Staying in tune

Cougar teacher keeps the beat for four decades

By Jillian Brackett / Special to The Independent Friday, Mar. 28, 2008

Try as he might, Pat Gutierrez can't seem to get away from Clovis High School. After two attempts at retirement in the past decade, Gutierrez is back in the classroom. And that's the way his students like it.

"Mr. Gutierrez is a really good teacher," said Clovis High sophomore Elizabeth Yanez. "He's been around for awhile so he knows what he's doing."

The 15-year-old plays piano and keyboard for the school's marimba band led by Gutierrez. She said it just wouldn't be the same with a new teacher; he wouldn't bring the wisdom "Mr. G" does.

Her brother, Richard Yanez, a 17-year-old lead guitarist, agrees.

"Mr. G enjoys teaching the band and he likes the music a lot. It inspired me to like the same kind of music," he said.

Senior student and four-year marimba player Anthony Estrada, 18, also has been inspired by Gutierrez.

"He's a mentor to me, someone always there for encouragement and to give advice," he said.

Gutierrez, 64, began teaching at Clovis High in 1966. He retired from full-time teaching there in 1998 and in 2005 retired completely. He came back, however, in 2006 to continue teaching the marimba band class and to substitute teach.

"The students are glad he's stayed around," Elizabeth said.

This is her second year playing for the band, but prior to that she did not know how to play.

For Gutierrez, what makes it worthwhile are students like Elizabeth whom he gets to watch "blossom into musicians."

A Valley-bred educator, Gutierrez said he has made a career not just out of teaching students, but also believing in students.

"Students need to know that teachers like them and that they like their job. I've always thought that way and it's helped me. I've had very few problems with students because I show that. I show them I enjoy what I do," he said.

It's a mantra for the educator and he credits the inspiring teachers he had growing up. He remembers choosing to do a project in high school on becoming an educator and considers that his first step toward his career.

Gutierrez graduated from Central Union High School in Fresno and went on to California State University, Fresno, where he received his bachelor's in geography and then his teaching credentials. He was hired soon after to teach at Clovis High.

Gutierrez, passionate about integrating Latino culture into his teaching, began first the Cougars' folklorico dance team in 1970, and then the marimba band in 1976. Now both are signature Clovis High extra-curricular activities.

"The class is unique," Gutierrez said. "The fact that we started so long ago says that we've become a tradition and that we have made a positive impact on the student body."

His wife of 47 years, Elena, agrees. Helping her husband, with everything from making costumes to helping teach as a dance partner, has given her a unique vantage point to observe the students.

"His approach is wonderful because he gives everyone an equal opportunity," she said. "He's always had a sense of humor and deals with students in a very positive way. But he can be a disciplinarian, too, and his kids learn to respect him.

"Most important, he teaches them to communicate and to work together."

Gutierrez and his wife, a retired Fresno elementary school teacher, said the emphasis on working together comes straight out of their marriage.

"Both of us are teachers so it's always been that we support each other and recognize we need each other's help," she said. "It keeps us doing things together and that is also a great example to his students.

"It's helped me to learn from him, too."

The students in his class get a hands-on approach to culture and they also get to bring that culture to their fellow students performing at assemblies and other school events. It's the peer performances that the Yanez siblings say are the most fun and make them the most nervous.

"There's an energy from the crowd; that's the best part," Elizabeth said.

The success of Gutierrez's integrative teaching won him this year's Vida en el Valle award for Latino educators.

"It was a great honor that I accepted humbly. I know there are a lot of educators who are out there doing a lot of great things, so I was very honored," Gutierrez said. "It validated my decision to become an educator.

"Diversity makes it possible to have better communication between different ethnic backgrounds. Over the years we've had quite a few non-Mexican kids. They come together there to focus on the music and become a team that supports each other. I think the diversity creates better understanding."

Friendly Faces is an occasional series about people in Clovis who make it a great place to live. To nominate someone to be profiled in this series, please e-mail Patti J. Lippert at plippert@clovisindependent.com.