SUSD Ethnic Studies

The 2026 SUSD Ethnic Studies Summer Institute brought together teachers from across subject areas, school sites, and grade levels for five days of professional learning guided by a rotating team of SUSD Ethnic Studies Teacher Leads. Each day was grounded in strategies and frameworks applicable to any classroom and any subject area.

This institute would not be possible without the heart work of: Mr. Sorby, Ms. Mitchell, Coach Lee, Mr. Torres, Mr. Sanidad, Coach Joy, Mr. Sandoval, Mr. Khan, Mr. Rojas, Ms. Calderon, Mr. Trinh, Ms. Schumacher, Mr. Lazaro, and Mr. Gonzalez. Their pedagogy, passion, and commitment are transforming our classrooms, schools, and city.

Our 2nd Annual SUSD Ethnic Studies Summer Institute has come to a close. Thank you to Tonya Jowers and Megan Wirzberger of The Edible Schoolyard Project Stockton | Boggs Tract, Destiny Rivas and Dino Wilson of the SUSD Native American Indian Center, Erwin Mina and June Bond of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) National Museum, SUSD Board President Sofia Colón and Dr. Nancy Huante-Tzintzun of NOPAL Stockton, and Sovanna Koeurt, Sothea Ung, and David Daraseng of the Asian Pacific Self-Development and Residential Association (APSARA) for sharing their knowledge and expertise across five days of learning and community connection. A truly community-based Ethnic Studies program is one that is centered in and responsive to the communities it serves — and in Stockton, our communities are our greatest asset.

Franklin High School’s Freshmen MYP Intro to Ethnic Studies students held their First Annual Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) Showcase — and the room was filled with thought-provoking projects from students taking action and making change as experts of their own community.

Thank you to Franklin’s incredible staff for their support, and a special thank you to our teachers who guided students through every step of this process: Mr. Sandoval, Mr. Rojas, Ms. Salas, and Ms. Schumacher. This work doesn’t happen without you.

Thank you to Mr. Pinkham, SUSD History/Social Science Curriculum Specialist, for continuously championing Ethnic Studies and leading SUSD’s work toward students earning the State Seal of Civic Engagement.

And thank you to our superintendent, Dr. Rodriguez, for always showing up, engaging directly with our students, and making them feel seen and supported.

Our educators and students are doing transformative work — and our entire community and city will only benefit from it.

Introducing the 2nd Annual SUSD Ethnic Studies Summer Institute! As SUSD Ethnic Studies works to honor the legacy and promise of the BSU-led Third World Liberation Front and the 1968 Student Strike, we will be grounding each day in community — centering local spaces, leaders, and voices. Each day we will begin with a community session at different community spaces throughout the week, and will then reconvene for continued professional development. We are excited to build alongside our community!

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SUSD Ethnic Studies teachers gathered in Berkeley, CA — on the ancestral homeland of the Ohlone People — for the Seeds of Native Knowledge: Culturally Sustaining Teaching Institute, where educators were introduced to the California Native American Studies Model Curriculum.

Learning the history of California’s Native American and Indigenous peoples is essential — and so is honoring and celebrating their enduring legacy as stewards of this land. That responsibility doesn’t belong to Ethnic Studies alone. Native American Indian Studies is an interdisciplinary field that deserves a home across all subject areas and disciplines — in science, math, language arts, and beyond.

We are especially proud that our very own SUSD Ethnic Studies and Native American Indian Studies piloting teacher, Mr. Torres, is a curriculum developer for the California Native American Studies Model Curriculum. His work is helping shape how the state of California teaches this history.

Thank you to facilitators Dr. Stacey Block and Professor Nicole Lim for leading this important institute and for their dedication to culturally sustaining education.

Explore the California Native American Studies Model Curriculum:
camodelcurricula.ucdavis.edu/native-american-studies

Explore the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center’s Math Interwoven Curriculum — integrating Native history into math lessons across grade levels:
cimcc.org/curricula/math-interwoven/

Last night our SUSD Mexican American History teachers packed Room B133 at Edison High with educators, students, and community members — coming together to celebrate a course that is reshaping how history is taught in Stockton.

Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Torres, Mr. Sorby, Ms. Samuels, Ms. Calderon, and Mr. Rojas shared what this course is truly about: the full, unfiltered story of Mexican American people — from the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica, through Spanish colonization and resistance, the Mexican-American War, the first waves of immigration north, World War II, and the Chicanx Movement of the 1960s and 70s. Lessons are grounded in the California History-Social Science Framework — because Chicanx American Studies is American History, and this course is powerful for every student, not just Mexican American students.

Students develop historical thinking skills, write research essays, lead seminars, create murals, and engage in Youth Participatory Action Research to achieve the state’s Seal of Civic Engagement. They study the Bracero Program, the Zoot Suit Riots, housing segregation in Stockton’s Barrio del Chivo, and the student walkouts that demanded change at schools like Edison and Franklin in 1969 — including calls for Ethnic Studies and staff representative of the student population.

This course started in 2021 with a simple but powerful goal: for students to see themselves in the classroom, to feel pride, and to feel like they can make a difference.

And it paved the way for more. The SUSD Mexican American History course is our first Integrated Ethnic Studies course — opening the door to Native American Indian Studies, Black & African American Studies, Filipino American Studies, Art & Ethnic Studies, Asian American Studies, Ethnic Studies ELA 10, and AP African American Studies.

Stockton Unified is leading the way with transformative, community-centered, and community-responsive course offerings. We encourage families across Stockton to send their students our way — so that they may learn not only about themselves, but about all of our city’s communities and their contributions to the state and country.

Franklin High School’s Freshman MYP Ethnic Studies students are taking center stage at their First Annual YPAR Showcase!

YPAR — Youth Participatory Action Research — is a research methodology that positions young people as the authors of their own community’s story. Rather than having research done about them, students exercise their agency as experts of their own communities and lived experiences — naming the questions, gathering the evidence, analyzing the data, and building real action-oriented solutions to the issues that hit closest to home. When students are trusted as researchers, thinkers, and agents of change, their work becomes a catalyst for critical and transformational outcomes.

This year, Franklin’s freshman class took that charge seriously — digging into critical local issues, conducting rigorous research, and developing solutions rooted in the lived realities of their communities. Come celebrate what they’ve built and hear directly from the next generation of our community’s scholars!

Date: May 20th & May 22nd, 2026
Time: 8:30AM – 3:30PM
Location: Franklin High School Media Center

“Our Voices. Our Research. Our Community. Our Future.”

Congratulations to Coach Joy, Ms. Mitchell, and Ms. Calderon on their acceptance into the Transformative Action in Education EdD program at !

Less than 1% of Stockton’s population holds a doctorate — and that number is even smaller for Women of Color. These three are proudly defying those odds. As future Doctors of Education, they won’t just be adding letters after their names. They will be bringing world-class expertise back into our schools, into our classrooms, and into the lives of Stockton students who deserve to be taught by the very best.

When our teachers rise to this level, our students see what’s possible. Our schools get stronger. Our community gets lifted. And our city moves forward.

Stockton is proud of you, Coach Joy, Ms. Mitchell, and Ms. Calderon. Go get those doctorates!

Congratulations to Mr. Lazaro, Mr. Sorby, and Mr. Sandoval on their acceptance into the Master of Arts in Ethnic Studies program at !

Stockton, our students, and our community are the ones who benefit when our teachers grow. Our three phenomenal educators will continue becoming scholars and experts in the field and discipline of Ethnic Studies, deepening their knowledge and bringing it back to classrooms across our city! When they level up—Stockton levels up.

We are so proud!

Stockton Unified School District Ethnic Studies cordially invites you to learn more about our district’s Mexican American History course. On Tuesday, May 5th, 2026, from 5:30–6:30 PM at Edison High School, Room B-133, we will be hosting a community meeting to learn more about the course, curriculum, and its meaningful impact on our district and city. The presentation will be facilitated by our Mexican American History teachers.

To attend, please RSVP using the provided QR code or at tinyurl.com/mahsusd26. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Gustavo Gonzalez, the Mexican American History course founding teacher, at [email protected], or Aldrich Limpin Sabac, SUSD Ethnic Studies Curriculum Specialist, at [email protected]. We hope to be in your presence!

With respect,
Gustavo Gonzalez, Edison High School
Marco Rojas, Franklin High School
Cristapher Torres, Stagg High School
Cecilia Calderon Vazquez, Chavez High School
CJ Sorby, Health Careers Academy
Aldrich Limpin Sabac, Curriculum & Professional Development