Meet Jorge Gracia, A Distinguished Educator

Jorge Gracia has been an instructor of Spanish at De Anza since 1974 and has educated generations of students with a style that is characterized by a passion for learning and a deep appreciation for the obstacles many De Anza students address in order to attend school.

"Jorge conducts his classes with great verve, eliciting smiles and laughter during grammar and vocabulary drills that might otherwise be dull and dreary. The pace of his interaction with students is swift without feeling rushed or stressful," said Judy Miner, vice president of Instruction. In addition to his outstanding instructional skills, students praise his humanity:

"I took a class with him last quarter. Because of his teaching style and personality I am taking another class with him. He is the best instructor I have had and if I could take Spanish all the way to Spanish 4 with him I would," said one student. "He has influenced my life by making me realize that I should not be ashamed to be Latino and pretend I am not of Latin descent."

Another student said he went into Jorge's Spanish 1 class not knowing a soul and quite overwhelmed by his first quarter at college. "The most significant things that this teacher conveyed to me throughout the time I had the honor of taking his courses was that Spanish is not just merely a language that many people speak, but a historically rich, elegant language we take for granted." This student also shared his personal story about being adopted from Mexico City by a white family and renamed to fit into American society. "I am eternally grateful to Jorge Gracia because he made me realize that 'being Hispanic is no less special than being Asian or Caucasian.' It may have taken 20 years, but a little nudge and a positive education by an extremely enthusiastic educator helped me to finally reconnect with the culture I came from."

Jorge has been one of De Anza's best-kept secrets because he has been content to teach to the highest standards without external recognition. "How fortunate that his students stepped forward to let us know what a treasure is in our midst!" Judy said.

Jorge explained why he chose teaching as a profession: "I have always enjoyed learning and explaining things to others. I can remember in grade school my classmates saying to one another: 'Ask Jorge. Have him explain it to you.' But more than just explaining things, I really get a surge of adrenalin when I see my students' faces light up after I have clarified a concept for them. I love it when they say, 'So that's it. Nobody had ever explained that to me like you have. It now makes sense.'"

He remembers his teaching heroes with deep fondness and great respect. "Mrs. Butter, my kindergarten teacher, used to tell us ghost stories. It was she who awakened in me a love for telling stories and for narrating anecdotes. My relatives, friends and students constantly tell me that they love to hear my stories about my travels through Mexico and Europe and about my childhood experiences on the Texas-Mexico border," he said. "Furthermore, my students assure me that they enjoy listening to my 'cultural capsules,' which deal with different aspects of Latino culture and history."

Another teaching hero dear to Jorge's heart is Maestro Felipe Aguilar, his piano teacher during junior high school in the 1950s. "He was already in his 70s, and semi-retired, when I became his student. He had taught music to several generations in my home county of Zapata, Texas. As a matter of fact, he was the only music teacher in the whole county at that time, and he agreed to take me on as his student only as a favor to my grandfather, because they were both compadres (buddies)," Jorge said. "From him, I learned the importance of discipline and repetition. To this day, I always try to implant in my students' minds the importance of mastering these two skills as an aid to learning a foreign language."

In graduate school in the 1960s, Jorge met Professor Juan Manuel Lope-Blanc from the Colegio de México in Mexico City. He was a visiting professor at Stanford University. "He was a true scholar in the field of Spanish historical linguistics, as humble as a field worker and as kind as a saint," he said. "He reaffirmed my belief that one doesn't have to be a difficult teacher in order to teach. He showed me that it is more important to explain things clearly, using many examples, and never to assume that students have understood the material presented to them, simply because it seems so obvious to the instructor. He also taught me the importance of getting feedback from students by constantly asking them questions and the importance of beginning every class session with a review of the material covered during the previous class session. He once said to me: 'Never brag to your students that you have very high standards when it comes to grading, unless you also have very high standards when it comes to teaching.' I will never forget this piece of advice."

Not all of his teaching heroes were "professionals." Jorge's maternal grandfather, José Rangel, unintentionally forced him to learn to read Spanish. While growing up, Jorge's schooling was in English, but at home the family spoke only Spanish. So, as a child he was fluent in Spanish, but could neither read nor write it. "My grandfather, who could never find his eyeglasses, needed someone to read to him the Mexican newspapers and magazines, which he constantly bought," Jorge shared. "He volunteered me for the task, and I remember saying to him: 'But, Grandfather, I can't read the newspapers to you because I don't know how to read Spanish!' His answer was: 'That's nonsense. You certainly can. If you can read English, you can read Spanish. Reading is reading.' So, using English as a frame of reference, I taught myself how to read Spanish by trial and error."

As for his own teaching, Jorge said that age and experience have made him more comfortable with his subject matter, and he doesn't set impossible goals anymore. "I refuse to advance to another concept if I feel that my students need to work more on the concept(s) being covered at the moment. To me, learning the material is more important than finishing the chapter by a certain date."

"I want to impart to my students: the idea that we are all students and that we are all teachers at the same time. I teach you and you teach me. I learn from you and you learn from me. Also, that you will learn only if you want to. Knowledge will not enter a closed mind," he said. "Once you develop a love for learning, it will continue to grow throughout the rest of your life. Material possessions might come and go, but the knowledge you have amassed in your brain is yours to keep."

Jorge chose an autographed copy of Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" as his award from Judy.