What drives someone to leave a stable corporate career at age 33 to teach first graders in one of LA's toughest neighborhoods? For Gilbert Estrada, it was a journey that began with his own childhood experience of "Americanization" – moving from a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood to a more affluent area where he first glimpsed different possibilities for his future.
Growing up with parents who valued education but had no college experience themselves, Gilbert navigated his path without a roadmap. When an East LA College professor warned that only 12% of students would graduate, rather than feeling discouraged, Gilbert used it as fuel. "That pissed me off," he recalls with a smile. Not only did he complete his degree, but he earned acceptance to UCLA, where he learned to navigate the "hidden curriculum" of higher education as a Mexican-American student from a working-class background.
The most remarkable turn in Gilbert's story came after years working in business. When his boss bluntly asked, "Estrada, what are you doing here? You ought to be a teacher," something clicked. That comment led Gilbert to an introductory teaching course, and within months, he found himself standing before a classroom of fifth graders. "It felt like home right away," he explains, describing the immediate connection he felt to teaching.
For the next 29 years, Gilbert dedicated himself to teaching in challenging neighborhoods, including during the 1992 Rodney King riots when businesses burned just across from his school. He specifically chose to teach first and second grade, recognizing early literacy as the foundation upon which all other education is built. Beyond academics, he embraced the full responsibility of caring for children's well-being – referring them for glasses when they couldn't see the board, helping them access dental care, and teaching them "how to get along with each other."
His parting wisdom for parents is beautifully simple: read to your children daily, take them to the library, and talk with them often. "Just love them the way you know how to love your children." After three decades in education, Gilbert Estrada understands that sometimes the most powerful teaching happens through the simplest acts of care.
