A coalition of student leaders at Santa Monica High School chose to broaden the lens of their annual Latino heritage celebration this year, scrapping a program centered on a single historical figure in favor of honoring the collective struggle of the farmworkers' movement.
The event, renamed Farmworkers Movement Day, took place March 25 in Barnum Hall and drew on the legacy of La Causa — the movement that fought for the rights and dignity of farmworkers in the United States — as its organizing theme. The decision to shift the event's focus came from student leaders and advisors who cited a commitment to inclusivity, critical awareness, and honoring the voices of many rather than one.
"For my students, this history is not distant — it is personal," said Dr. Guadalupe Mireles-Toumayan, one of two faculty advisors who guided the event. "It connects directly to their families, their communities, and their lived experiences."
The pivot was driven by more than a dozen students representing several campus organizations. ASB President Fidel De La Torre, Legado Latino President Milly Garcia, Ritmo Latino President Daniel Garcia, MEChA President Jonathan Alvarado, and Orgullo Oaxaqueño President Elena Policarpo were among those who helped lead the effort. Also involved were student leaders Mira Edwards, Eduardo Hernandez, Genesis Mateo, Tanya Cortes, Danna Garcia of Cajitas con Amor, and student contributors Freida Walzer Martinez, Katherine Martinez, Layla Wiley, Evelyn Santiago, and Melissa Martinez.
Together, they designed promotional materials, organized logistics, developed questions for a guest speaker, and shaped how the history of La Causa would be presented to their peers.
The program opened with cultural performances by Ritmo Latino and Orgullo Oaxaqueño, which set a tone of pride and celebration before the event turned to its more educational focus. Hector Pacheco, a respected activist in the Latino community, then addressed students, bringing the history of La Causa to life by connecting past struggles to present realities.
A student-led question-and-answer session with Pacheco followed, giving attendees a direct voice in the conversation. Students described the event afterward as empowering and said they left feeling more connected to their cultural identity.
Mireles-Toumayan and Ms. Stefani Tovar, the event's faculty advisors, guided students through a preparation process that emphasized cultural awareness and the importance of personal identity. Students were encouraged not only to learn the history but to reflect on how it shapes their own lives.
"Our history is not just something we learn; it is something we carry with pride in our culture, live and embody in our identity, and pass forward through our voices, our students, and our communities," Mireles-Toumayan said. "It shapes who we are, inspires who we are becoming, and reminds us that we continue the work of those who came before us."
While the legacy of Cesar Chavez informed the event's themes of leadership and advocacy, organizers were deliberate in framing the day around the broader movement rather than any one figure — a choice that reflected what students described as a commitment to honoring many voices rather than one.