Alum Rock teachers take historical cruise with San Jose lowriders
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Alum Rock Union School District teamed up with the United Lowrider Council of San Jose to take teachers on a historical cruise around the city. The cruise highlighted some of the significant areas of the city that are important to lowrider culture as a part of the district's Ethnic Studies curriculum.
San Jose is known as the birthplace of lowriding and some Alum Rock teachers got a hands-on lesson about the culture they’ll be teaching students.
"I’ve lived in San Jose all my life and I know nothing of this," said Addie Vane, an Alum Rock School Dist. Teacher.
In the parking lot of East San Jose’s Alum Rock School District, about 20 teachers and a district trustee met with the United Lowrider Council of San Jose for a lesson about lowrider history and culture.
"We don’t teach their history, and maybe they’re disconnected from school. This is a way for them to connect to school and to their community," said Vane.
The educators rode in six customized cars during an hour-long tour around San Jose. Each driver described some of the most significant areas for lowrider culture and talked about their experiences as lowriders.
"We’re actually going to go up to Story Road and hang a right. That’s actually going to take us to the heart of where cruising was on Story and King. It’s changed a lot now, obviously, but back in the day, it was a very underdeveloped area and just full of thousands of cars out there," said Ricardo Cortez, with the United Lowriders of San Jose.
In the 1970s, thousands of people would cruise Story and King Roads, helping San Jose become the cruising capital for a period of time. District leaders say teaching their students about lowrider culture will create community and pride.
"This is one of the many things they’ll learn within Ethnic Studies and that our children will be proud of who they are. Also, proud of the person that sits next to them who can also identify with the traditions and culture that they have," said Corina Herrera-Loera, an Alum Rock School Dist. Trustee.
This lowrider curriculum is already being taught to middle schoolers in the Alum Rock School District. The goal is to have some sort of lowrider curriculum for its students at all grade levels.
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