A State Holiday

California has established an official state holiday to honor Latino labor leader Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez Day is intended to promote service to the community in honor of Chavez's life and work. This day will be celebrated on March 31st, in honor of Chavez's birthday, or the appropriate Monday or Friday nearest that date.

Senate Bill 984 (Polanco) asks schools to celebrate the life and work of Cesar Chavez. Education Code, Section 37220-37223, describes the legislation signed by Governor Gray Davis on August 18, 2000. State Superintendent Delaine Eastin asks educators to honor Cesar Chavez through education and community service. To aid schools and teachers, the California Department of Education has created a Model Curriculum for Cesar Chavez with background information about the law, CDE contacts, curriculum development and attention to standards. This site explains that K-12, online, standards-based curriculum development will occur between March 2001 and March 2002 to include:

• biographies for students
• lesson plans for teachers
• primary source materials, including speeches and writings of Chavez
• oral histories of those who participated in historical events related to the causes espoused by Chavez

This curriculum, and that developed by independent California teachers, should be based in the California History-Social Science Content Standards and taught throughout the school year. To support standards-based teaching about Cesar Chavez and his work, an alignment guide has been prepared by the California Department of Education. Full text of the Content Standards may be accessed through the History-Social Science SCORE website.

The Service Learning aspect of the holiday is being administered through the Commission on Improving Life Through Service with assistance from the California Department of Education's CALServe program.

History-Social Science Coordinator Dr. Margaret Hill and the San Bernardino County Office of Education have developed and posted online curriculum and resources at the SCORE History-Social Science website for teachers to access and use in conjunction with Cesar Chavez Day. We recommend teachers use and contribute to this site.

Resources complied by SDCOE and the WRITE Institute are available to view online HERE, and include related readings, music and video information, and internet link resources.

Also available are Learning Activities and Resources in English and Spanish to Commemorate Cesar E. Chavez, Labor Leader. To download a copy of the English Unit as PDF, click HERE. To download a copy of the Spanish unit as PDF, click HERE. Please note that these files are quite large and will take some time to download.

Teachers and parents are encouraged to support and honor any community service in which students participate. A list of suggested projects and a certificate are provided for your use.

Local Programs & Contest
The San Diego Cesar E. Chavez Commemoration Committee maintains a website that features information about Chavez, a photo gallery, links to useful sites, information about their essay contest for local students in grades 7-12, and a schedule of local events to commemorate Chavez and his contributions.

Books for Classroom Use
Nancy Lemke at The Bookhandler features literature and classroom resources for use in teaching and learning about Cesar Chavez and his work. See the website for titles, including Chavez biographies and information about migrant farmworkers. The San Diego County Office of Education's Media Services features a collection of classroom materials available to educators in participating districts. A list of available resources is forthcoming at this site.

Cesar Chavez Elementary School
In 1997, San Diego Unified School District named a new school in honor of Cesar Chavez.