Rose, Samantha Mai, Cecilia Nguyen, Helen Trinh, Isabella Wong, and city council member Domingo Candelas stand at the unveiling of the Lee’s Sandwhiches inspired monument.
Elaine Tran, Truc Lai, Naliah Lomax, and Naveen Gahir stand from left to right at the unveiling of the Janet Gray Hayes lighthouse.
“Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” led by 7th grade Language Arts teacher Kyle Trinidade and 7th grade World History teacher Christopher Rivas has consistently been a project that LSI’s 7th graders undertook. Each specific rendition has, however, been slightly different: a past version called “Visit San Jose” asked for students to make promotional materials for San Jose tourism. Regardless, each year, the project has aimed to help students better understand San Jose's history.
At the same time, it was only last year that the partnership with History Park was formed. Under encouragement to “go big” or expand their “community outreach,” as Trinidade told the Cougar Chronicles, Rivas emailed History Park hoping to collaborate, and History Park responded positively.
“It was like the stars aligned,” Trinidade said. Apparently History Park, after their long-term closing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, also wanted to do and hold more exhibitions. At the same time, History Park staff let Trinidade and Rivas know that the city was looking for options to replace statues of unpopular and older historical figures that had been vandalized during the pandemic.
Ultimately, as History Park’s Director of Education Monica Pelayo Locke detailed, their “primary goal was to teach students research skills and give them the ability actively engage in history. And that, as far as Trinidade considered, “was the aim that we were trying to go for anyway.”
Cecilia Nguyen, a current 8th grader at LSI, helped pioneer one of the winning projects last year. Nguyen's group chose to spotlight the business Lee's Sandwiches, a shop founded by Vietnamese immigrants. The motivation behind this was to represent their own culture, as the students themselves are Vietnamese.
Lee's Sandwiches was started in San Jose and one of the first restaurants to expose San Jose to Vietnamese culture and food. According to Nguyen, they “wanted to show the timeline of Lee’s Sandwiches and how it was made." In their exhibition, Nguyen’s group showcased key components of the restaurant via a scaled-down replica of the original food truck, a cutout of the founder, Chieu Le. They also passed out complimentary free Vietnamese coffee from Lee’s Sandwhiches for visitors to try.
Students of the Lee’s Sandwhiches group presenting their project and model of the shop at History Park, last year.
Reflecting on this experience, Nguyen emphasized that building their exhibit pieces was what stuck out most to her about the project, describing the process as “a lot of fun.”
This sentiment was echoed by Naliah Lomax, part of the second winning project that secured the city grant for the installation, whose favorite part was also exhibit construction. Lomax cites her experience with the “Do You Know the Way to San Jose Project” as having significantly contributed to her love for hands-on work and desire to pursue related opportunities in the future.
Lomax and her group’s project focused on highlighting the achievements of Janet Gray Hayes, the first female mayor of San Jose. Lomax explained that their installation centered around a captivating spiral staircase, with each step representing one of Hayes' accomplishments in breaking the theoretical glass ceiling.
"We chose the spiral staircase because we wanted to create a visual representation of Janet Gray Hayes' journey and her contributions to San Jose," Lomax shared. The staircase featured written descriptions of each accomplishment, accompanied by pictures showcasing Hayes' impactful work.
Students of the Janet Gray Hayes project and the spiral staircase presenting at History Park in 2022.
Prior to the “Do You Know the Way to San Jose Project,” Lomax explained that she and her friends had “never even heard of Hayes,” despite Hayes having “really done a lot,” from reducing urban sprawl to campaigning for traffic lights near schools. As such, Lomax’s project was born out of her belief that Hayes “deserved a lot more recognition for what she did.”
Ultimately though, Lomax aims not only for others to take away Hayes’s accomplishments from her group’s exhibit, but to also “inspire other people to do the same” and impact San Jose positively.
Both the Lee’s Sandwiches and Janet Gray Hayes groups were made aware of their winner status and the city’s 30,000 grant to construct permanent installations based on their work at the start of this school year, during an all-hands LSI meeting. Nguyen described the moment as being filled with “cheering and clapping,” and Lomax similarly as “very exciting and fun.”
Franco’s finished statues on Hayes and Lee’s Sandwiches are located in History Park. Both groups attended the June 1st inauguration of the statues, celebrating their accomplishments and marking the lasting impact of their subjects on the San Jose community.
On the same day of the unveiling, the current LSI 7th graders presented their self-made interactive plaques at History Park for this year's “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” project. According to Locke, student videos and narratives will continue to be on display throughout the rest of the June at History Park, accessible via built-in audio qr codes and a google site. She reminds students of the possibilities history can open up.
“Remember, it’s never too late to be invested in your community,” Locke said. “History is a great avenue for civic engagement!
Comments