Gonzales: Passion to help students across district
By RONNIE FUENTES
The Tower
From teacher to principal and now to Director of Student Services for the Manteca Unified School District, no matter what chapter of his life he’s in, Frank Gonzales is all about the students.
In the words of Gonzales, being a teacher or principal doesn’t mean it’s all about the title or the amount of authority one has, but about helping the students grow to be prosperous.
What has set him up to be an amazing leader? His experience and love for students has made him a successful supervisor. Many of his loved ones and mentors have seen his immense growth.
“I have always said that teaching is the best profession you can get into. The reason being is that you have an impact on young leaders, future leaders.”
Gonzales’ entire career has always been centered around education. He has been a teacher for middle school and high school ever since 1994. He began his teaching career at Neil Hafley Elementary School. He then went on to be a teacher at East Union High and Sierra High. All these different jobs made him understand his purpose – to serve the students.
“My goal has been to serve the students,” claimed Gonzales. “Whatever capacity that enabled me to do, that’s where I would be and what I would do.”
Gonzales’ teaching career began with his graduation from Stanislaus State University, earning his degree in History. He then achieved his teaching credentials from National University and his master’s degree from the University of La Verne. He has always understood that everything he does is for the well-being of his students.
“I have always said that teaching is the best profession you can get into,” Gonzales said. “The reason being is that you have an impact on young leaders, future leaders.”
After his many years of teaching, Gonzales then became the Dean of Students at Manteca High. He spent some time at Manteca High, then went to Weston Ranch High School to become an assistant principal.
Gonzales has always felt that his position or authority wasn’t significant. What did matter was his effort to support the students. Every job title he has held has aligned with his beliefs and goals – the drive to offer support to the students.
“It’s not about me. It is all about the students. It is also about supporting the staff to help guide the students to a better future,” expressed Gonzales. “Never once in my life did I think I would ever be a Dean of Students or an assistant principal.”
Gonzales has had many role models throughout his career, but one of them has stood out: Greg Leland, now the principal of Lathrop High School.
Leland Gonzales taught and coached together at Sierra High. Gonzales said Leland’s mentorship helped shape his career.
“When I was playing football at East Union, he was the varsity coach at Manteca. We developed that coach and student-athlete relationship. When I went to Sierra, he hired me as the head freshman football coach. I learned a great deal from as a person,” said Gonzales. “There are people in your life that you want to emulate. There was this part about him that made me want to be like him. I always questioned how I could be like him.”
Photos contributed
From left, former Manteca High principal Frank Gonzales gets a bucket of ice dumped on him for the Ice Bucket Challenge in the Dawson Center. Middle, Gonzales presents an American flag to two students. Right, Gonzales, wearing a gown signed by students, delivers a speech to the graduation class before they receiver their diplomas.
Throughout Gonzales’ career, his friends, family, and coworkers have noticed the potential he had to be leader. Leland noted that Gonzales would have a phenomenally successful coaching and educational career.
“Mr. Gonzales was always hard working and driven to be the very best at both teaching and coaching. I also remember that he used to bring doughnuts to his class every Friday,” expressed Leland. “I enjoyed teaching and coaching with Mr. Gonzales. We had an outstanding staff at Sierra in the 1990s. Mr. Gonzales was an integral part of the success we had at Sierra.”
When Gonzales was appointed as the Director of Student Services by the District, no one was shocked.
“We were all rooting for Mr. Gonzales to be promoted to the District Office. He will continue to do an outstanding job working with both students and administrators,” Leland said. “Mr. Gonzales has always been student-centered, and he always has the best interest of the students in mind in anything that he has ever done in education. The district is incredibly lucky to have Mr. Gonzales in our district. The tremendous loss that will be felt at MHS will be the gain of our district.”