DJUSD Area 1 has found its Trustee in none other than Hiram Jackson. As a bilingual parent whose kids attended Davis’ schools, Jackson is eager to bolster the equity and opportunity of the district’s diverse student population.
Jackson first came to Davis in 1988 to attend grad school at UC Davis. His focus was in geology, and in 1991 he had the opportunity to study abroad in Chile for a year. He returned and a few years later met his wife at UCD who happened to be from South America herself. The two — like so many others who meant to stay in town “temporarily” — ended up making Davis their home.
“My wife came in 1998 and had two kids. So, I adopted them and early on they came into the schools not knowing a word of English. I ended up getting very involved showing up to meetings for my kids and helping them with homework,” Jackson explained his initial involvement with the school district. “Later on, I became heavily involved with the music boosters and really started following the school board closely when the recession hit in 2008 when they were making cuts; to the elementary music program, in particular, that year. I’d thought about running for the school board in earlier years but didn’t want to do it when my kids were still in school because I’ve seen how much time it takes. So, my youngest graduated in 2020 and after that I thought, ‘I’ll run now’ and I succeeded.”
Although he didn’t run for a trustee position while his kids were in school, Jackson has been an active parent-volunteer in the district since 1998. In that time, he’s been a hands-on music booster, served as chair of the Davis High Council, been a member of the DJUSD LCAP Advisory Committee, joined the Superintendent’s Parent Advisory, co-founded the Mariachi Puente band with his wife, Ximena, and, on top of all that, has been a parent of DJUSD students all the while.
“I’ve been very much connected to Spanish-speaking families in the district. In particular Spanish-speaking families that may be more working-class or English-limited in other words for the parents. Those are the families we’ve been targeting for the Mariachi program. I’m also more sensitive to how marginalized they can be in the district,” Jackson explained some of his influences to become Area 1 Trustee.
“In Davis, there’s a heavy emphasis on students going into college, like my kids. In my view, often the district doesn’t cater very well to these families because a lot of the explanations are not accessible in Spanish. The parents want very much for the kids to succeed, and the kids will learn English, but in the meantime, it’s harder for the parents to be engaged and participate in those conversations about what their kids will do after they graduate. These are families that come from other countries where there’s a different culture around public education. Often these are families who don’t quite understand what their kid can do if they go to college and what other options are there.”
With Jackson’s litany of experience, he’s looking to bridge language and cultural barriers within the district. To him, it begins with building relationships with these families and integrating the students on the other side of the language barrier into the many, amazing activities the district is known for like its music, athletics and theater programs (amongst the many others).
“A lot of these activities are not made as readily accessible to kids who come from Spanish-speaking families. The district, traditionally, has cared a lot about how they score on standardized tests and kind of ignored these other aspects in the lives other students enjoy,” said Jackson. “These are kinds of activities that affect the way you positively think about school. It’s often a matter of identity and who you hang out with. If you’re not afforded these opportunities, then sometimes school may feel pointless.”
With these issues along with many others in his crosshairs, Jackson is eager to begin his tenure as a school board trustee.
— Reach Aaron Geerts at [email protected].
