Merced elementary school teacher retires after 35 years. He was the ‘Cinco de Mayo king’

Ernie Diaz ended his teaching career the way he started, teaching third grade at Gracey Elementary located on N. West Ave. in Merced.

The 61-year-old Diaz retired in June after teaching for 35 years.

The school’s AVID students organized a surprise assembly to honor Diaz’s retirement. He was called in for a make-believe emergency IEP meeting to keep him from finding out about the celebration.

For those who might not know Diaz, lifelong friend and co-worker Blanca Arceo describes him as a model teacher.

“He is always happy. He’s a very sweet man. Compassionate about teaching. Very friendly with everyone, not only students, families, coworkers, and even his previous students that he has had for years,” Arceo said.

Born in Los Reyes, Michoacán, México, Díaz was three years old when his family moved to the United States.

The importance of education was instilled at a very young age. Diaz said his father would take him and his siblings to work in the tomato fields during the summer.

“He would tell us ‘If you don’t stay in school this is what you’re going to do.’ And I said ‘No way dad. No way,’ ” Diaz said. “And I was the first one in my family to go to college.”

Diaz first knew he wanted to become a teacher in high school while tutoring kids at Planada Elementary. He also was impacted by his teachers and the skills he learned to become proficient in English. This inspired him to pursue teaching to provide these services to students in the English Learner population.

Other jobs that crossed Diaz’s mind were becoming a special day class teacher or even working for the Border Patrol.

Diaz went on to attend Fresno State, and earned a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in bilingual education in 1988.

He became a substitute instructor for the Merced City School District until a position opened at Gracey Elementary. Diaz became a third-grade teacher in 1989 and has been there ever since.

He was known as the Cinco de Mayo king

Everyday students in Diaz’s class go over their expectations which is the acronym B.E.A.R.S. This stands for “believe in yourself, expect excellence, act responsibly, respect others, and show self control.”

Latinos make up almost 90% of the school’s third-graders, according to the state Department of Education.

Former student Dolores González-Flores, now 35, said Diaz is the best third-grade teacher any third-grader could have.

Three words that González-Flores used to describe Diaz were attentive, caring, and fun.

“He’s very well-known and loved in the community,” González-Flores said.

One of her favorite memories with Diaz was when she and another student took a trip to the local grocery store to grab piñatas for Cinco de Mayo.

Diaz is the self-proclaimed Cinco de Mayo king. For many years he would put up decorations, make piñatas with his students, and taught them the cultural significance of the holiday. As a teacher, Diaz said, he does a lot of cultural appreciation and awareness in his classroom.

Current principal José Muñoz assigned tougher students to Diaz’s classroom because of his compassion and acceptance of a tough challenge.

“The kids did very well in his classroom because they knew that they were loved, that they were cared for, and that they would get an honest shot at being in the classroom without any prejudgement of who the student was,” Muñoz said.

Diaz said he doesn’t hold a kid’s past against them. His job is to accept them, he said. Every student has the same opportunity to learn; some just need more support, said Diaz.

COVID was a challenge for Diaz. He contemplated if early retirement was next.

Through all the challenges, it was hard for Diaz to step away due to teaching students for generations.

“People tell me that you’re a great teacher and it makes me want to cry because I’ve been there 35 years and I have had kids that are now parents themselves,” Diaz said.

“It makes me cry because, to me, being a great teacher is not only being a teacher, it’s being a friend, a good colleague, a person that works collaboratively with other teachers.”

Diaz said a great teacher will do everything possible to meet kids’ needs. This is one thing that former principal Sharon Spinardi remembered about Diaz during her time at Gracey.

“One of the things that sticks out in my mind with Ernie is that he was always willing to improve and to make the changes necessary for the students,” Spinardi said.

“His students loved him, they just loved him and they trusted him and he was always so caring and kind,” Spinardi said.

The Diaz teaching legacy continues

Daughter Marissa Diaz will continue the legacy teaching first-grade at Rivera Elementary.

Originally interested in the medical field, Marissa liked working with kids and saw the impact education could have. After some encouragement and support from her father, she started on her path to teaching.

“I guess it was a calling for me, but I just didn’t see it until you know once I was older, it was like ‘Oh yeah, I guess I did want to follow into his footsteps and do education as well,’” Marissa Diaz said.

With his retirement, Diaz will still visit Gracey from time to time and even help out in his daughter’s classroom.

Diaz plans on traveling with his retired wife Marcy. His first trip will be to New México to attend the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta®. Other trips include Italy and Spain. He also plans on spending more time with his brothers.

“To Gracey, I would like to say thank you for all the great memories that you gave me. I love [you] very much and continue to educate all students that come to our school … because they are our future,” Diaz said. “Thank you for being a super staff and great friends to all of us.”