This article was a winner of Lookout’s 2025 Journalism Scholarship Challenge, which invited high school students to highlight an unsung hero in their life. Learn more and find all of the winners here.
Watsonville is a beautiful, tight-knit community, with a wide range of diversity. Its community is built on strong connections and mutual support. Many families have grown up here, and are deeply rooted in the history of Watsonville. For Ruby Vasquez, serving her community is more than just a job, it’s a deeply held belief. Ruby works for Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) as a teacher on special assignment. In her role, she communicates with many immigrant and English language-learning parents, explaining how they can best engage with their students academically. Ruby believes that parental involvement is a key component to a student’s success.
“I really, really feel like engaging the families, the parents are very crucial, very important so that the student could experience success in their development,” Ruby explained. As long as families are provided with the necessary resources and support, they will be able to navigate the school system and aid their children’s education. According to Ruby, “There are so many assets that we can start building upon so that we can be working towards what’s best for the student.” Ruby works tirelessly to ensure that these families are not left behind as Watsonville undergoes significant changes, and more opportunities open for younger generations.
Not only does she help families in the field of education, but she also mentors educators as well. Ruby is currently a mentor to three UC Santa Cruz students who are studying to be bilingual educators. They meet often and have conversations about what’s going on in their teaching careers, and overall progress with their studying in their educational field. Ruby says, “So it just depends, we’ll have some virtual meetings, we’ll have some in-person meetings.”
Ruby instilled her belief in serving her community the most she can from a young age. She grew up in Moss Landing, surrounded by a close-knit community. She observed her parents’ behavior from a young age growing up on an egg ranch; her father would never turn down a worker in need of pay. Ruby states, “So I remember always being around hardworking people.” She recalls seeing the farmworkers toiling through the fields as well, understanding the sacrifices many adults made for their children.
When Ruby was in seventh grade, she noticed an increase in Spanish-speaking students. In most cases, they were immigrating from Mexico, and Ruby knew if she wanted to serve this community in the future, she’d have to learn Spanish, which she didn’t grow up speaking. From this point on she knew she wanted to be a teacher. According to Ruby, “I just knew from a young age if I wanted to teach in Watsonville, and if I wanted to be successful, I needed to also learn the language. So I did take many, many years of Spanish.”
Ruby was inspired to pursue a higher education since she was a kid, so she attended Hartnell College. In her second and last year, she was taking a Spanish for Spanish speakers class, and a volunteer came in to talk about UC Santa Cruz. At this time, Ruby had no idea UCSC even existed and was surprised there was a university in Santa Cruz, although she was already set to go to San Jose State University. After hearing this volunteer talk, she knew she wanted to commute to UCSC. She was very grateful to have this opportunity because back then higher education was not the main focus of lots of people.
After Ruby was given the opportunity to go to UCSC, she worked to get her bachelor of arts degree, with an emphasis on Chicano studies and also received a bilingual multiple-subject credential. Ruby has been dedicated to helping the community of Watsonville, going through many different steps to reach one of her many goals. Being taught the ethic of service to others is what helped shape her character, molding her person and her desire to give back to the community in any way she could, and she does.
Her work expands beyond just the educational field, as she is a member who is actively involved in the Rise Together coalition. The purpose of this group is to build awareness in the work led by, for or in support of people of color within the area of Santa Cruz. This group was formed in response to racial justice concerns in 2020.
Ruby also plays several leadership roles with Arts Council Santa Cruz County. She is an assistant director of the adult folklorico dance group Esperanza del Valle, and this year marks the 45th anniversary of this group as it’s one of the longest-established groups in Santa Cruz County. She is also the founder and instructor of the youth folklorico dance group Estrellas de Esperanza.
Ruby’s achievements and roles in Santa Cruz demonstrate the act of giving to your community and exemplify that any act of engagement can develop long-lasting change. Ruby states, “Folks could get involved at a community level. There are different organizations that are always looking for either board members or volunteers,” encouraging everyone to go out there and help out because it truly makes a difference.