December 15, 2023 • 24 mins
Ever wondered how stories of resilience and struggle can inspire young minds? Here's a golden chance to peek into the diary of Ernesto Cisneros, an acclaimed author and educator, as he reveals how his personal journey has shaped his writing. He shares his trials in getting published, the significance of diverse representation in literature, and how his narratives have made a profound impact on students, propelling them to dream big and find their own voice.
Engage with Ernesto as he navigates through a myriad of themes ranging from overcoming self-doubt to addressing complex topics in children's books. Listen to how he drew inspiration from real-life experiences and people to create relatable characters, and his soul-stirring journey from a child in Santa Ana to a nationally recognized author. Ernesto's determination to maintain a rigorous writing schedule and his relentless pursuit of his passion are nothing short of inspirational. His story is a testament to the power of dedication, resilience, and the transformative impact of literature.
Ernesto's journey doesn't stop here. His diligent efforts to amplify diverse voices in the publishing industry, his reflections on the influence of his classroom experiences on his writing, and the way he gives life to complex themes in children's books are truly captivating. The episode wraps up with a sneak peek into his upcoming projects and the legacy he wishes to leave behind. So, join us as we embark on this journey with Ernesto Cisneros, celebrating resilience, creativity, and the power of storytelling in education.
Part 2 of 2
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Episode Transcript
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Announcer (00:06):
Welcome back, Amplifiers, to the second part
of our incredible conversationwith SAUSD teacher and
nationally acclaimed author,Ernesto Cisneros.
We hope you enjoy theconclusion of this enlightening
journey.
Bianca Barquin (00:23):
I think in my mind, the theme for this
interview has been breakingboundaries, inspiration, and our
stories matter right?
So I think that those would bethe themes.
Next question.
Your books tackle some complexand sensitive themes.
How do you approach thesetopics in a way that's
accessible and meaningful toyoung readers?
Ernesto Cisneros (00:47):
So one thing that I've learned as a teacher
is that kids, and not just as ateacher, I think, just
remembering when I was young,kids go through a lot and they
process a lot and I thinksometimes adults, as adults, we
don't always give them creditfor what's going on in their
minds.
I remember being a kid andwatching Starchy and Hutch,
(01:09):
something like that?
Starsky yes, that one and Iremember there was an episode
where they had the KKK that wason there and I remember just
being so worried and I couldn'tsleep that night.
And I remember walking toschool the next day and I was
worried about people who theywere hurting.
I remember hearing about stormsthat were knocking down
(01:31):
communities or just watching thenews and all the bad things
that were happening and I wasinternalizing all those things.
As a child, I never had anybodyto really talk to about those
things.
People would just assume oh,you're just a kid, just worried
about what you're going to play,what video game you're going to
play next, and I was like, no,they're listening and they're
hearing everything.
(01:51):
All the conversations with myparents when they were
struggling with money, thearguments, I was hearing all
those things and so, as ateacher, I see those things as
well.
I see the impact that they haveon the kids, and so I think
that it's really important thatwe address those with children.
In Falling Short, there's ascene where the father was
(02:13):
supposed to take his son toDisneyland and there's a scene
where he's sitting on the curband he's got his little
Disneyland ticket in his handand the dad never shows up.
There's another scene where theboy gets sick at school.
He throws up, he's at theschool nurse and they call the
dad to come pick him up and thedad shows up and he's been
drinking.
These are different experiencesthat, and some of these
(02:36):
experiences are mine and some ofthem are things that I saw
happen to my friends.
But they are things that dohappen to the kiddos too, the
kiddos where I work.
I actually had that situationwhere one of the kids called
home to be picked up and theirfather was intoxicated and so I
couldn't allow the child to gowith them, and so they're very
(02:57):
difficult situations, but theseare things that the kids are
already going through, and Ithink I've always thought of
books as being kind of likeinstruction manuals.
We're not born with instructionmanuals when we're born, but I
think children's books are theclosest things that we have, and
so I'm always trying to notjust entertain but to inform
kids too, and any informationthat I have, any experiences
(03:19):
that I think might help somebodyelse.
.
.
I think it's a way of turningsomething that was hurtful to me
and, for example, if I rememberwalking over to school and
there were some dogs that werecoming in this direction and one
of them bit me, and then Iremember fast forwarding when I
had my first child and carryinghim and seeing some dogs, and I
remember picking him up,scooping him up because I didn't
(03:41):
want him to be bit by thosedogs, and part of the way that I
see that experience is thatthat prior experience helped me
to protect my son from havingthe same thing happen to him,
and so that might not be thebest example, but by sharing my
experiences I'm hoping to turnthem into something positive, so
they have a purpose, they havemeaning.
(04:02):
Otherwise it's just meaninglessbad things that happen to us
and that doesn't sit well withme.
But you can turn them intosomething positive if they help
somebody else.
Bianca Barquin (04:11):
Absolutely, and it will help them work through
their own issues, which is great.
Next question for you.
Leading a book study withparents on Ephrén Divided is a
fantastic initiative.
What has the experience beenlike.
.
.
I've heard nothing but greatthings, by the way.
.
.
and what are some key takeawaysfor you from those interactions?
Ernesto Cisneros (04:33):
My first takeaway is that Lisa Solomon is
an amazing human being.
Bianca Barquin (04:38):
Agreed.
Ernesto Cisneros (04:40):
She was my mentor teacher, so she taught me
everything that I know.
Just an amazing, amazing,caring, just compassionate human
being, wonderful person.
And that experience has been sowonderful.
And it's not about the parentsreading my book, it's more about
they're seeing their storiestold too.
And the beautiful thing is thatthe parents are reading the
(05:02):
books in Spanish, their kiddosare reading it in English and
they're going home and they'rehaving conversations, and it's
not just conversations about thebook, it's shared experiences
that they have and so they'renot talking about like, oh,
Efrén's Amá, this happens tothem.
Let me tell you what myexperiences were coming into
(05:22):
this country, and so the kiddoswere actually having these
conversations and I'm hearingfrom the parents.
So I mean, there was things Ididn't even know that my kids
were thinking about.
I didn't know that my kids hadnever asked me these questions
before, and that's.
.
.
it's been wonderful, alsohearing some of the kiddos.
Sometimes they want to raisetheir hand, they want to read
(05:45):
out loud too, and yesterday oneof these students that goes to
Mendez, he just happens to gothere, he started reading out
loud and he started laughingwhile he was reading because it
was the funniest part in thebook.
As an author, I.
.
.
oh my gosh, that was one of themost rewarding experiences I've
ever had.
(06:05):
Just having.
.
.
experiencing somebody enjoyingsomething that you wrote is
amazing.
But really it's just that senseof, I love seeing the parents
looking at themselves and seeinghow amazing they are, because
you cannot read Efrén Dividedwithout falling in love with the
parents, without thinking thatthey're amazing human beings and
(06:28):
heroes, true heroes.
And then when you see yourselfand you had, you did something
very similar you're like, wait aminute, I'm a hero too.
This is, I'm amazing, and that,that's been the best part of it
.
Bianca Barquin (06:39):
So per hero Ernesto
Basically, I want to just letall the people, all those
parents were there know, youguys are all so per too, and
they really are.
Beautiful.
What advice would you give toeducators or students in our
district who aspire to write andpublish their own stories?
Ernesto Cisneros (06:58):
I think the best advice I can give them is
to write about things that aredear to them.
Write about things that youwant to read, question things
that you question.
Write about things that youdon't know.
Write about things that scareyou.
Write about things that youdon't think you can write about.
(07:19):
But honestly, it just comesdown to just write and be
yourself.
Everybody has a uniquepersonality and that's what I
refer to when people say, oh, Ilove the voice in this book.
It's about this personalitythat's coming across and that's
what I gravitate towards, and Ithink that if people just value
(07:40):
themselves enough to allow theirpersonalities to come out in
the writing, I think that'sgoing to make people very
successful.
So I think that's the biggestthing.
And also believing yourself andbelieving your experiences and
just know everybody has a story.
I really do believe thateverybody has a potential to
write a book because you canteach yourself the mechanics.
It's just you can't teachyourself the desire to want to
(08:01):
do it, but I really do.
I mean, there's so many peopleI've met before and you start
talking and you ask them aboutso what are your kiddos doing?
And they start talking to youlike 30 minutes about their kids
or something that happened whenthey were growing up, and I'm
always thinking, my God, thatwould be a fantastic book.
I think we're all basicallyopen books sometimes and
(08:23):
everybody has a story to share.
Bianca Barquin (08:25):
I love that.
Everybody has a book insidethem, right?
I know you started to talkabout this a little bit when we
mentioned the book study withparents, but what has been some
of the most impactful feedbackyou've received from students
and parents who have read yourbooks?
Ernesto Cisneros (08:43):
That's been part of the most rewarding part
of this experience.
I remember there was a girl andwhen I went to visit a school
and she was very excited to gether book signed and she came
over and she just.
.
.
I knew she was going to saysomething special to me for just
the way she was looking at me.
She was honestly looking at melike I was somebody, like
(09:04):
somebody should really want herto meet and I just I could see
like a sparkle in her eye.
When her turn came over, Iasked her her name and that's
when she told me that she reallyidentified with the story of
Lalo because she said that's herdad's story.
And sorry, I think I'm tryingnot to choke up at this moment
(09:24):
because I'm just thinking aboutthose, but it's just really
surreal and I don't think that'sthe right word, but it's moving
.
It's just very special whenyou're writing something and
people are really connecting too.
And I've had people, kiddos comeover to me and telling me that
oh yeah, my dad's undocumentedtoo.
(09:46):
And I've had kiddos who, forexample, we're going to be going
off for Christmas break and Ialways ask the kids anybody
going anywhere, anybody doinganything?
And I always get a few kids whotell me oh, I'm going to go see
my dad, where's your dad?
Oh, he's over there in Tijuana.
We get to see him once a monthand I'm like, are you going to
go there or are you going to goto Friendship Park?
(10:07):
And it's like, no, just likeyour book.
And it just breaks my heart.
So part of it is very difficultto hear that they're going
through similar experiences,because there is a part of me
that wishes that there was noplace for Efrén Divided the book
, there was no need for it.
I think that's what I kind ofwant and I know it's kind of a
weird thing for an author to say, but I really do wish that
(10:28):
there was no need for this book.
I wish that people weren'tidentifying with it but sadly,
they are, and it's really.
.
.
It just breaks my heart to hearthe stories.
So it's rewarding but it'sdevastating to hear at the same
time.
Bianca Barquin (10:46):
Important for us to hear and important stories.
The characters are trulylikable, relatable.
I mean.
I read the book and I actuallyfell in love with Lalo's
character too, because here's acharacter in a difficult
position but so helpful and socaring, so I completely
(11:06):
understand.
Ernesto Cisneros (11:07):
So one of the things I really wanted to do was
to help the kiddos to navigatetheir situations.
So with Efrén, at the end, andI'm not gonna give any spoilers
away, but I wanted to thecharacter Efrén to feel
empowered by the end of the book, and if there are any kiddos
who find themselves in the samesituation that Efrén does, I
(11:27):
hope that they feel empowered aswell by the end of the book.
Bianca Barquin (11:31):
Thank you.
Next question for you.
Can you give us a sneak peekand I know that you've started
to talk about it, but now I'msuper excited and can't wait to
hear, into any future projectsor books you're working on?
What themes or messages are youhoping to explore next?
Ernesto Cisneros (11:50):
So a little quick disclaimer is that most of
my titles are working titlesand every book I've written so
far the title has changed, butthe working title right now it's
named Queso for Short, and it'sabout a boy named Quetzalcoatl,
who people can pronounce hisname, and this is based on a
student that I actually had, sonot based on the student, but
I'm borrowing his name and I hadtrouble with his name at the
(12:13):
time too, and so I asked him ifI'd call him Queso, and he loved
the name Queso.
And it's a story about a boywhose dad was as a security
guard right here on the Bristolby the swap meet, and there was
a burglar who breaks into theirhome and he's murdered.
And we fast forward to thestory two years later and the
(12:34):
boy's still struggling with theloss of his father, and so one
day he makes a wish that hecould see his dad again, and the
next day he wakes up, but it's1982, and he gets to see his dad
again, but he's 12 years oldand his father is at Tremendo.
And I'm having so much funrevisiting the 80s and I get to
(12:56):
write about schools likeSpurgeon and Freemont and going
to Salvador Park and doing allthe foosball tournaments and
going into the swimming pool for25 cents because it lets you go
for two hours.
Back in the day, they would letyou go for two hours and then my
friends and I like after, wewould go into the bathrooms and
we would hide and they kickeverybody out and then when they
let the next batch in, we wouldjust come out of the bathrooms.
(13:16):
So, for 25 cents, we wouldspend the entire day there.
Just a lot of the of the stuffthat we did when we were kids, I
get to relive them and sharethem with people, so I cannot
tell you how excited I am aboutit, how much fun it's been.
I am following my rule aboutwriting for one hour a day, and
so I'm happy.
I'm not making myself sick, I'mnot stressed.
(13:38):
I'm really enjoying the process, and so I'm really excited for
that story to come out.
I'm not sure if it's gonna makeit for 2024.
It's either gonna be late 2024or early 2025.
But that's one of the projectsI'm working on.
I'm working on a comic book andI'm hoping to publish a young
adult novel as well, one that Iwrote in Sharon Saxton's junior
(14:02):
year classroom, that was one ofher assignments and I'm super,
super excited about being ableto write for a little bit older
kids, and that was a little bitmore challenging.
That title is gonna really bevery emotional.
I don't.
.
.
Ernest Hemingway said somethingalong the lines of basically
just bleeding onto the pages,and that writing was pretty easy
if you do that, and for methat's always been my approach.
(14:23):
I don't really censor myself asfar as like, what am I willing
to share?
I did grow up with a lot oftough experiences, but those are
the tough experiences that thekids are also having and they're
living them too.
So again, I wanna help themnavigate those experiences,
those tough moments in life.
Bianca Barquin (14:42):
I am so excited about what's to come.
I can't wait.
I hope that your book getspublished, Queso, sooner than
later, so I can read it.
Ernesto Cisneros (14:52):
Me too me too .
Bianca Barquin (14:52):
But I'm excited about the comic book and the
young adult book as well, soyou'll have to keep me posted.
Ernesto Cisneros (14:58):
I will and I'm really excited right now
because there's two kiddos in myclassroom who have copies and
they're, like I said earlier,they're my best editors and I'm
really excited about it.
I did have an author friendread it and she said she thought
it was the best thing I'vewritten yet.
So that's exciting.
But yeah, I think I'm moreexcited about the kiddos.
I just wanna see their reactionbecause I know that they're
gonna be super honest and I justcan't wait to kind of pick
(15:21):
their brains and ask them whatparts did you enjoy?
Did anything kind of move you?
And, like I said, those are myeditors.
I could not write without them.
Bianca Barquin (15:29):
Awesome.
Okay, last question I have foryou before we get into our
Amplifier Acknowledgementsegment.
Reflecting on your journey froma student in Santa Ana to a
nationally recognized author,what are some key life lessons
you've learned that you'd liketo pass on to our educators and
our students?
Ernesto Cisneros (15:50):
You know, it's funny how, every time you ask
me questions about things thatI've learned throughout this
whole process, I cannot help butmention Sharon Saxton, and I
think that the reason for thatis, as an educator, she had a
huge impact on my life and partof it was because, growing up
(16:12):
and I think this is the thirdtime I'm in a reference, but
with a sense of disentitlement Ijust did not believe in myself,
and sometimes when you don'tbelieve in yourself, you need
that one person who will believein you when you can't, and she
was that for me.
I remember her pretty much asshe.
.
.
I wasn't doing my homework andshe pulled me aside and she had
(16:33):
a very stern talking to me and Irealized she was probably the
first teacher that ever showedshe cared and even though, you
know, maybe I didn't like themessage that she was giving me,
I appreciated it so much and itwas just her faith in me and she
would always tell me thatyou're such a talented writer.
And I believed her because shewas always so brutally honest
(16:57):
about everything else and whywould she lie to me?
But she's been amazing.
Right after I left high school,I found out that she actually
signed up to take classes withher former students in the
community college because sheheard about so many other that
were struggling.
So she signed up and she tookthe classes alongside with them.
And so again it just goes backto, I mean one, she's a
(17:21):
wonderful human being, and two,just that she invested her time
and her energy into her students.
And I still.
.
.
we keep in touch with socialmedia sometimes.
And again it just goes down to Idid not believe in myself, but
she did, and she kind of carriedme for a couple of years.
(17:42):
Just her belief in me helped me, help to just keep me going.
Every time I was at UC Irvineother professors, would you know
, shred my paper and say, oh,this is one of the worst things
I've ever read.
I would think, you know, SharonSaxton thought you were very
talented, okay, you can do this,you can do this, and so she.
.
.
I think a lot of the confidence,or what little confidence I had
(18:03):
, it all came from her and Ithink that as an educator,
that's the most powerful thingyou do.
If you can believe in thekiddos and let them know that
you're not just saying that youtruly believe in them.
That's the most powerful thinga teacher can, can do for a
student.
Bianca Barquin (18:20):
I think that that is a powerful message, not
just for teachers, but for everyemployee that works with
children, for all parents,aunties, uncle, everybody, right
tios, tias, everybody,abuelitos, abuelitas, just to
continually tell our kiddos thatwe believe in them and they can
do anything they set theirminds to doing.
Ernesto Cisneros (18:43):
Yes, and in the classroom, I, I share the
struggles with the kids too,when we are doing writing and,
and I, I don't like to go homeand write something the night
before.
I used to do that as a teacherbecause I thought I'm the
teacher, I can.
I, I can't have spellingmistakes if I write something,
or I can't have, you know,improperly structured sentences.
(19:04):
So let me type something up andwrite it and have it be very
professional.
And then I realized that thekids are not seeing the true
process.
I never hide my mistakes.
I never hide my frustrations.
There's days in my lessonsdon't go well and we talk about
them next day.
I'm like you know what?
It's fine, because now Ilearned what I did wrong and now
we can try and do it better.
(19:26):
So that's also really important, that we also show them the
struggles as well.
A lot of times people don't,they're not transparent with
those things.
And so kids, they try to belike us and then when they fail,
sometimes they give up becauseI think they, well, I'm not as
good as this person.
No, no, no, you just didn't seeall the work that it took.
You know, okay, you'restruggling to publish your book.
(19:46):
Okay, I struggled for 14 years.
That's part of the processsometimes.
Bianca Barquin (19:52):
You're being authentic with our students and
you're helping them become morereflective and you're helping
them become more resilient.
So thank you for that.
Okay, before we sign off, it'stime for our Amplifier
Acknowledgement segment.
Ernesto, if you could amplifythe message or lesson of one
educator or leader who's made asignificant impact in your
(20:15):
journey, who would it be andwhat is that resonating message?
Ernesto Cisneros (20:19):
I could very easily go back to Sharon Saxton
one more time.
I think I'm going to mention Ms.
Ashley also, and she's also ateacher that was.
.
.
she was my math algebra one andalgebra two teacher at Santa Ana
High School.
I think that the message thatshe gave me though it wasn't an
actual something she said it wassomething she did and she would
(20:42):
always stay after school andjust tutor us and she would play
music and she would make it fun.
And I never knew that studyingcould be fun and, honestly, I
would go to the class justbecause I thought it was a cool
place to be and the fact thatthey were doing math problems,
that didn't seem to matter and Ididn't know I was studying.
(21:06):
And I think the message issometimes we just need somebody
to sit by us, by our side, andeven if she wasn't directly
telling me how to do the mathproblems, just knowing she was
there, you know, working on mathproblems, there's other
students who are doing the samething, my peers were doing the
same thing.
She was leading by example andI think sometimes with a lot of
(21:27):
kiddos, we ask them to do things, go home and read, okay, but
sometimes they need somebody,said next to them while they're
reading, or they need somebodyto read with them.
Okay, I need you to study.
Okay, what does studying evenlook like?
For a lot of the kiddos,they're not aware, they're not
sure exactly how to do thesethings.
So I think the biggest messageis sometimes we just we need a
(21:49):
little bit of help, and it'sjust little things that make the
biggest differences.
I think that the overarchingtheme with with both teachers,
and not just them, but everybodyelse who's been part of my life
, who's Influenced me, you know,at school, they all gave me a
place to be, and it wasn't justa place to be, but as a place
where I wanted to be, like Ifelt welcomed and I, looking
(22:14):
back, naturally there's a firsttime I'm actually processing
this like live on the spot.
But as I think about this, everyclassroom where I did excel was
a place where I felt welcomedand wanted and appreciated.
And all the classrooms where Idid not feel that way, where I
thought was just.
.
.
it felt like that was justanother number, I didn't.
(22:36):
.
.
I usually didn't do very well inthose classes because I didn't,
unfortunately, I just didn't dothings for myself and sometimes
when those.
.
.
you have somebody who caresabout you, you don't want to
disappoint them, so I thinkthat's what it was.
They cared about me, so inreturn, I cared about them and
what they thought about me, andso I think that that brought out
the, the best of me, and I willforever be super appreciative
(22:59):
for what they did.
Bianca Barquin (23:04):
Remember, leadership is not just about
guiding, but also celebratingand acknowledging those who've
paved the way.
Ernesto, it's been an absolutepleasure having you on SA USD's
Amplifying Leadership.
Your journey from Santa Ana tothe pages of your books is an
inspiring testament to the powerof resilience, creativity, and
(23:24):
dedication.
Thank you for sharing yourinsights and for the profound
impact you're making in thelives of our students, parents,
and the broader community.
To our listeners, thank you forjoining us today.
I hope Ernesto's story hasinspired you to find your own
unique ways to connect, create,and contribute to our community.
(23:45):
Remember, each one of us has astory that can ignite change and
foster understanding.
Until next time, keep leading,keep inspiring, and keep
amplifying the voices that makeSA USD a place of growth and
discovery.
Welcome back, Amplifiers, to the second part
of our incredible conversationwith SAUSD teacher and
nationally acclaimed author,Ernesto Cisneros.
We hope you enjoy theconclusion of this enlightening
journey.
Bianca Barquin (00:23):
I think in my mind, the theme for this
interview has been breakingboundaries, inspiration, and our
stories matter right?
So I think that those would bethe themes.
Next question.
Your books tackle some complexand sensitive themes.
How do you approach thesetopics in a way that's
accessible and meaningful toyoung readers?
Ernesto Cisneros (00:47):
So one thing that I've learned as a teacher
is that kids, and not just as ateacher, I think, just
remembering when I was young,kids go through a lot and they
process a lot and I thinksometimes adults, as adults, we
don't always give them creditfor what's going on in their
minds.
I remember being a kid andwatching Starchy and Hutch,
(01:09):
something like that?
Starsky yes, that one and Iremember there was an episode
where they had the KKK that wason there and I remember just
being so worried and I couldn'tsleep that night.
And I remember walking toschool the next day and I was
worried about people who theywere hurting.
I remember hearing about stormsthat were knocking down
(01:31):
communities or just watching thenews and all the bad things
that were happening and I wasinternalizing all those things.
As a child, I never had anybodyto really talk to about those
things.
People would just assume oh,you're just a kid, just worried
about what you're going to play,what video game you're going to
play next, and I was like, no,they're listening and they're
hearing everything.
(01:51):
All the conversations with myparents when they were
struggling with money, thearguments, I was hearing all
those things and so, as ateacher, I see those things as
well.
I see the impact that they haveon the kids, and so I think
that it's really important thatwe address those with children.
In Falling Short, there's ascene where the father was
(02:13):
supposed to take his son toDisneyland and there's a scene
where he's sitting on the curband he's got his little
Disneyland ticket in his handand the dad never shows up.
There's another scene where theboy gets sick at school.
He throws up, he's at theschool nurse and they call the
dad to come pick him up and thedad shows up and he's been
drinking.
These are different experiencesthat, and some of these
(02:36):
experiences are mine and some ofthem are things that I saw
happen to my friends.
But they are things that dohappen to the kiddos too, the
kiddos where I work.
I actually had that situationwhere one of the kids called
home to be picked up and theirfather was intoxicated and so I
couldn't allow the child to gowith them, and so they're very
(02:57):
difficult situations, but theseare things that the kids are
already going through, and Ithink I've always thought of
books as being kind of likeinstruction manuals.
We're not born with instructionmanuals when we're born, but I
think children's books are theclosest things that we have, and
so I'm always trying to notjust entertain but to inform
kids too, and any informationthat I have, any experiences
(03:19):
that I think might help somebodyelse.
.
.
I think it's a way of turningsomething that was hurtful to me
and, for example, if I rememberwalking over to school and
there were some dogs that werecoming in this direction and one
of them bit me, and then Iremember fast forwarding when I
had my first child and carryinghim and seeing some dogs, and I
remember picking him up,scooping him up because I didn't
(03:41):
want him to be bit by thosedogs, and part of the way that I
see that experience is thatthat prior experience helped me
to protect my son from havingthe same thing happen to him,
and so that might not be thebest example, but by sharing my
experiences I'm hoping to turnthem into something positive, so
they have a purpose, they havemeaning.
(04:02):
Otherwise it's just meaninglessbad things that happen to us
and that doesn't sit well withme.
But you can turn them intosomething positive if they help
somebody else.
Bianca Barquin (04:11):
Absolutely, and it will help them work through
their own issues, which is great.
Next question for you.
Leading a book study withparents on Ephrén Divided is a
fantastic initiative.
What has the experience beenlike.
.
.
I've heard nothing but greatthings, by the way.
.
.
and what are some key takeawaysfor you from those interactions?
Ernesto Cisneros (04:33):
My first takeaway is that Lisa Solomon is
an amazing human being.
Bianca Barquin (04:38):
Agreed.
Ernesto Cisneros (04:40):
She was my mentor teacher, so she taught me
everything that I know.
Just an amazing, amazing,caring, just compassionate human
being, wonderful person.
And that experience has been sowonderful.
And it's not about the parentsreading my book, it's more about
they're seeing their storiestold too.
And the beautiful thing is thatthe parents are reading the
(05:02):
books in Spanish, their kiddosare reading it in English and
they're going home and they'rehaving conversations, and it's
not just conversations about thebook, it's shared experiences
that they have and so they'renot talking about like, oh,
Efrén's Amá, this happens tothem.
Let me tell you what myexperiences were coming into
(05:22):
this country, and so the kiddoswere actually having these
conversations and I'm hearingfrom the parents.
So I mean, there was things Ididn't even know that my kids
were thinking about.
I didn't know that my kids hadnever asked me these questions
before, and that's.
.
.
it's been wonderful, alsohearing some of the kiddos.
Sometimes they want to raisetheir hand, they want to read
(05:45):
out loud too, and yesterday oneof these students that goes to
Mendez, he just happens to gothere, he started reading out
loud and he started laughingwhile he was reading because it
was the funniest part in thebook.
As an author, I.
.
.
oh my gosh, that was one of themost rewarding experiences I've
ever had.
(06:05):
Just having.
.
.
experiencing somebody enjoyingsomething that you wrote is
amazing.
But really it's just that senseof, I love seeing the parents
looking at themselves and seeinghow amazing they are, because
you cannot read Efrén Dividedwithout falling in love with the
parents, without thinking thatthey're amazing human beings and
(06:28):
heroes, true heroes.
And then when you see yourselfand you had, you did something
very similar you're like, wait aminute, I'm a hero too.
This is, I'm amazing, and that,that's been the best part of it
.
Bianca Barquin (06:39):
So per hero Ernesto
Basically, I want to just letall the people, all those
parents were there know, youguys are all so per too, and
they really are.
Beautiful.
What advice would you give toeducators or students in our
district who aspire to write andpublish their own stories?
Ernesto Cisneros (06:58):
I think the best advice I can give them is
to write about things that aredear to them.
Write about things that youwant to read, question things
that you question.
Write about things that youdon't know.
Write about things that scareyou.
Write about things that youdon't think you can write about.
(07:19):
But honestly, it just comesdown to just write and be
yourself.
Everybody has a uniquepersonality and that's what I
refer to when people say, oh, Ilove the voice in this book.
It's about this personalitythat's coming across and that's
what I gravitate towards, and Ithink that if people just value
(07:40):
themselves enough to allow theirpersonalities to come out in
the writing, I think that'sgoing to make people very
successful.
So I think that's the biggestthing.
And also believing yourself andbelieving your experiences and
just know everybody has a story.
I really do believe thateverybody has a potential to
write a book because you canteach yourself the mechanics.
It's just you can't teachyourself the desire to want to
(08:01):
do it, but I really do.
I mean, there's so many peopleI've met before and you start
talking and you ask them aboutso what are your kiddos doing?
And they start talking to youlike 30 minutes about their kids
or something that happened whenthey were growing up, and I'm
always thinking, my God, thatwould be a fantastic book.
I think we're all basicallyopen books sometimes and
(08:23):
everybody has a story to share.
Bianca Barquin (08:25):
I love that.
Everybody has a book insidethem, right?
I know you started to talkabout this a little bit when we
mentioned the book study withparents, but what has been some
of the most impactful feedbackyou've received from students
and parents who have read yourbooks?
Ernesto Cisneros (08:43):
That's been part of the most rewarding part
of this experience.
I remember there was a girl andwhen I went to visit a school
and she was very excited to gether book signed and she came
over and she just.
.
.
I knew she was going to saysomething special to me for just
the way she was looking at me.
She was honestly looking at melike I was somebody, like
(09:04):
somebody should really want herto meet and I just I could see
like a sparkle in her eye.
When her turn came over, Iasked her her name and that's
when she told me that she reallyidentified with the story of
Lalo because she said that's herdad's story.
And sorry, I think I'm tryingnot to choke up at this moment
(09:24):
because I'm just thinking aboutthose, but it's just really
surreal and I don't think that'sthe right word, but it's moving
.
It's just very special whenyou're writing something and
people are really connecting too.
And I've had people, kiddos comeover to me and telling me that
oh yeah, my dad's undocumentedtoo.
(09:46):
And I've had kiddos who, forexample, we're going to be going
off for Christmas break and Ialways ask the kids anybody
going anywhere, anybody doinganything?
And I always get a few kids whotell me oh, I'm going to go see
my dad, where's your dad?
Oh, he's over there in Tijuana.
We get to see him once a monthand I'm like, are you going to
go there or are you going to goto Friendship Park?
(10:07):
And it's like, no, just likeyour book.
And it just breaks my heart.
So part of it is very difficultto hear that they're going
through similar experiences,because there is a part of me
that wishes that there was noplace for Efrén Divided the book
, there was no need for it.
I think that's what I kind ofwant and I know it's kind of a
weird thing for an author to say, but I really do wish that
(10:28):
there was no need for this book.
I wish that people weren'tidentifying with it but sadly,
they are, and it's really.
.
.
It just breaks my heart to hearthe stories.
So it's rewarding but it'sdevastating to hear at the same
time.
Bianca Barquin (10:46):
Important for us to hear and important stories.
The characters are trulylikable, relatable.
I mean.
I read the book and I actuallyfell in love with Lalo's
character too, because here's acharacter in a difficult
position but so helpful and socaring, so I completely
(11:06):
understand.
Ernesto Cisneros (11:07):
So one of the things I really wanted to do was
to help the kiddos to navigatetheir situations.
So with Efrén, at the end, andI'm not gonna give any spoilers
away, but I wanted to thecharacter Efrén to feel
empowered by the end of the book, and if there are any kiddos
who find themselves in the samesituation that Efrén does, I
(11:27):
hope that they feel empowered aswell by the end of the book.
Bianca Barquin (11:31):
Thank you.
Next question for you.
Can you give us a sneak peekand I know that you've started
to talk about it, but now I'msuper excited and can't wait to
hear, into any future projectsor books you're working on?
What themes or messages are youhoping to explore next?
Ernesto Cisneros (11:50):
So a little quick disclaimer is that most of
my titles are working titlesand every book I've written so
far the title has changed, butthe working title right now it's
named Queso for Short, and it'sabout a boy named Quetzalcoatl,
who people can pronounce hisname, and this is based on a
student that I actually had, sonot based on the student, but
I'm borrowing his name and I hadtrouble with his name at the
(12:13):
time too, and so I asked him ifI'd call him Queso, and he loved
the name Queso.
And it's a story about a boywhose dad was as a security
guard right here on the Bristolby the swap meet, and there was
a burglar who breaks into theirhome and he's murdered.
And we fast forward to thestory two years later and the
(12:34):
boy's still struggling with theloss of his father, and so one
day he makes a wish that hecould see his dad again, and the
next day he wakes up, but it's1982, and he gets to see his dad
again, but he's 12 years oldand his father is at Tremendo.
And I'm having so much funrevisiting the 80s and I get to
(12:56):
write about schools likeSpurgeon and Freemont and going
to Salvador Park and doing allthe foosball tournaments and
going into the swimming pool for25 cents because it lets you go
for two hours.
Back in the day, they would letyou go for two hours and then my
friends and I like after, wewould go into the bathrooms and
we would hide and they kickeverybody out and then when they
let the next batch in, we wouldjust come out of the bathrooms.
(13:16):
So, for 25 cents, we wouldspend the entire day there.
Just a lot of the of the stuffthat we did when we were kids, I
get to relive them and sharethem with people, so I cannot
tell you how excited I am aboutit, how much fun it's been.
I am following my rule aboutwriting for one hour a day, and
so I'm happy.
I'm not making myself sick, I'mnot stressed.
(13:38):
I'm really enjoying the process, and so I'm really excited for
that story to come out.
I'm not sure if it's gonna makeit for 2024.
It's either gonna be late 2024or early 2025.
But that's one of the projectsI'm working on.
I'm working on a comic book andI'm hoping to publish a young
adult novel as well, one that Iwrote in Sharon Saxton's junior
(14:02):
year classroom, that was one ofher assignments and I'm super,
super excited about being ableto write for a little bit older
kids, and that was a little bitmore challenging.
That title is gonna really bevery emotional.
I don't.
.
.
Ernest Hemingway said somethingalong the lines of basically
just bleeding onto the pages,and that writing was pretty easy
if you do that, and for methat's always been my approach.
(14:23):
I don't really censor myself asfar as like, what am I willing
to share?
I did grow up with a lot oftough experiences, but those are
the tough experiences that thekids are also having and they're
living them too.
So again, I wanna help themnavigate those experiences,
those tough moments in life.
Bianca Barquin (14:42):
I am so excited about what's to come.
I can't wait.
I hope that your book getspublished, Queso, sooner than
later, so I can read it.
Ernesto Cisneros (14:52):
Me too me too .
Bianca Barquin (14:52):
But I'm excited about the comic book and the
young adult book as well, soyou'll have to keep me posted.
Ernesto Cisneros (14:58):
I will and I'm really excited right now
because there's two kiddos in myclassroom who have copies and
they're, like I said earlier,they're my best editors and I'm
really excited about it.
I did have an author friendread it and she said she thought
it was the best thing I'vewritten yet.
So that's exciting.
But yeah, I think I'm moreexcited about the kiddos.
I just wanna see their reactionbecause I know that they're
gonna be super honest and I justcan't wait to kind of pick
(15:21):
their brains and ask them whatparts did you enjoy?
Did anything kind of move you?
And, like I said, those are myeditors.
I could not write without them.
Bianca Barquin (15:29):
Awesome.
Okay, last question I have foryou before we get into our
Amplifier Acknowledgementsegment.
Reflecting on your journey froma student in Santa Ana to a
nationally recognized author,what are some key life lessons
you've learned that you'd liketo pass on to our educators and
our students?
Ernesto Cisneros (15:50):
You know, it's funny how, every time you ask
me questions about things thatI've learned throughout this
whole process, I cannot help butmention Sharon Saxton, and I
think that the reason for thatis, as an educator, she had a
huge impact on my life and partof it was because, growing up
(16:12):
and I think this is the thirdtime I'm in a reference, but
with a sense of disentitlement Ijust did not believe in myself,
and sometimes when you don'tbelieve in yourself, you need
that one person who will believein you when you can't, and she
was that for me.
I remember her pretty much asshe.
.
.
I wasn't doing my homework andshe pulled me aside and she had
(16:33):
a very stern talking to me and Irealized she was probably the
first teacher that ever showedshe cared and even though, you
know, maybe I didn't like themessage that she was giving me,
I appreciated it so much and itwas just her faith in me and she
would always tell me thatyou're such a talented writer.
And I believed her because shewas always so brutally honest
(16:57):
about everything else and whywould she lie to me?
But she's been amazing.
Right after I left high school,I found out that she actually
signed up to take classes withher former students in the
community college because sheheard about so many other that
were struggling.
So she signed up and she tookthe classes alongside with them.
And so again it just goes backto, I mean one, she's a
(17:21):
wonderful human being, and two,just that she invested her time
and her energy into her students.
And I still.
.
.
we keep in touch with socialmedia sometimes.
And again it just goes down to Idid not believe in myself, but
she did, and she kind of carriedme for a couple of years.
(17:42):
Just her belief in me helped me, help to just keep me going.
Every time I was at UC Irvineother professors, would you know
, shred my paper and say, oh,this is one of the worst things
I've ever read.
I would think, you know, SharonSaxton thought you were very
talented, okay, you can do this,you can do this, and so she.
.
.
I think a lot of the confidence,or what little confidence I had
(18:03):
, it all came from her and Ithink that as an educator,
that's the most powerful thingyou do.
If you can believe in thekiddos and let them know that
you're not just saying that youtruly believe in them.
That's the most powerful thinga teacher can, can do for a
student.
Bianca Barquin (18:20):
I think that that is a powerful message, not
just for teachers, but for everyemployee that works with
children, for all parents,aunties, uncle, everybody, right
tios, tias, everybody,abuelitos, abuelitas, just to
continually tell our kiddos thatwe believe in them and they can
do anything they set theirminds to doing.
Ernesto Cisneros (18:43):
Yes, and in the classroom, I, I share the
struggles with the kids too,when we are doing writing and,
and I, I don't like to go homeand write something the night
before.
I used to do that as a teacherbecause I thought I'm the
teacher, I can.
I, I can't have spellingmistakes if I write something,
or I can't have, you know,improperly structured sentences.
(19:04):
So let me type something up andwrite it and have it be very
professional.
And then I realized that thekids are not seeing the true
process.
I never hide my mistakes.
I never hide my frustrations.
There's days in my lessonsdon't go well and we talk about
them next day.
I'm like you know what?
It's fine, because now Ilearned what I did wrong and now
we can try and do it better.
(19:26):
So that's also really important, that we also show them the
struggles as well.
A lot of times people don't,they're not transparent with
those things.
And so kids, they try to belike us and then when they fail,
sometimes they give up becauseI think they, well, I'm not as
good as this person.
No, no, no, you just didn't seeall the work that it took.
You know, okay, you'restruggling to publish your book.
(19:46):
Okay, I struggled for 14 years.
That's part of the processsometimes.
Bianca Barquin (19:52):
You're being authentic with our students and
you're helping them become morereflective and you're helping
them become more resilient.
So thank you for that.
Okay, before we sign off, it'stime for our Amplifier
Acknowledgement segment.
Ernesto, if you could amplifythe message or lesson of one
educator or leader who's made asignificant impact in your
(20:15):
journey, who would it be andwhat is that resonating message?
Ernesto Cisneros (20:19):
I could very easily go back to Sharon Saxton
one more time.
I think I'm going to mention Ms.
Ashley also, and she's also ateacher that was.
.
.
she was my math algebra one andalgebra two teacher at Santa Ana
High School.
I think that the message thatshe gave me though it wasn't an
actual something she said it wassomething she did and she would
(20:42):
always stay after school andjust tutor us and she would play
music and she would make it fun.
And I never knew that studyingcould be fun and, honestly, I
would go to the class justbecause I thought it was a cool
place to be and the fact thatthey were doing math problems,
that didn't seem to matter and Ididn't know I was studying.
(21:06):
And I think the message issometimes we just need somebody
to sit by us, by our side, andeven if she wasn't directly
telling me how to do the mathproblems, just knowing she was
there, you know, working on mathproblems, there's other
students who are doing the samething, my peers were doing the
same thing.
She was leading by example andI think sometimes with a lot of
(21:27):
kiddos, we ask them to do things, go home and read, okay, but
sometimes they need somebody,said next to them while they're
reading, or they need somebodyto read with them.
Okay, I need you to study.
Okay, what does studying evenlook like?
For a lot of the kiddos,they're not aware, they're not
sure exactly how to do thesethings.
So I think the biggest messageis sometimes we just we need a
(21:49):
little bit of help, and it'sjust little things that make the
biggest differences.
I think that the overarchingtheme with with both teachers,
and not just them, but everybodyelse who's been part of my life
, who's Influenced me, you know,at school, they all gave me a
place to be, and it wasn't justa place to be, but as a place
where I wanted to be, like Ifelt welcomed and I, looking
(22:14):
back, naturally there's a firsttime I'm actually processing
this like live on the spot.
But as I think about this, everyclassroom where I did excel was
a place where I felt welcomedand wanted and appreciated.
And all the classrooms where Idid not feel that way, where I
thought was just.
.
.
it felt like that was justanother number, I didn't.
(22:36):
.
.
I usually didn't do very well inthose classes because I didn't,
unfortunately, I just didn't dothings for myself and sometimes
when those.
.
.
you have somebody who caresabout you, you don't want to
disappoint them, so I thinkthat's what it was.
They cared about me, so inreturn, I cared about them and
what they thought about me, andso I think that that brought out
the, the best of me, and I willforever be super appreciative
(22:59):
for what they did.
Bianca Barquin (23:04):
Remember, leadership is not just about
guiding, but also celebratingand acknowledging those who've
paved the way.
Ernesto, it's been an absolutepleasure having you on SA USD's
Amplifying Leadership.
Your journey from Santa Ana tothe pages of your books is an
inspiring testament to the powerof resilience, creativity, and
(23:24):
dedication.
Thank you for sharing yourinsights and for the profound
impact you're making in thelives of our students, parents,
and the broader community.
To our listeners, thank you forjoining us today.
I hope Ernesto's story hasinspired you to find your own
unique ways to connect, create,and contribute to our community.
(23:45):
Remember, each one of us has astory that can ignite change and
foster understanding.
Until next time, keep leading,keep inspiring, and keep
amplifying the voices that makeSA USD a place of growth and
discovery.
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