Clay Gallardo: Student at Los Angeles Valley College

Hello. My name is Clay Gallardo. I am a student at Los Angeles Valley College and an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) intern. For the past 2 semesters, I have been organizing students at rallies and Town Hall meetings, calling attention to the budget cuts and its effects on our education system.

Today is my third day on the march, and it is also Cesar Chavez Day. We started our 1st day with an eleven-mile march from Chowchilla to Le Grand. The only thing I could see for miles was farmland. On our way to Le Grand we saw a nut factory and decided to stop. Both employees and the management were excited by our presence and were curious about what we were doing We told them that we were out marching for California’s future, fighting to save social services for all Californians. Once we arrived in Le Grand we began to talk to residents. Everyone was so excited that we were actually doing something. I was able to talk to some high school students. They seemed worried about their future, about what would happen when they were seniors applying to colleges. I think the response has been so positive wherever we have been because people know that we are fighting for them much like Cesar Chavez and Doles Huerta fought for the farmworkers.