Mosaic Summer 2025 Issue

Why aren’t more Latinos, Blacks taking AP courses?

STUDENTS

OF COLOR STRUGGLE TO FEEL ACCEPTED AMONG OTHER HIGH ACHIEVERS

By Riya Minglani Mosaic

Prospect High School in Saratoga has a large Latino population, but that’s not reflected in the demographics of its Advanced Placement classes.

Walking into Prospect, a student would see a multitude of cultural club posters stuck on walls, strings full of country flags hung up during multicultural week, and students of various ethnicities roaming around campus. Yet, there is one place devoid of this diversity – AP classrooms.

Fiona Aman, who graduated from Prospect in June, said she felt like some of her classmates would act like she shouldn’t be in AP classes.

“It’s not necessarily just because I’m a person of color, because it’s happened from other people of color, but I was the only Black person in that class,” Aman said.

According to the 20242025 Prospect school profile, about 39% of the school is Hispanic. Data provided by Prospect Assistant Principal Evan Carter shows out of the 443 students who take AP

Federal cuts to food aid provoke worries

By Katie Pleitez Mosaic

Proposed cuts to a federal program that provides food assistance to those in need have stirred worries, both among Bay Area food bank leaders and the families who depend on them to help put food on the table.

The bill now being hammered out in Congress could slash between $200 billion and $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP).

According to the Urban Institute, the legislation could mean 5.4 million people would lose some or all monthly SNAP benefits.

Diana Bacho of San Jose, a mother of three who works as a night janitor, said the

Teens join 'No Kings' protest in San Jose

A young attendee, above, at the No Kings Day protest in San Jose holds an American flag decorated with flowers.

Volunteers passed out the flags to crowds gathered at downtown’s St. James Park on June 14, where organizers estimate that more than 12,000 people gathered to protest peacefully.

Paws and pop culture

By Grayson LaBarreare Mosaic

Tucked away on The Alameda near Santa Clara University, a new small business is bringing cats, coffee and Korean culture together for the first time in the Bay Area.

Guests drink freshly brewed coffee and enjoy pastries at the Nabi Cat Cafe. The pastel and butter-yellow walls create a warm and gentle atmosphere. Wall-mounted side tables line the right side of the cafe, while the left is occupied by the ordering station and a menu board filled with variety.

Down a hallway and up the stairs, a room filled with cozy modern furniture provides a comfortable space for cats and guests. The back of the

cafe features many kittens ranging from 4 months to 6 months old.

Guests can play with the kittens with the cat toys provided, or just socialize with the kittens. A $28

YOUTHS SAY THEY WOULD LIKE MORE TO JOIN MOVEMENT AGAINST TRUMP

By Naomi Kotani Mosaic

San Jose resident Shimon Goldstein knows how to use his voice. He marches at local anti-Trump protests and doesn’t hesitate to publicly share his opinions. He’s passionate and determined – and he’s only 18.

The West Valley College student was one of dozens of local teen protesters who took to the streets of downtown San Jose on June 14 as part of a nationwide “No Kings” demonstration against President Donald Trump’s policies and actions.

“The president is doing some very, very dangerous things,” Goldstein said, holding a poster that read “Facism is festering in the land of the free.”

According to the group 50501, which organized the San Jose protest, there were more than 12,000 attendees. Most of the demonstrators were adults, a turnout that several youths who showed up said was concerning.

“We are the younger generation,” said Evelyn Nguyen, 19. “We have to worry about our future. It’s great to see all these people, but I would love to see more younger people.”

The small teen attendance was a stark departure from recent global trends of youth protest involvement. The proportion of youths who participated in protests rose between the 1990s and

Cashless trend grows among businesses

By Isabelle Ling Mosaic

With the popularity and growth of digital and cashless payment methods, stores are increasingly turning to cashless business models.

Redwood City teenager Isabella Terranova, 18, has noticed more businesses that don’t take cash. She said the first time she noticed, she was trying to pay with cash at a gas station.

“I walked into the store with my 40 bucks in hand, and the guy was like, ‘We don’t take cash.’ And I was actually in a big pickle because I didn’t have a card at the time,” Terranova said. “I kind of tried to challenge it. But what can you do? You can’t force them

PHOTOS BY LAUREN UPPAL — MOSAIC

JOSHUA CEDRO — MOSAIC

A 4-month-old kitten basks in the attention of a patron at the Nabi Cat Cafe in Santa Clara.

Introducing

osaic 2025

These high school students comprise the Mosaic Journalism Summer Program, which offers a free summer workshop on journalism. Since 1993, Mosaic’s professional volunteer instructors have taught students skills such as reporting, writing, photography and multimedia during a summer program in the Spartan Daily newsroom at San Jose State University.

AGAMJOT AULAKH is passionate about writing and playing the saxophone. She joined Mosaic to get a feel for real-world journalism reporting, while also spending the summer refining her saxophone skills for her role as a rising junior in the marching band at James Logan High School in Union City. Agamjot also devotes time to raising awareness of mental health, by participating in the Mental Health Club at her school. Agamjot wants to travel the world and continue to form connections.

– Grayson LaBarreare

ALEXIS CARRILLO, a 17-year-old rising senior at William C. Overfelt High School in San Jose, was born in Michoacán, Mexico, and moved to the United States at the age of 1. Alexis is an introverted teen who enjoys photographing sports, specifically flag football. He is fluent in Spanish and likes sleeping, gaming and playing with his two dogs, Oso and Toby. He’s the only brother in his family, with three sisters. Despite his calm and cool nature, Alexis said he is terrified of spiders, snakes and heights. In his free time, he can be found watching “Tom and Jerry” or listening to Matt Maltese, who blends indie pop and chamber pop.

– Erin Federigan

ANGELIQUE ALVAREZ MARTINEZ is a rising senior at San Jose High School. She enjoys expressing herself through writing short stories and poems and depicts her ideas through satire and fiction. Angelique’s favorite pastimes are spending time with her cats and listening to rock music. Next year, she is looking forward to writing a book with the help of her school’s book club. She hopes to pursue a career in nursing to help ill people. Angelique was born in Washington state and is a fraternal twin.

Khan

— Sami

EDKARY SUAREZ is a rising senior at James Logan High School in Union City. She became more interested in writing during her sophomore year through opinion writing in her AP Language and Composition course and writing book reviews for Puente, a college-readiness program. She is excited that Mosaic will be her first time working on journalism. Edkary is involved with her school’s B4B baking club and mental health club, and she’s played saxophone in the school band for six years. In her free time, you can find her watching romcoms, baking, exploring the city and trying new matcha places.

— Isabelle

Ling

ERIN FEDERIGAN was born and raised in San Jose and is a 16-year-old rising senior at Silver Creek High School in San Jose. Erin is a staff writer for Silver Creek’s Raider Review. She plays on the varsity volleyball team, which went undefeated in the Blossom Valley Athletic League in 2024-25, and she plays for a club team, Academy, that will compete in a national tournament in Dallas this summer. She is an only child and lives alongside her two tabby cats, Snowy and Luna. She’s deathly afraid of butterflies, heights and bugs.

– Alexis Carrillo

GRAYSON LABARREARE has had journalism aspirations since middle school. She is expanding on that as editor-in-chief of her school yearbook program, a position she held her junior year and will reprise as a rising senior at Christopher High School in Gilroy. She hopes to study journalism at New York University. Grayson has a strong connection with her stepsister, and she says her boyfriend is her best friend. She is drawn to nature, photography and traveling. Outside of her academic achievements, Grayson enjoys collecting photo booth pictures and bringing home souvenirs from vacations. She said she tries to enjoy and savor every little moment.

– Agamjot Aulakh

ISABELLE LING, a rising senior at Carlmont High School in Belmont, has enjoyed writing since elementary school. She is a staff writer for the Scot Scoop and an incoming managing editor. She works with Civic Leaders of America, a student-led nonprofit organization, and she serves as a sustainability youth climate ambassador for San Mateo County and as a member of the Redwood City Teen Advisory Board. Isabelle also finds joy in gardening, baking and reading. She hopes to study humanities or political science in college.

– Edkary Suarez

KATIE PLEITEZ is passionate about her role in the California Association of Student Councils as a committee member for her upcoming senior year. At the conferences she advocates for marginalized communities and speaks out about issues that need change, such as helping English-learning students with peer-to-peer tutoring programs. She credits her AVID class at Mountain View High School with broadening her horizons, building her social and public speaking skills, and helping to create a safe community where she has found many friends. In her free time, she gives back to her community by crocheting items and playing drums at her church. – Madeline Aristorenas

LAUREN UPPAL is a rising senior at Del Mar High School in San Jose and will be one of the lead editors for her school newspaper. She is Punjabi, Chinese, Italian and German. Lauren has spent 40 hours a week in the same dance studio since she was 5 years old, training as a competitive dancer. She said dance has taught her how to be patient and principled. Lauren is interested in studying environmental science and public policy in college because she wants a career in a field she finds meaningful. She lives by a phrase her mom always says: “Be the better person.” – Riya Minglani

LIZETTE ANAYA’s interest in journalism began with her love for stories and for her community. A rising senior at Silver Creek High School in San Jose, she leads the Latino Student Union, serves in the leadership class and dances for student performance clubs. Lizette also plays on the girls flag football team, which she worked to found to expand sports opportunities for girls at Silver Creek. Lizette feels passionate about immigration, policy and the environment, striving to become an engineer and make a positive impact on the world. As a self-described party enthusiast and social butterfly, she enjoys spending her free time with family and friends.

– Padma Balaji

MADELINE ARISTORENAS loves to explore new ways to express herself through art. Since she was little she was surrounded by various music genres and musicians in her family who have inspired her passion for singing with her friends during her free time. In her upcoming senior year at Silver Creek High School in San Jose, she will take on the role of assistant editor-in-chief in the journalism program. Madi is determined to grow her interpersonal skills through journalism and getting to meet new people this summer. Her other activities at Silver Creek include club officer for the Polynesian dance club and membership in the Filipino Student Union. – Katie Pleitez

NAOMI KOTANI is a rising junior at Aragon High School in San Mateo. During her time at Aragon’s school paper, she covered issues ranging from student marijuana usage to the local homelessness crisis. The topics have sparked her interest in investigative journalism, which she hopes to pursue in the future. At Mosaic, she’s looking forward to learning from experienced journalists and refining her reporting skills. In her free time, Naomi enjoys thrifting, swimming, rock climbing and listening to music. – Sophie Luo

PADMA BALAJI’s drive to succeed stems from her family’s history of immigration from South India. A rising 17-year-old senior attending Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, Padma is editor-in-chief of her school’s newspaper and editor of the feminist magazine club. She tries to reduce her carbon footprint through thrifting and composting. With a focus on mitigating climate change, she serves as co-chair of the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit. Padma is fluent in four languages: Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu. – Lizette Anaya

RIYA MINGLANI, a recent graduate of Prospect High School in Saratoga, looks forward to pursuing her passion for journalism and writing at Mosaic. Reflecting on her past four years, Riya considers high school a transformative period when she was able to learn more about herself, pursue her interest in journalism and create meaningful friendships and memories. Riya hopes to pursue journalism with a potential double major in political science this fall at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Outside the classroom, Riya enjoys spending time with friends, riding her bike, going for a walk and teaching kids to swim.

–

SAMI KHAN is a rising senior at James Logan High School in Union City. He is the school’s activities commissioner and president of Leo Club, a community service club. Sami hopes to apply his writing skills in reporting for Mosaic. He looks forward to reporting on what is important to him, including community-interest stories and national issues. In his free time, he enjoys teaching at his school’s robotics club. He enjoys working with his Colt Robotics team and planning community service projects with fellow Logan students.

– Angelique Alvarez Martinez

SOPHIE LUO is a rising junior at Irvington High School in Fremont. This past year was Sophie’s first time writing for her school’s newspaper, the Irvington Voice. Sophie is drawn to news reporting and writing because she likes the impact and awareness stories can bring to the community. Outside of journalism, Sophie enjoys playing the flute, running cross country and starting new hobbies. She hopes to improve her interviewing and reporting skills at Mosaic, and apply what she learns to her upcoming role as news editor for the Voice.

XIMENA NATERA — MOSAIC

From left: Naomi Kotani, Erin Federigan, Sami Khan, Madeline Aristorenas, Edkary Suarez, Angelique Alvarez Martinez, Lizette Anaya, Padma Balaji, Lauren Uppal, Isabelle Ling, Sophie Luo, Grayson LaBarreare, Katie Pleitez, Riya Minglani, Agamjot Aulakh and Alexis Carrillo.

Lauren Uppal

– Naomi Kotani

Schools shape AI policies for changing world

PRINCIPALS ENCOURAGE RESPONSIBLE USE WHILE CLAMPING DOWN ON STUDENT CHEATING

By Lauren Uppal Mosaic

Despite initially being discouraged by South Bay schools, artificial intelligence use grew rapidly in the past school year. Now, some administrators are working to minimize cheating while promoting AI as a useful learning tool before the upcoming school year.

Some high schools are actively working on policies that would encourage responsible and honest use of AI tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly.

“We are working on strategies to find ways to include and embrace AI in the learning process and not fully vilify it,” Saratoga High School Principal Greg Louie said, adding that policies in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District are not drastically changing and academic integrity is being taken very seriously.

Louie said when students cheat or use AI to take shortcuts, they do a disservice to their own learning rather than getting ahead.

At Del Mar High School

in San Jose, Principal Diana Nguyen said that the Campbell Union High School District has created a district technology advisory committee providing a guide for generative artificial intelligence use. A document, now embedded in the student handbook, was created to help support teachers handling AI use in their classrooms.

Nguyen agrees that AI is a rapidly advancing change that schools need to catch up on for student success. “We can’t just ignore it, it’s one of those situations where we can either go with it or be left behind, and I don’t ever want any of our students to be at a disadvantage,” she said.

James Lick High School in San Jose doesn’t have specific policies in place for AI, but Principal Honey Gubuan said AI use in the classroom is up to each teacher’s preferences, with almost every teacher writing their own policy into their syllabus.

Principal Louie at Saratoga said some of his teachers have “gone back in time” to fight these technologies, reverting back to older ways of assigning work in class. Some

teachers are having students write their assignments with pen and paper, removing tech from the equation.

Administrators worry that irresponsible student use of AI is hurting teacher morale and making educators’ jobs harder. The principals at Saratoga, Del Mar and James Lick all agree that some teachers get discouraged by students who use AI to take shortcuts.

“Discouragement is a great word to describe how it feels when we want to instill this love of learning in

students,” Nguyen said. “We want them to be able to make the AI, not be replaced by the AI.”

But AI tools can also be helpful in the classroom when teachers use them. Gubuan said that James Lick teachers use an AI instructional planning tool called Brisk, and Del Mar teachers use programs to help detect AI use on assignments.

Gubuan compared AI technology’s impact to other technologies schools worried would disrupt student learning.

“At one point, calculators were outlawed in the classroom and now it’s such a prevalent tool to have,” she said, expecting that in the future AI tools will be an accepted presence in the classroom and educators will learn to live with them rather than shun them.

As the new school year approaches, Gubuan said it’s important to prepare students for the world they’re going into. “We need to shift, as adults, to meet their demands and their needs, so we can prepare them for what’s after high school,” Gubuan said.

Sikhs seeking mental health aid battle weakness stigma

By Agamjot Aulakh Mosaic

Sikhs in the Bay Area who seek mental health care sometimes face disapproval from other members of the Sikh community, who may regard mental health problems as fabricated, or a character failing.

Noor Khera of Livermore said she has struggled with mental health issues, but was hesitant to get help, out of concern about being perceived as weak.

”I have heard it multiple times: ‘Be strong,’” she said. “One day I started wondering, why am I so weak? My husband said to me, ‘You’re not weak, you’re sick.’ It allowed me to accept what’s wrong with me and to work on that.”

She said her decision to take a doctor’s advice and start antidepressants has made her feel much better.

Dr. Ravinder Randhawa, a Sikh psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente Fremont Medical Center, said patients she’s seen have mentioned this reluctance “many, many times. They’re scared of (being) judged by family and friends.”

She herself faced judgment when she chose her profession. “My own father, he was extremely disappoint-

ed. He questioned the field I was choosing. He would tell people I am a doctor, but what kind of doctor? So I had to take that disappointment in, and it did bother me a bit.”

But ultimately she said, “I was able to educate all my family and encourage them to be more open to seek help.”

This issue is not exclusive to Sikhs, of course. “A lot of Asian communities struggle with emotional expression,” Randhawa said.

Naz Khera of Tracy said her efforts to confide about mental health issues to family and friends were “shut down immediately.” She added that only made the problem worse, with disapproval from others piling onto mental health problems.

“It would get so bad I would crash…but that is also where rebuilding comes in.”

She added that the issue can be especially difficult for women and girls. “We have to appear a certain

MOSAIC 2025 PROFESSIONAL STAFF

way, which is not ourselves, in front of any community member that we meet.”

As dated as it may sound, there is still a strong sense among some that health issues are “all in your head,” Randhawa said. “But I can say the same thing about habits and hypertension. You can control these by eating well, running and exercising.” But when it comes to mental health, she added, “for some reason, people just don’t understand.”

Some younger Sikhs note there is a gap found between them and older generations. Many Sikh families in the Bay Area include immigrant parents, who may have come from an environment where mental health was downplayed.

Kamalpreet Kaur is the Sikh Student Association president at Sacramento State. “A lot of men are sent out of Punjab to work and save money,” he said. “They have to end up keeping their struggles buried inside them.”

Potential answers lie within Sikhism itself. “There is a lot of meditation in our religion,” said Arsh Kaur Sidhu, president of a health support group at Sacramento State University, “as well as peacefulness and acceptance.”

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Alum Rock Park hit by ‘BioBlitz’

VOLUNTEERS SURVEYING 720-ACRE PARK FIND WIDE VARIETY OF PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE

By Agamjot Aulakh Mosaic

Camera in hand, Kim Smith was capturing a bird in flight, appreciating the vibrant contrast between the blue and black feathers. Soon after, she was filming another bird she had never encountered before.

”I’ve got a Steller’s jay just now, and then another one whose name I don’t know,” she said. But then the answer suddenly came to her. “Oh, it was a grosbeak, which I’ve never seen before. I’m looking forward to seeing those pictures up close.”

Smith was one of the participants engaging in a “BioBlitz” held June 14 at Alum Rock Park in San Jose. Sponsored by Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, the BioBlitz encourages participants to find and identify as many species as possible

in a specific area at their own speed.

Silas McDermott was there with his daughter, Mia McDermott. He listed several of their sightings. “We have some good bugs down here, like some sort of butterfly or moth,” he said. Also within the bug kingdom, “Some ants we found earlier were interesting.”

Asked if they’d encountered anything surprising, he mentioned “some sort of holly-leaf cherry tree, and that’s cool. I didn’t know there were any cherries around here.”

Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful is a nonprofit that works with community groups, public agencies and students in an effort to restore the creek. It sponsors cleanups, plantings, recreational and cultural activities, and educational partnerships.

The group’s website de-

Federal grant funding cuts leave students and professors in limbo

By Naomi Kotani Mosaic

When Axel Tello discovered as a college sophomore a federally funded grant that would allow him to do paid lab research in any area of his choosing, he immediately applied.

Now a rising senior at UC Merced, Tello looked forward to gaining lab skills and experience, exploring different types of research and seeing real-life applications of what he learned in his classes – all without having to juggle another job to sustain himself.

Tello was eventually awarded an Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) grant which is distributed by the National Institutes of Health. The grant was everything he had hoped it would be.

But then in spring, things changed. Tello was supposed to have U-RISE funding until the end of his senior year, but

AP

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classes at Prospect, only 54 are Hispanic, translating to only 12.1% of AP students.

Black students make up 4% of Prospect’s general population and about 3% of AP students. Even with a smaller margin of difference, Aman noted she struggled to feel accepted by her peers in advanced classes.

“This might just be a matter of not knowing me I guess,” Aman said. “But when we’re in a group project, I’ve heard them say, ‘I don’t want her in my group.’ ” Prince Barfield Cruz, who graduated from Prospect High School in June, took four AP classes at Prospect. Similar to Aman, she was often the only Latino student in her AP classes.

“It’s people who have

scribes the creek as an essential element of the South Bay habitat: “It is over 64 miles long and is the largest watershed in Santa Clara County. Its headwaters are in Henry Coe Park, and it runs through Morgan Hill, Gilroy, downtown San Jose and into San Francisco Bay.”

The biodiversity of Coyote Creek “is an indicator of the health of the environment, and a BioBlitz is a way for us to document and observe what biodiversity looks like,” said Jessica Ruppert, the organization’s event coordinator. “So when we return to these various parks year over year, we can see trends that occur, and changes that might happen, such as seeing an invasive species pop up.”

The group tries to make the event a family affair. “It’s a great opportunity for families to get their kids out of the house,” said Néstor De la O Vargas, an organization event assistant. “Parents natural-

more than 1,600 grants, according to its list of retracted awards.

ly want their kids to be out and about. … People walking around, having a little nature walk, is better than just scrolling on TikTok.”

The BioBlitz is aided by naturalists who help guide participants through the variety of plants and wildlife.

The variety can be impressive, Ruppert said. “Just recognizing that there’s so much diversity here. There was a woman that came by and we had these little pamphlets that have examples of different things you can find here, and she was

funding but not nearly as much as what the NIH grant awarded.

like, ‘You can find all of those here?’ and I was like, ‘Yes! Yes, you can and more.’ This is just a very small sample.”

That “small sample” was literally true for Smith. “The insects that I found on one leaf … I tilted the leaf up, and in one little cluster we saw two or three different insects, some egg casings, some larvae,” she said. “In this oneinch area, there’s all of this life going on.

“It makes you realize how much is happening that’s not visible to us.”

instead the federal government terminated the grant a year early. Now Tello is left without funding for research next year.

His situation is far from unique. The federal government has abruptly cut grants to many researchers, including several at San Jose State University, leaving them with incomplete projects and struggling to find replacement funding.

Since February, numerous federal agencies have had billions of dollars for research projects slashed after the Trump administration sought to save money for billions in tax cuts and to eliminate support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Executive directives cut more than $3 billion and canceled more than 2,000 awards at the NIH as of June 4, according to an analysis by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The National Science Foundation, meanwhile, was forced to cut

The U-RISE grant not only financially supported college students’ research but also taught them scientific communication skills and how to navigate graduate school applications.

These are opportunities that many of the students, who come from underrepresented backgrounds, wouldn’t have the resources for without the program, according to Cleber Ouverney, the U-RISE program director at SJSU.

“[For someone coming] from a community that doesn’t really have the ability to see what science looks like in their own community, U-RISE really gives students the hope that they can go farther and beyond overall,” Tello said.

Tello has a stipend from UC Merced that will support him over the summer, but if he wants to continue working in a lab in the fall, he’ll have to take on two jobs to make up for the lost funds.

For SJSU students on U-RISE, Ouverney said the university has provided some

these like pre-beliefs, and it’s kind of hard to work around that,” Barfield Cruz said.

She said she’s been asked what she is doing in a class and has faced remarks about being Mexican.

“It’s a joke until it’s like, ‘why were you inclined to say that?’” Barfield Cruz said.

Barfield Cruz said students would question when she got an answer right, and she worked hard to prove to them she was “at their level”

throughout the year.

Even then, she wishes her peers understood how hard she works to make a good impression.

“I’m not just me,” Barfield Cruz said. “I hold a cultural background, and I am representing the people at this school, especially Hispanic people.”

Former Campbell Union High School District Assistant Superintendent German Cerda said making sure ev-

Professors, too, face funding difficulties.

Tammie Visintainer, associate professor of science education at SJSU, lost an NSF grant this year, two years before it was supposed to expire.

Visintainer had developed a 10-day summer training where teachers learned about the impact students’ backgrounds have on their experience with climate change. Teachers can still use the strategies Visintainer’s program implemented into their classrooms, but she can no longer offer the same amount of curriculum support.

Dustin Mulvaney, professor of environmental studies at SJSU, had two grants from the NSF and Environmental Protection Agency terminated. Mulvaney was researching a battery plant in Moss Landing in Monterey County.

Mulvaney said the search for new sources of funding has been difficult. State funding is usually awarded to projects with a specific focus, and foundations often cannot pro-

ery student, no matter their socioeconomic background, felt accepted and supported in advanced classes was a challenge.

The district works to get more women, low-income students and underrepresented minorities in AP classes, especially for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. The district started initiatives including audits on demographics and interviewing students about their experiences. It even received a grant from Google to support more initiatives.

“We want to see representation,” Cerda said, who is now superintendent of Alum Rock Union School District.

“If there are 10% of students of color, then there should be 10% in those classes.” Cerda notes he thinks “imposter syndrome” and feeling

vide as much funding as federal agencies do, he said. He is planning to apply for a grant from San Jose State.

SJSU professor of science education Cassandra Paul also recently had a NSF grant cut. The money helped her develop a program to make undergraduate science, technology, engineering and math courses more accessible for underrepresented students.

“To think that the grant was canceled without any concern for the work that we were doing was heartbreaking,” Paul said. “It just feels like something’s ripped away from you. You put so much thought and care and intellectual energy into it to just be like, ‘well, that’s the end of it.’ It’s devastating.”

Adding to the frustration, many of the researchers said they have not heard much from the federal agencies that terminated their grants.

“Nobody knows what’s going on,” said Theresa Dinh, SJSU professor of biological sciences, who works with U-RISE students in her lab. “That’s the hardest part, the uncertainty and the lack of communication.”

that they don’t belong is why students choose not to take AP classes.

Barfield Cruz said she thinks access to resources stands in the way of more Hispanic students from taking AP.

“It’s a language barrier and cultural difference,” Barfield Cruz said. “If it weren’t for the people I hang out with, I wouldn’t have known to take these classes or what they have to offer.”

She thinks having more AP resources in Spanish and reaching out to other communities within the school will encourage more students to take those classes.

“I think it would be great for these students to realize what the school has to offer and take advantage,” Barfield Cruz said. “Because even if they don’t want to pursue higher education, AP has so much to offer.”

LIZETTE ANAYA — MOSAIC Volunteers scour Alum Rock Park for animal and plant species June 14 in San Jose.

Source: Prospect High School

MOSAIC

PROTEST

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2010s. In 2019, at least 25% of protesters at selected demonstrations were youths, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Melanie Ontiveros, a U.S. history teacher at Sierramont Middle School in San Jose, said young people are “just not as active politically as they need to be.”

Ontiveros said threats of violence from Trump may have discouraged parents from letting their teens attend the protests. She referred to a comment Trump made ahead of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary parade, which was scheduled on the same day as the “No Kings” protests. He said those protesting at the Army parade would be met with “very big force.”

Goldstein said misinformation surrounding the recent Los Angeles protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids has also contributed to the low teen turnout in San Jose.

Still, the young protesters who rallied and marched in San Jose said the act of showing up was a movement in and of itself.

“It’s one thing to see (youth activism) on TikTok or post it on your story,” Nguyen said. “But to see it in person with everyone else around you, you’re like, ‘I have this community. I know I’m not alone in my views.’ I think that’ll make people feel less afraid to speak their mind.”

Others believe visibility can increase youth protest involvement.

Goldstein said if young people see others their age at rallies, they get the message that protesting “isn’t just a fringe idea.”

“This is real Americans fighting back against a real threat to freedom and to our country,” he said.

Beyond hoping to lead by example and motivate their peers to advocate, many teens who attended the “No Kings” event were compelled to protest by personal experiences related to Trump’s policies.

Gabi Vasquez, 18, came out to demonstrate because she’s afraid of Trump cutting funding and programs

CASHLESS

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to take your money. I know that cash is becoming less and less accepted.”

Betty Duong, Santa Clara County District 2 supervisor representing San Jose, has also noticed a trend of more cashless operations. She said a lot of restaurants went cashless during the pandemic for health safety and stayed that way for security reasons.

“A lot of my downtown and East Side businesses converted only to cashless transactions and currencies because they were getting burglarized,” Duong said. Her sister’s family owns Academic Coffee, a cafe in downtown San Jose that was burglarized eight times in the past few years before switch-

to slow climate change. She’s also worried about mass deportations, which she said

ing to a cashless model, Cafe Manager Shaun Kim said.

“It costs more money to fix everything because of the break-ins than to really deal with handling cash,” Kim said.

San Jose resident Emil Marquez, a patron of Academic Coffee since it opened in 2017, said he always paid with cash before the transition.

“I understood why they were doing it, so it wasn’t such a big burden,” he said, adding that paying with cash was more of a habit. “It’s especially so with older generations, they always had cash, and then everybody’s using their phone now. I’m still trying to adapt.”

Marquez said it took around two months for him to fully adapt to the cashless change. He noticed that other customers also had an adjustment period.

Kim said he doesn’t think

affects “everyone that we know.”

One 17-year-old said his

sales really suffered because of going cashless, but “it effectively stopped us from getting broken into.”

He also added that going cashless improved efficiency, because cashiers didn’t have to deal with physical bills.

Tina Nguyen, store manager for bakery Uncle Tetsu at the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, agreed, adding that going cashless saved her employees time because they don’t have to count money every night.

Counting cash is “not really convenient for us,” Nguyen said.

Kim said Academic Coffee occasionally does have to turn someone away because they don’t have a card. “Which sucks, because obviously we want to serve as many people as we can,” he said.

Cashless operations do

father chose not to attend the rally out of fear of being targeted by ICE.

“I’m here to represent people like my dad who don’t have the same privilege as me, to speak up for those who can’t,” the youth said.

Ontiveros said teen participation in protests are important. She referred to the poem “First They Came” by Pastor Martin Niemöller, about those who stayed silent during the Nazi regime and drew a parallel to the current youth response to government policies.

“If we don’t stand up now, then when the government

leave out those who don’t have cards.

A 2022 national survey from Junior Achievement USA found that 38% of teens preferred to pay cash. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., an agency that insures bank deposits, reported in 2023 that 4.2% of U.S. households, or about 5.6 million households, do not have bank accounts.

Ruth Susswein, director of Consumer Protection for Consumer Action, a nonprofit advocacy group, said lower income or marginalized consumers can be excluded from the marketplace if they are required to pay with credit or debit only.

“We encourage people who prefer to pay with cash to make their position known to the owner or manager of the restaurant,” Susswein wrote,

comes to take away your specific rights, there’s not going to be anybody there to stand up for you, because everybody who stood up before has already been picked up one by one,” Ontiveros said. “So if young people want to have a truly free future, they need to fight for it now.”

A desire to preserve and maintain that freedom is what many of the young protesters said brought them out to the San Jose demonstration.

“We need to build the world that we want,” Goldstein said. “We have that opportunity because we’re still young.”

“and to let them know they are losing business by excluding an entire portion of the buying public.”

She and other consumer advocates believe that cash is the most universal and equitable way to maintain businesses. Some counties have banned cashless restaurants. In 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors stipulated that brick-and-mortar stores must accept cash as payment.

However, Duong said she would not consider such a ban in Santa Clara County. Instead, she advocates for more ways to support businesses, but she also has empathy for customers who are adapting to a cashless business.

“I feel like we’re at a bit of a crossroads in making sure that this is inclusive of all members of society,” Duong said.

LAUREN UPPAL — MOSAIC

LAUREN UPPAL — MOSAIC

NAOMI KOTANI — MOSAIC

Protesters sit on the steps of the Santa Clara County Superior Courthouse holding signs and flags on June 14 in San Jose.

Teenage protester Charlotte, holding a progress pride flag, stands atop the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Forum in San Jose’s St. James Park on June 14.

Shimon Goldstein, right, joined fellow protesters Star and Noah on June 14 in St. James Park.

Furry friends get royal treatment at pet party

ACCESSORIES FOR EVERY PET — AND THEIR PARENTS — ABOUND AT EVENT

By Erin Federigan Mosaic

Many pet owners love to pamper and praise their animal companions, and there are small business owners who are quick to oblige. At a recent Pet Party in San Jose, vendors with pet-themed wares and customers came together to celebrate their furry (and not so furry) friends.

Bunnies riding in tiny cars, friendly snakes draped around shoulders and dogs strolling in mini-shoes were on the scene at the June 14 event in San Pedro Square, sponsored by Petty Party and Moment San Jose. Vendors lined up to offer everything from custom stationery to gourmet pet treats.

At a booth covered in colorful pet stickers, keychains and cards, artist Nicole Weedo explained what inspired her to start her business, Munespice.

“Being outside in nature with my family members, as well as enjoying creatures and animals, like friends’ pets and my own,” she said. Her experience “has all come together to shape my heart, for sure.”

Other vendors, like Christina Francisco, owner of Peach Pearl, attach a deep personal meaning to their creativity.

“My husband actually wrote a whole album about our dog that just passed. He

Pets and their owners attend a Pet Party in San

from owner Vihar Patel, Bjork with owner Christian

San

owner’s tote bag. From bottom left, a rabbit draws a crowd,

down, and Ginkgo the snake slithers on his owner’s backpack filled with

was getting old, so we wrote a whole album just for our dog.”

As with any small business, the challenge for the pet vendors is finding a financially viable model. Christine Pham tries to set apart her business, TreatsbyRumi, by making fresh pet treats without artificial ingredients.

“I think people do enjoy finding something that’s healthier for your dog,” she said. “That’s always like a big thing here, because obviously we want our pets to live as long as possible.”

“

“ I think people do enjoy finding something that’s healthier for your dog.

— Christine Pham of TreatsbyRumi

Nicole Parra, owner of FossilForager, fills a different niche by designing art and merchandise for less common pets, such as reptiles and birds.

“There’s not a ton of art of this fish or this reptile,” she said. “And so that’s sort of how I differentiate myself.”

Several vendors at the Pet Party said they juggle the entire workload of running an enterprise. Victoria Llama, who sells stickers and stationery goods through her business, Panty Cat, said, “I do everything, in terms of being the

artist, the production person, the manager, the marketing … so having the time to draw and then manufacture and then promote everything is a lot.”

To add to the challenge, some vendors expressed concern about how the current political landscape affects them.

“We all know about the tariffs,” said Alicia Cardell, owner of Buppydogs, which offers stickers, stationery and apparel. “We’re not in a place to be able to spend on things we actually enjoy. We’re in survival mode right now.”

Black community pride fills S.J. Juneteenth festival

By Padma Balaji Mosaic

The sounds of chatter and gospel music filled downtown San Jose on June 14 as hundreds of people celebrated Juneteenth. The annual festival returned for its 44th year, bringing together local musicians, Black-owned businesses and community organizations for an event celebrating Black culture and community.

“Juneteenth is a celebration for African American heritage,” Nadine Grundy, a business vendor at the festival, said, adding that it’s important for people to come out, celebrate “and enjoy their roots and history.”

Grundy owns Creations of Color, which sells items such as stationery, home decor and drinkware decorated with vibrant illustrations of Black women. She said her products reflect her heritage. “I think it's important that I'm able to come here and share the things that I do,” she said.

Dozens of local Blackowned businesses were at the festival, selling products like artisanal skincare, paintings and handmade jewelry. Muhammed Shuaibe, owner of clothing brand Melanin Gang, which he founded with his wife, aims to create clothing that uplifts people and their communities.

“We do have a nonprofit

organization where we feed the homeless and we give out free stuff,” he said about his nonprofit, Give Back Gang, which provides meals during Ramadan and hosts workshops around mental health and wellness in Oakland. He said being able to give back reminds people of what they are capable of.

A few hours into the festival, a crowd from the nearby No Kings Day protest against President Donald Trump’s policies and actions marched past. While the atmosphere of the festival stayed calm and celebratory, many attendees said the protests resonated with them.

“Both of these happening at the same time is very reflective of America,” said Camile Creese, a festival participant and student at San Jose State University. “We're celebrating African American culture while also trying to maintain the inclusiveness that comes with being American, and the freedom that comes with our culture.”

Juneteenth’s legacy of freedom and fighting for African American rights was at the center of one speaker’s talk.

“We are engaged in a great constitutional crisis where, if the unconstitutional voter rights act is followed, we will have lost most of what

we gained less than 50 years ago,” said Marjorie Craig, chair of the San Jose NAACP, referring to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act that is before Congress. The bill, which would require voters to present a birth certificate or passport to register to vote, could impose additional barriers to voters who don’t have access to documentation.

“We stand here, comfortable, being able to eat and drink what we want to drink, being able to communicate, to express our thoughts, but if we don't feel the same urgency that was felt then, we may lose all of that,” Craig

said. The NAACP civil rights organization was founded in 1909.

What resonated most significantly for many attendees was the profound feeling of community at the festival. San Jose has a Black population of 3%, far smaller than the national proportion of 12% and of nearby cities such as Oakland and San Francisco.

“Being able to spend time with people who look like me, that’s important,” said attendee Davion Thomas, a San Jose native, adding that there weren’t many other African Americans in his high school. “It's amazing to see us, especially, come together.”

Creese, the college student, agreed. “It’s very nice to see a physical proof of community. There’s a sense of camaraderie. I feel like these are the types of things that young people in general need — to really feel connected with everybody and to feel more secure during times like this.”

Juneteenth is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery. It marks the day in 1865 when slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned that President Abraham Lincoln had freed them. Although San Jose’s Juneteenth in the Streets has been celebrated for more than four decades, Juneteenth became a federal holiday only in 2021.

PADMA BALAJI — MOSAIC

Speakers, musicians and vendors celebrate Black heritage and history at the 44th annual Juneteenth in the Streets festival on June 14 in downtown San Jose’s SoFa district.

Jose’s

Pedro Square on June 14. From top left: Eevee gets affection

Francisco, and Yorkshire terrier and poodle mix Bella in her

French bulldog Cookie’s leg stretches out as she tries to cool

plants.

PHOTOS BY MADELINE ARISTORENAS — MOSAIC

Celebrating Latin American art, culture

By Angelique Alvarez Martinez Mosaic

For some people, art is pointless paintings and lines. For the Latin American community, however, art is an important way to represent their culture.

One of the best examples of this was seen at the Wepa Fest in downtown San Jose. On June 13, dozens of community members, artists, musicians and small business owners gathered to celebrate Puerto Rican and Caribbean culture, music, art and food.

Wepa is a Spanish expression used to describe excitement or happiness. The free event was organized by Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) and San Jose Jazz.

MACLA is a museum in downtown San Jose that explores Chicano and Latino history through performing and visual arts. MACLA’s mission is to make Latinx artists, culture and community visible through art.

Leyla Carleo, executive assistant at MACLA, said the organization wants to fulfill its mission by hosting big events, like Wepa. She said it is important to highlight the Latin American community, especially since its members are facing a lot of discrimination and hard times.

“What we like to do is bring our Latin American community together,” Carleo said. “It is essential for people to be more con -

nected when the tensions are high. Our culture brings a lot of joy and passion.”

Chicano and Latinx communities are known for using art to express themselves.

In light of this, MACLA offered different types of performances at Wepa that explored those communities.

“Chicano” refers to people who were born in the United States and have Mexican descendents while “Latinx” is a gender-neutral term used to describe Latin Americans.

Natalia Torres, a staff member at MACLA, said the goal of the organization is to spread creativity and a love of art.

“We want people to see

our space and get artists the recognition they deserve,” she said. “We want to show art to the people.”

Music is also essential in Latin American culture, and many musical groups participated in the Wepa event. One of these was Latin Rhythm Boys, an energetic band formed by brothers Earl and Henry Miranda Jr.

“My favorite part of the event is seeing the community happy and everyone excited to have a good time,” Earl said.

Augie Dones, a Puerto Rican artist known for his clothing brand Definition, sold his art at the Wepa festival. Dones said his art, as well the event, is a way to connect

with his culture and city.

“I’ve been to a lot of art shows,” he said. “I used to paint live at festivals. Wepa has some great art shows ... just all communities. This is my heritage, this is my town.”

A woman who goes by Mama Rocs and owns a Puerto-Rican and Caribbean catering business of the same name praised MACLA and the festival.

“It’s my culture, and most of the time the representation is Mexican or Salvadoran,” she said. “But this is a space for our Latino American community and I love the music, the representation. This is awesome, we should expand this to our other Latino American communities.”

MACLA member Erika Palafox Reyes said the organization wants to make Latin artists more recognizable, and to make the community feel more together.

“We don’t have a lot of spaces that represent our Latino artists, we just want to create a space for our local and both emerging and established artists.” she said.

“We provide these events to connect our communities and it is just so important.”

Irma Gallo, a Wepa Fest attendee, said she enjoyed the event.

“Everyone comes together, everything in general is amazing,” Gallo said. “We are a strong community.”

Festival filled with Portuguese history, heritage

By Sophie Luo Mosaic

Saudade. It’s a word in Portuguese that describes a deep sense of longing, a bittersweet nostalgia for something that’s no longer here.

For many in the Portuguese community of San Jose, it reflects the feeling of missing their home country. But celebrations like Dia de Portugal offer opportunities to reconnect to culture through food, music and celebration.

The Portuguese Heritage Society marked its 28th year hosting San Jose’s Dia de Portugal festival on June 14. The warm afternoon was marked by Portuguese music flowing from the speakers, the smell of pan-fried linguiça and the sight of crowds at Kelley Park.

People from different parts of the community came to participate or spend the day with their families. Brian Flores and Taylor Amarante set up a booth to promote Battle of the Bifanas, an upcoming event they are hosting in August.

“A bifana is a very traditional Portuguese pork sandwich that everybody loves to eat and equally loves to make,” Amarente said. “We’re creating a festival around it with tons of vendors, people selling cultural products and live entertainment.”

The two have participated in local Portuguese community marching bands, religious

organizations and nonprofit organizations. Flores said, “It’s an honor to come out here to celebrate our rich culture with our community. It’s a time to get people together, have some food and enjoy the entertainment.”

Goretti Carvalho, who has been displaying her work at the festival for a decade, was one of numerous artists present that day. Her paintings depict aspects of Portuguese culture, which range from rural scenes, relics of the Holy Spirit and bull fighting traditions from the island Terceira in the Azores, where she is from.

“I hope it tells a story to them, because each piece is

a piece of me, my soul. I love my culture,” she said.

For others, the day brought them back to their heritage and familial roots. Joe Machado, one of the founders of the Heritage Society, curates exhibits in the Portuguese Museum at History Park and helped plan the festival. About his work, he said, “It’s an homage to my parents. Immigrants come here to make a better life for their kids — my parents did the same thing, and I’m just saying thank you.”

The immigrant experience was a theme reflected in the museum exhibits, which explain how Portuguese first migrated to the San Jose area

in the 1910s and 1920s. After a volcanic eruption in the Azores islands in 1957, the U.S. authorized special immigrant visas for those affected.

“This allowed many more Portuguese to come from the Azores islands. That group then came in in the ’60s,’70s, and ’80s, and there was a tremendous new wave of immigration,” Machado said.

Throughout the afternoon, visitors inside the Portuguese Historical Museum were buzzing in conversation as they walked through the exhibits, finding connections to their own ancestors’ stories and pointing out similarities between the museum’s artifacts and belongings of their

relatives.

“Our main challenge is having the younger generation take major interest and begin leading the community,” Machado said.

Camila Silva, the manager at Bacalhau Grill, a restaurant and supermarket on Alum Rock Avenue in the heart of San Jose’s Little Portugal, has noticed similar challenges in the neighborhood.

“The kids born here, they don’t want to speak Portuguese anymore,” she said, adding she fears that this may result in a loss of culture.

“The Portuguese community used to be huge. I used to have friends in here that are not living here anymore. It’s changed a lot. We used to have more Portuguese markets and businesses in the street.”

After the COVID-19 pandemic, with more people shopping online for produce and cultural products, she has noticed fewer people coming into local businesses.

The restaurant and market serve as an anchor in the community that brings people back to their home country.

Silva, who is half Portuguese and half Brazilian, said, “In my language, we have this word called saudade. When people come here, they say that they feel saudade, because the music reminds them of their home country, the color, the food, the smell of the catfish.”

SOPHIE LUO — MOSAIC

MADELINE ARISTORENAS — MOSAIC

Visitors check out an exhibit on local Portuguese bands inside the Portuguese Historical Museum during San Jose’s Dia de Portugal festival at Kelley Park on June 14.

People dance to Puerto Rican music played by the Latin Rhythm Boys during the Wepa Fest in downtown San Jose on June 13.

College grads struggle with tight job market

By Sami Khan Mosaic

As job requirements have risen and available positions have declined, college students and recent grads are now struggling to land full-time employment.

Param Pal, a San Jose State University business graduate, was back on campus within a month of commencement for a job fair. Despite having a degree, Pal has faced rejections for jobs ranging from Uber corporate to local restaurant management.

“A bachelor’s degree is just not enough,” Pal said.

He is not alone in this feeling, as students with bachelor’s degrees are grappling with the competitive job market and resorting to pursuing other paths while they look for a job.

“ “ A bachelor’s degree is just not enough.

College graduates, regardless of their major, are struggling to find jobs. In California, statistics show a 9.7% unemployment rate for 20- to 24year-olds in April 2025 compared with 5.2% for the overall population, according to the California Demographics Labor Force report from the state’s Employment Development Department.

“Silicon Valley entry-level positions, requiring 2 to 5 years of experience, and corporations aren’t actively looking for new employees or to take a chance on inexperienced and new grads,” said Akif Khaled, an employment

Param Pal, SJSU business graduate

specialist with PATH, a nonprofit that focuses on helping people find employment.

A study by Oxford Economics, a global economic advisory firm, backed that up, noting “there are signs that entry-level positions are being displaced by artificial intelligence at higher rates.”

The source for gaining experience is no longer entry-level jobs, but rather internships, often without benefits and with irregular work hours. And even getting internships is a struggle, Pal said.

¨I applied to about 200 internships and heard back from

less than 20,” Pal said. Pal’s solution is to head back to school. ¨I am going to get my MBA to be more job competitive,¨ he said. ¨Master’s has become the new bachelor’s.”

A study by the Council of Graduate Schools, a national advocacy group, says there was a 5.6% increase in grad school applications from fall 2022 to fall 2024. At San Jose State, graduate school enrollment has increased from 7,831 in fall 2019 to 9,299 in fall 2024.

Graduate school isn’t the only recourse. Jake Liebler, a recent SJSU philosophy graduate, can’t commit the time and money to getting a master’s degree. If the poor job market continues, Liebler plans on pivoting to entrepreneurship. He is looking into creating his own business, maybe selling

goods on Etsy, working freelance or going into a landscaping business with the help of friends.

“Entry-level positions don’t exist,” Lieber said. “The only thing entry-level about them is the pay.”

Some students have started marketing and selling goods online as a source of income. Liebler plans on using social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok as a free way of marketing his business. With small businesses and online shopping on the rise, Liebler thinks he can succeed.

Like other students in his situation, Lieber is willing to change from his major and original career idea in order to make a living.

“The only work experience I have gotten with a degree is at concession stands,” he said.

High-traffic Stevens Creek raises concerns in 3 cities

By Katie Pleitez Mosaic

Stevens Creek Boulevard is known in the South Bay as a long stretch of road that spans three cities. According to some residents and business proprietors, it’s also known as a roadway where speeding and dangerous conditions are increasingly common.

There have been two fatal crashes along the road in the past nine months. Residents complain of a dangerous combination of speeding cars and narrow spaces.

“I almost got hit trying to get out of my car,” said Catalina Barrios, 58, who lives in an apartment on the boulevard in Santa Clara. “That street is dangerous.”

Some residents who park along the street worry about their cars, too. Maria Barahona, 49, lives in the same building as Barrios, in an apartment directly facing the street. When looking out the window recently, she saw a car on the sidewalk. “It had lost control and hit two parked cars,” she said.

Stevens Creek Boulevard runs from the western edge of Cupertino to just east of Interstate 880 in San Jose. It bisects several major northsouth arterials: Interstates

SNAP

Continued from Page 1

program has not only helped to feed her family, it also has allowed her to meet other essential expenses, such as rent. Without her SNAP benefits, she said, she would have to get a second job.

Leaders of five of the Bay Area’s largest food banks spoke recently at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley in San Jose, where they decried proposed cuts to the SNAP. They said the drain on funds would intensify the strain on their ability to meet the needs of the people they serve.

“We cannot replace a gutted federal safety net,” said Leslie Bacho, (no relation to Diana Bacho) the CEO of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.

As

280 and 880, Highway 85 and several major expressways.

The Stevens Creek Boulevard corridor “is a major health, education, tech industry, shopping and housing spine in the South Bay,” according to the multi-jurisdiction Stevens Creek Boulevard Corridor Vision Study.

“It is experiencing significant growth in commercial and residential land uses.” With that growth comes

safety concerns. “Stevens Creek Boulevard … is one of the most dangerous corridors in the city for pedestrians and cyclists,” according to Walk Bike Cupertino, a volunteer advocacy group for walking and biking.

Leslie Garcia, 25, of Santa Clara, is an avid walker in the area. “I wish there were more crosswalks” on Stevens Creek, she said. She cited the long distances between intersections as a temptation to

Two volunteers at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley process produce on June 17 in San Jose. Second Harvest’s CEO has criticized possible federal cuts to food assistance.

“Lines will get longer for Second Harvest without the help of SNAP.”

Among those lengthening the lines would be the Sanchez family of Mountain View. Mrs. Sanchez (she asked that her

first name not be published) said SNAP funds aid in feeding her family of seven for half the month.

“It has helped me a lot,” she said, “especially in the pandemic.” If the funds are

jaywalk, a dangerous undertaking on such a busy thoroughfare.

The sight lines of the street also have raised concerns.

Stacey Bahr, a sales associate at one of the car dealerships on Stevens Creek, said large trucks parked at the side of the road can create a hazard for drivers entering and exiting the business.

Giselle Ortiz, a dental assistant at a dentist’s office in Santa Clara, said that applies

reduced or disappear entirely, she said, “I would go and get food from the food bank.”

When the emergency SNAP benefits that Congress provided at the height of the pandemic ended in March 2023, “we saw an instant increase in our line,” Leslie Bacho said. She expressed fear that the proposed cuts would create a demand that could not be met.

“At food banks we are very efficient and we are very committed,” she said, “but there is no food bank in the country that has enough staff, funds and food to be able to make up this gap.”

Diana Bacho said she already is a regular food bank visitor, in part because food prices have increased significantly, while the SNAP funds

to her, too. “It’s hard trying to get in or out of my workplace,” she said. She suggested having signs posted urging drivers to be cautious and slow down. The speed limit in that area is 35 mph.

The most recent fatal accident on Stevens Creek occured in December. A man was killed and two others were injured when two vehicles collided near the intersection of Stevens Creek Boulevard and Tyler Street in Santa Clara.

Lt. Michael Crescini, the public information officer for the Santa Clara Police Department, said there has not been an unusual number of complaints from residents about Stevens Creek Boulevard. He encouraged people who have experienced or witnessed issues to file a complaint on a form available on the department’s website.

He added that the police department is working on adding more officers to its traffic control unit.

Safety issues are not the only concern for residents. Emilio Sanchez, 10, lives in an apartment with his bedroom facing Stevens Creek. He said he has to close his window at night because of revving engines and honking cars. “They don’t let me sleep,” he said.

have stayed the same. Second Harvest is reaching out to the people it serves, “making them aware of the cuts,” said Shobana Gubbi, chief philanthropy officer of Second Harvest. She added that the organization is making preparations now, in anticipation of the federal bill’s passage.

She said volunteers are crucial to their effort. “Many community groups come by to help,” she said, with groups from “church, sports teams, high school and middle school. All are welcome to help at their food warehouse.” Leslie Bacho summarized the motivation that keeps those involved committed. “It’s not just about hunger,” she said. “It’s also about dignity.”

KATIE PLEITEZ—MOSAIC

KATIE PLEITEZ—MOSAIC

the Stevens Creek Boulevard corridor in San Jose experiences growth, it has gained a reputation among residents for speeding and safety issues.

San Jose Giants game: Sun, fun, food

SINGLE-A BASEBALL: AN ENTERTAINING AFTERNOON DESPITE THE SCORE

The crowd was small but enthusiastic on June 11 when the Single-A San Jose Giants played the Stockton Ports under sunny skies and temperatures that reached the low 80s at Excite Ballpark in San Jose.

Children scrambled to catch foul balls and families enjoyed eating churros and snow cones as they watched the action. Some fans taunted a Ports player hoping he would strike out — which would mean halfoff beers for fans.

Politics didn’t seem to matter in the crowd, as one fan wore a jersey given away on a Giants Pride Night while another wore headphones with a Blue Lives Matter sticker.

Although the Giants, a minor league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, lost the game 6-3, days later they would clinch the California League’s first-half title. That assured them a spot in the playoffs.

— Madeline Aristorenas

Making hoops affordable: Don’t let the duct-taped jerseys fool you

By Sami Khan Mosaic

The Amateur Athletic Union, or AAU for short, originally aimed to help youth in getting recruited to colleges or receiving scholarships. However, now many AAU basketball teams charge close to $1,000 per player for a single season – with most of that money going toward indoor training facilities, as well as jerseys and uniforms.

One gym in Fremont estimates it costs $300 to $450 a month to participate in an AAU league, plus $150 to purchase a gear and uniform package.

Frustrated by these costs, 17-year-old Arbaz Singh decided to start his own AAU basketball team that only requires a commitment to playing basketball and a $20 payment that goes toward entrance fees for tournaments.

Singh said he started the team Jatt Da Maqabla, also

known as JDM, in order to give others like himself a platform to showcase their high-level skill without paying the high prices that can bar some athletes.

Nishant Mundian, 16, a JDM player who used to play for a rival AAU team, said,“The team I used to play for would charge more because they had players that went on to play college ball. It felt like I was paying more for the name and past accomplishments of the team rather than playing the game.”

Many AAU teams spend money on recruiting and advertising, and some even shell out thousands of dollars in order to have the latest equipment. JDM saves on costs by spending only on necessities.

Singh said JDM players carpool or take public transportation to a tournament.

The team also doesn’t have costly uniforms and jerseys.

“The duct-taped numbers on the back of our shirts help

Amrit Gill, 17, of Union City shoots the ball for his team Jatt Da Maqabla, or JDM, during a match at the AAU tournament on June 14 at Mission College in Santa Clara. us play just as well as any jersey would,” Singh said.

The team also trains creatively in order to improve basketball skills without breaking the bank.

Singh says the team checks out drills NBA players do and watches YouTube videos for tips on how to do specific moves or shots. “All we use is a few basketballs, some cones and tape,” Singh said. “With that setup you can pretty much practice and do any drill you want.”

Based in Southern Ala-

meda County, JDM holds practices in parks and outdoor basketball courts, where they can scrimmage against older, more experienced players and avoid paying fees for indoor courts.

“The indoor basketball courts are the same size as the outdoor ones,” said JDM player Amrit Gill, who added that if he hadn’t found JDM, he probably would have quit playing AAU basketball. Gill, 17, said he might get 5 to 10 minutes of playing time per game on other winning

AAU teams he has played for, but he gets more time with his current team – and that could help him and other players get seen by college recruiters.

“In JDM, everyone gets time on the court to show their skill and can choose to sub out if they are tired,” Gill said.

Singh conceded that some other AAU teams are not very welcoming to JDM.

“The other teams pick on us because of our uniforms, and before the match starts refs and coaches ask us if it’s our first game,” he said. “Just because our uniforms may not look the best, the other teams think we aren’t at their level.”

Still, Singh said he hopes that other AAU teams will follow JDM’s example, so money will no longer be the hurdle that separates athletes from the sport they love.

His players may not all have coordinated uniforms, Singh said, but they all do have coordination on the court.

“We all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses on the court; we know when to pass the ball,” he said.

PHOTOS BY ALEXIS CARRILO — MOSAIC

ALEXIS CARRILLO — MOSAIC

San Jose Giants pitcher Niko Mazza delivers a pitch to Stockton batter Cameron Leary in the first inning of a June 11 game at Excite Ballpark.

From left: A fan cheers from the stands at Excite Ballpark during the June 11 game against Stockton; San Jose Giants infielder Jose Ramos, who was later called up to the Giants’ affiliate in Eugene, Ore., watches the game from the dugout; a collection of equipment including a cap, sneakers, a baseball glove and sunglasses on the field.

Alum Rock mass school closings rile students, families, teachers

By Lizette Anaya and Alexis Carrillo Mosaic

As they said tearful farewells to their schools and now look to the fall, families affected by the closing, merger or redesign of more than half of the Alum Rock Union School District’s 22 schools struggle to cope with the drastic changes.

Some community members say they feel betrayed by the decision to close and reorganize schools. They continue to attend school board meetings, a couple of them say they are looking into legal action, but most parents seem to be at a loss about what to do next.

The decision was made due to financial problems. Because enrollment has been decreasing, the district has been receiving less district money from the state, according to officials.

Some parents are concerned about potential overcrowding in schools when the new year begins Aug. 15.

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To watch video about reaction to Alum Rock closures, visit: Mosaic Journalism YouTube

“Unfortunately, I think it’s going to cause a lot of educational deficit with our community, especially since it’s majority minorities and first generation,” said Anna Padilla Lopez, an alumna and mother of a student who attended the closing Fischer Middle School.

The Alum Rock district is downsizing over the next school years.

Six will close: Donald Meyer Elementary, Horace Cureton Elementary, A.J. Dorsa Elementary, Renaissance Academy at Fischer, Joseph George Middle School and Sylvia Cassell Elementary.

Merging are: San Antonio and LUCHA elementary schools; Renaissance Fischer and Renaissance Mathson middle schools; Painter

Rocio Ureña, a teacher at LUCHA Elementary School, says goodbye to her classroom of 20 years on June

and Shepperd elementary schools.

Aptitud, Cesar Chavez Early Learning Center and Hubbard will be redesigned.

Then in 2026-27, Adelante II Academy will consolidate with Adelante Dual Language Academy and move to Renaissance at Fischer.

Other parents worry that the communities they have built over the years will be lost because of the district’s decision.

“These are families that

have been going to a school and fostering a community for not just themselves for generations,” said Justin Yee, a father of four from the dual immersion school of Painter Elementary.

Parents say the district’s process to decide which schools would close or consolidate with others lacked transparency. Parents “have lost faith in the district, because they feel like, if they can’t handle this budgetary scenario, how

are they going to handle educating their children?” said Chrystine Villarreal, a parent of four Alum Rock students. School board member Andres Quintero defended the district’s actions, saying that parents were given many opportunities to provide input and that the district had to take these decisive actions.

“If we didn’t shut down schools, the state would’ve shut them down for us,” he said. He added the district doesn’t have enough money to keep all 22 schools functioning at the best level for students.

In spring 2024, the Santa Clara County schools superintendent warned that Alum Rock spending exceeded revenue, because of steadily falling enrollment. Last fall, a state agency noted that Alum Rock ran many campuses far below capacity, raising the cost of operations.

Without closing schools, the district risked bankruptcy, a state takeover and loss of local control.

The district appointed a closure advisory body and held public meetings. Still, many parents feel left out.

One student is worried what will happen when school begins again in less than two months.

“I’m just sad about and scared about all the different changes that they might be making to our school,” said Sophia Gutierrez, a LUCHA student.

Tariffs, scarce labor hike prices at S.J. farmers market

By Grayson LaBarreare Mosaic

President Donald Trump’s tariffs are hiking prices at the San Jose downtown farmers market, but most vendors say the impact has been more subtle than substantial.

So far.

The dozen small business people selling at the market on June 18 at the Paseo de San Antonio said they’ve had to raise prices slightly due to tariffs imposed by the Trump administration this year. But vendors are concerned that the government may impose more tariffs that will further increase their costs.

Nou Khang, a vendor and producer for her family business Xiong Farm Produce LLC, pointed to one cost increase.

“It used to be $25 for a box of plastic bags, now it has gone up to $30,” Khang said.

Tariffs have been placed on materials like polyethylene and polypropylene, which are components in the production of plastic bags.

Even though prices are increasing, customers have found ways to help small community vendors deal with the rising cost, such as bringing their own bags and giving extra plastic bags to vendors to minimize the cost, according to Khang.

“Nowadays a lot of people just bring out their own bags, which is really helpful and nice, but we still have to provide them just in case,”

Strawberries from Xiong Farm Produce are on display at the San Jose Downtown Farmers Market on June 18.

Khang said.

Khang has been harvesting and selling red peppers, snap peas, carrots, potatoes and other vegetables and fruits from her family’s Fresno County farm since she was 13 years old. She said her father is the one who has put in a lot of work and dedication to keep their business alive. Even if tariffs increase, Khang said she intends to keep her prices the same.

“I tend to leave the price of our produce the same because it’s not worth me raising it,” said Khang.

Henry Mejea, of ALD & Y Organic Farm, said they’ve raised the prices of some of their produce, due to rising cost of plastic bags.

For example, a $5 box of strawberries costs more because of the substantially increased cost of bags, he said.

Though prices have increased, Mejea said everyone in the San Jose farmers market community shows up not only to sell their prod -

ucts, but also to support fellow vendors through difficult times.

The San Jose Downtown Association started the farmers market in 1993. It closed in 2022, then reopened at its new location at Hammer Theatre Plaza last April. The market runs from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Other costs have been escalating. Kate Manley, a vendor for Valley Toffee LLC, said the price of international chocolates has gone up 400% in two years.

“Chocolate prices have definitely been changing astronomically,” she said. “There are a lot of brands that buy stuff through worldwide trades,” said Manley.

In recent weeks, Valley Toffee has felt some tric kledown effects of tariffs.

“One of our flavors, butterscotch pretzel, has jumped pricewise in the past weeks and has become a lot harder to find,” said Manley.

With tariffs affecting their inventory, Valley Toffee has raised the prices on some of their chocolates from $15 to $16 or $17. Manley said this trend would likely continue if tariffs rise.

Maria Lopez, a vendor for her family’s farm, Lopez Family Farm in Fresno County, has not been too concerned about the tariffs because her farms are located in California. But she worries about labor.

“We have had to raise our prices by 50 cents to cover the cost of the labor in the fields,” said Lopez.

Floral design career began with S.J. man’s coffee-shop encounter

By Edkary Suarez Mosaic

A decade ago, Ruben Guerrero took a side job delivering flowers for Studio Petall. Now, he’s a full-time floral designer for the downtown San Jose business.

“Creativity, I’ve always had it and expressed it in different ways, but I think this has been the most fulfilling,” said the 43-year-old San Jose resident.

The independent shop along the Paseo de San Antonio, which borders the weekly downtown farmer’s market, is owned by Leyla Naderja.

It all started in 2014 when he was working at Starbucks. That’s where he met Naderja, who asked him if he could deliver her flowers.

Guerrero worked two jobs, being a barista and a delivery driver. Then in 2017, Guerrero asked Naderja if she needed help in her shop.

He said to her, “Do you want me to? I can probably try making arrangements.” Naderja agreed, and that was the start of his floral designing career, Guerrero said.

Guerrero said that once he started designing, she said, “Why didn’t you tell me you could make arrangements all this time?” This newfound skill was a surprise to him as well.

Guerrero, who says he’s inspired by people’s outfits, loves to use dahlias in his floral arrangements because of their size, shape and color.

Guerrero, who had taken classes in recreation and leisure studies at San Jose State University, said he still enjoys working directly with customers, except now he’s helping people who are planning their weddings and other celebrations.

One of the best parts of his job is when “they give you their idea, their concept, what they want, and then you are able to build their vision,” he said.

One of Guerrero’s challenges is that the shop has an unusual fish bowl design, which means it lacks a back room to hide raw materials and not-yet-finished projects.

“Everything has to look good all the time, because you can look into it all around the circle,” he said.

Although he enjoys his current job as floral design manager, Guerrero also has an ambitious goal for Studio Petall. He’d like to help the shop expand online and join the Teleflora ordering network. “We’re really working on creating our own brand,” he said.

GRAYSON LABARREARE—MOSAIC

LIZETTE ANAYA — MOSAIC

10.

Ruben Guerrero

Unsettling encounter haunts young transit rider

By Padma Balaji Mosaic

Every day, hundreds of VTA buses whoosh along the streets of Santa Clara County, carrying almost 90,000 people a day.

Cia Castro Carbajal is well-accustomed to riding the bus — paying the fare, finding a quiet spot in the back and ignoring disruptions and loud conversations. She commutes almost an hour to San Jose State University, where she’s a student, from her home in Santa Clara.

Carbajal was riding the bus home from school one afternoon when a man slapped her and swore at her. Another young woman, seeing Carbajal being harassed, sat next to her, blocking her from the view of her attacker. “She was so comforting, and I just had to cry at that moment,” Carbajal said. For many transit users, harassment is an expected part of using public transit. In a 2024 survey conducted by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, more than two-thirds of riders said they have experienced or witnessed at least one instance of harass-

BALAJI — MOSAIC

Cia Castro Carbajal of Santa Clara describes being harassed while riding a bus. “I just had to cry at that moment,” she said.

ment. Women and people of color reported higher rates of experiencing harassment and were more likely to feel unsafe on transit than their white, male counterparts.

However, harassment is rarely reported — in the same survey, the VTA said that only a quarter of riders who experience or witness harassment report it.

Even just the fear of harassment can be damaging.

“The idea that something could happen, even if it doesn’t happen, that fear does have an impact,” Haleema Bharoocha,

a transit safety advocate, said. “Folks are kind of walking around with this psychological lack of safety, even if it hasn’t happened to them personally.”

Carbajal knows that only too well.

“For a while I was afraid of taking the bus, but I still had to take it, so I just had to swallow my fear and just get on the bus anyway,” she said.

Bharoocha, who served as the senior advocacy manager of the Oakland nonprofit Alliance for Girls, published a report in 2019 about girls’ experience with harassment.

OPINION

It found that 100% of 60 girls who participated in focus sessions had experienced harassment while taking public transit daily.

The following year, the Alliance for Girls and BART partnered to launch a campaign against sexual harassment called Not One More Girl.

“We knew right away that the starting place to do this initiative would be to speak with young women of color and to have them serve as spokespeople for this initiative,” said Alicia Trost, chief communications officer for BART and a campaign leader.

More than 500 girls worked on the campaign, sharing their experiences and leading social media strategy and design.

Trost said BART was the first transit agency in the Bay Area to lead a campaign that focused on community voices.

“I had seen other transit agencies launch harassment campaigns, and a lot of times they either used the wrong language or put all of the onus on the victim to stay away from the bad guys, and there was backlash against the campaign,” Trost said. Instead, BART implemented feedback from the

community.

After the campaign ended in 2023, a survey found that 65% of people felt more aware of the issue. By the end of the campaign, data from a quarterly survey showed harassment decreasing, from 12% of people who responded in 2020 to 10% of people who responded in 2023.

So far, BART is the only Bay Area transit agency to implement a sexual harassment campaign driven entirely by the voices of young women of color.

As ridership lags across all public transit, there’s renewed interest in focusing on safety and addressing harassment issues.

“It’s really important for the future of our success and to maintain our level of ridership and to gain new riders that we tackle this,” Trost said. BART’s ridership levels have only returned to 55% of pre-pandemic levels. “We know that people who experience harassment may avoid BART afterward. They’re not going to go and tell their friends to ride BART, so it’s a reputational risk for us. It’s a safety risk for us. It’s a financial risk for us.”

Dear Hollywood: Dump the sequels; just give us new movies

By Lauren Uppal Mosaic

That marvelous feeling of being in a dark movie theater, sipping a cold soda and blanketed by the aroma of popcorn makes viewers love a movie. It’s that same whimsical feeling that is destroyed when your favorite movies are followed by bad sequels. Sequels can sometimes be good but are generally wastes of time.

Sequels are like an underperforming younger sibling who can never measure up to the older sibling, who is always the parents’ favorite. You can guess who is who in Hollywood.

Original movies come out stronger, with fresh new perspectives, characters and story lines. Bad sequels often downplay or disrespect themes or messages.

What makes for a good or bad movie sequel?

Ratings, lifetime gross revenue and critical acclaim play key roles in judging a good movie. Comparing the original and its follow-up with these criteria is central to judging sequels.

Here are five of my picks where the

Woriginals come out on top:

1. “The Karate Kid,” 1984, is a timeless classic. The newest rendition, “Karate Kid Legends,” released in May, is best when it pushes the buttons of the original. Otherwise, it merely harps on the nostalgia. That’s not enough.

2. “Jurassic Park,” 1993, is considered outstanding and emotionally gripping to this day because it was scientifically logical, a real possibility to ponder. The blockbuster’s sequel, trequel and eventual reboot with Chris Pratt became increasingly farfetched and unrealistic. For example, humongous locusts setting things on fire were completely ridiculous. At this point I think the dinosaurs are tired of carrying the movies.

3. “Space Jam” in 1996, starring the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan, became a pop culture staple. In 2021, the sequel, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” with Lebron James, insulted the original and would have performed better as a short, cute homage video, not a 145minute film.

4. I’m a dedicated fan of Marvel’s 2008 “Iron Man.” The sequel, “Iron Man 2” in 2010, broke my heart. Like my heart, the storyline of the second movie was broken and all over the place. The movie seemed rushed, lowering the villain’s impact, a prime example of how sequels disappoint excited fans like me.

5. In 2012’s “Wreck-It Ralph,” where the story follows the character development of a bad guy turned good, Ralph finds himself and the things that truly matter in life. The original became a heart-tugging fan favorite. But “Wreck-It Ralph Breaks the Internet” fails entirely to highlight these themes.

I have to admit some movie sequels do a great job, but still show the same weaknesses, like these three:

1. “Shrek 2” in 2004 was more entertaining than the original in 2001. With a wider array of characters, “Shrek 2” delivers a stronger comedic impact. But the “Shrek” title continues to be overplayed. “Shrek 5” has an anticipated release of December 2026.

2. In the same boat as “Shrek” sits the multibillion-dollar dynasty of “Toy Story” that began in 1995, producing four films with a fifth coming next summer. “Toy Story” is a Pixar classic and a childhood staple for many, but like “Shrek,” becomes repetitive.

3. Most powerfully, “Top Gun: Maverick,” the 2022 sequel, follows the original 1986 film that I loved. It has the perfect amount of nostalgia, paying respect to the original while also branching off with new characters.

As sequels can carry a tasteful recognition of nostalgia and introduce new characters, this does not mean they are always necessary. When wonderful movies become exploited, plots are completely tired out just like the Jurassic Park dinosaurs.

Instead of continuing to create sequels, remakes or franchises, I ask for new and fresh movies. All the time. I would like to go back to the magic theater feeling of something new and exciting instead of getting spoon-fed the 11th “Fast and Furious.”

Don Quixote boring? No way! Bring the classics back

hen I lived in Mexico, my seventh-grade Spanish teacher assigned us to read the novel, “Don Quixote,” written in 1605. I loved that book! But most of my classmates hated it. They said it was boring and too long. That book inspired me to explore more literature as a hobby rather than a school obligation, and now I’ve been noticing how students here need to explore more of these books. Classic literature is a big and old thing that has become part of our culture, but it has been fading from required reading lists. Classics are historical pieces. Everyone should

By Angelique Alvarez Martinez Mosaic

give them a chance and read them.

I love learning old words that classic books offer. It’s fantastic to see and compare these to the words that we speak now and read in contemporary literature. The evolution of writing and literature, and their emotional effects on us, are impressive.

For example, “Don Quixote” talks about the conflict between imagination and reality. It also explores the human imagination through social criticism. This long but creative story with its unique characters and setting makes for a full and entertaining story for today’s students to enjoy.

In “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,” written in 1816, Mary Shelley explores the human ambition to gain knowledge and warns that the consequences may result in horrible outcomes. This is a lesson today’s students still need to learn.

And for those who say that old novels are boring, I say give them a chance! Teachers should suggest a book or genre students can connect with and enjoy.

For example, in “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” written in 1890, Oscar Wilde criticizes vanity and corrupting influence, as when Lord Harry makes Dorian obsess over his

image, and explores the connection between appearance and ambition. This book teaches us about art, beauty, identity, ambition and morality.

“The Diary of a Young Girl,” commonly referred to as “The Diary of Anne Frank,” is a book that reflects on the agony and despair that war causes to the most innocent souls. Anne’s tragic story teaches about hope, empathy, resilience and the struggle against prejudice and religious hatred.

Great books were meant to entertain and teach. The classics did this in their time and can do it again.

PADMA

The Filipino legacy of Pinoytown

San Jose’s Pinoytown, a place where Filipino businesses and families once thrived, now shows few remnants of its Filipino culture and history.

Pinoytown took root north of downtown San Jose, in a historic Chinatown originally known as Heinlenville. Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants settled there during the 1920s, creating a refuge from anti-Asian sentiment. The community flourished, as Filipinos from the Ilocos region worked on area farms, ranches and businesses.

“Pinoy” is a term used by Filipinos to refer to people of the Philippines and those who have relocated abroad.

The neighborhood changed significantly during World War II, when the government forcibly imprisoned Japanese Americans, allowing Filipinos to take over suddenly vacant buildings. Postwar, the Filipino population and businesses thrived in Pinoytown in the 1950s.

This began to change in the 1960s, when children of first-wave Filipinos integrated into wider communities, seeking jobs and residences outside of Pinoytown.

Today most Filipinos have moved on, while Japantown remains firmly rooted. For a time, the only remnants of Pinoytown were the Filipino Community Center on North Sixth Street and occasional walking tours around the town.

Robert Ragsac, who was born and raised in the area, started the tours. The Filipino American National Historical Society began funding the tours in 2019.

The Filipino legacy also has been recognized in art. Murals now recall the history and culture of Pinoytown.

“When I walk around downtown and see the murals,” Ragsac said, “it gives me a little pride to live in San Jose. Not because of the buildings and history, but because of the artwork.”

CAT CAFE

Continued from Page 1 cat lounge pass gets each customer an hour of play time with the kitties and one cafe drink.

The cafe was founded by Korean American sisters-in-law Christine Hedeen and Ailee Kim, who were a merchant manager for a grocery chain and a human resource professional, respectively. The cafe’s name Nabi means butterfly in Korean, and is also a common nickname in Korea for stray cats.

The cafe owners wanted to incorporate their love for cats, coffee and their culture.

“We wanted to melt our culture into your dreams,” Kim said.

Interior design and the color scheme were Korean inspired as well.

“They use a lot of yellow and pastel colors,” Kim said.

The first cat cafe opened in Taiwan

Top: Although most Filipinos have moved on from Pinoytown, murals offer a glimpse into its former vibrancy. Above: Robert Ragsac, seen in 1955 and recently, leads tours in the area. “It gives me a little pride” to see the murals, he says.

in 1998, spreading to Korea, where they are now a common part of the cafe scene. Korean pop culture — which includes K-dramas, television series, K-pop stars and other entertainers — has made its way to Santa Clara.

Hedeen and Kim want their customers to indulge in Korean-inspired pastries and drinks. Kim said, “Explaining our culture never gets

tiring.”

For instance, they tell customers that the yakgwa einspanner drink incorporates the cinnamon and brown sugar flavor of a traditional Korean honey cookie. The jeju matcha latte draws from JeJu Island in Korea, known for its vibrant green tea, and the Jolly Pong cereal latte is based on a popular Korean puffed-grain snack.

Since opening March 3, the cafe has attracted some customers who bring gifts.

Kim said, “A lot of people had already followed us on social media and they gave us small gifts, such as a little kitten balloon that stayed on the wall for a month.”

Nabi Cat Cafe’s owners say the cat lounge is usually at 90% to 95% capacity.

“The cafe’s staff and cultural perspective brings a comfortable feeling to the work space,” said employee Emily Rousseau. The steady pace of

the cafe makes the whole process a lot smoother and more flexible.

“It’s a lot less stressful compared to other cafes, and it’s also nice to go on break and relax with cats all day,” said Rousseau.

Sufia Ainechi, a repeat customer who has patronized cat cafes in other cities, said she enjoys her experience with Nabi Cat Cafe, calling their customer service “a 10 out of 10.”

“I can tell they put a lot of effort into the cultural aspect of what they are serving and how they serve it. I just love, like, their different options, like the chestnut latte, the matcha latte,” said Ainechi.

Kim hopes other small businesses will incorporate their own cultures.

“We want to further our kindness and help other small businesses get started in their journeys,” she said. “I have received some emails for advice, which I am happy to see.”

JOSHUA CEDRO—MOSAIC

Emily Rousseau makes a coffee drink in the Nabi Cat Cafe.

Filipino tattoo artist and Pinoytown muralist Jordan Gabriel works with a client in the Humble Beginnings Tattoo Studio in San Jose.

Photos and story by Madeline Aristorenas Mosaic