Leveling the Playing Field
From left, Jasey and Susanne Johnson and Craig’s son, Bryson, sit down to enjoy Craig’s chilaquiles
Truckee teacher relishes helping students get into college.
When Truckee High School teacher and mentor Craig Rowe asked two of his most engaged Latina students, after class, to what colleges they were applying and was met with blank stares, an idea grew in his mind. His students simply didn’t have much direction in terms of what opportunities they had after high school, Rowe explains. So he set about changing that in his community.
Unbeknownst to him, Rowe’s decades of life, college, and job experience had been leading him to a career equalizing the local college admissions playing field and inspiring Truckee students of Hispanic heritage, most first-generation Americans, to attend college after high school.
The students he began working with at lunch and after school got some impressive college acceptances. As a result, Rowe and his largely female base of students seeking higher education launched the nonprofit college admissions and career access program La Fuerza Latina, which translates into “girl power.”
In the Bay Area, where Rowe was raised, it seems many students begin SAT prep “in utero,” he jokes, while others like him, the child of a Mexican mom, didn’t seem to have the same possibilities.
“A certain set of kids get opportunities like campus visits and summer programs, and another set of kids don’t, but that’s not what Truckee, our community, is about,” Rowe says. “I wanted to start writing some grants so that our LFL kids could also have the same opportunities as our other kids.”
Now with more than 100 low-income, first-generation male and female members, LFL has helped get Truckee students into Harvard, University of California in Los Angeles and Berkeley, and other high-caliber universities.
Humble Beginnings
As a youth, Rowe didn’t like school. Out of high school, he tried some college courses but ended up quitting. Feeling like he didn’t belong in college, he worked for about 12 years in restaurants. Eventually, he decided he wanted more for a career and enrolled in community college courses in Seattle, where he was living at the time.
Community college required volunteer hours, so Rowe signed up to tutor ESL students. His first student was a Vietnamese woman in her 40s. He ended up helping her read her mail, which was largely comprised of disheartening employment rejection letters. They ended up meeting daily, and he assisted her in writing a cover letter and résumé. She ended up with a full-time job.
“I was super excited for her, but the pride and self-worth that it gave me, that I had something to offer the world that could help other people, that was a revelation,” Rowe says. “There was something in that educational exchange that just gave me that incredible sense of self-worth and a kinship with her … and I wanted more of that.”
After earning a master’s degree at UC Santa Barbara and a doctorate at UC Berkeley, Rowe became a student teacher in the Bay Area. A single dad, he and his son eventually made their way to Truckee, driven by a passion for skiing and the mountains. About nine years ago, he walked into the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District seeking employment.
He didn’t yet have his teaching credentials, but the district was welcoming to him and paired him with a master teacher. Today, the first young Latina woman who led him to start LFL is just one of his many success stories.
In 2022, Rowe was honored as TTUSD’s Teacher of the Year and was a California State Teacher of the Year finalist in 2023. As a Truckee High School teacher, leader of LFL, mentor, and Model United Nations adviser, not to mention a father, Rowe doesn’t have much spare time, but that doesn’t bother him. He prefers to keep busy, generally working on his many projects through the weekends as well.
Unwinding in the Kitchen
Outside of work, some of Rowe’s favorite times are Sunday mornings when he and his son, Bryson, get together, cook, talk, and catch up on quality time. Moments in the kitchen are both meditative and creative for Rowe, and chilaquiles is one of his favorite dishes to prepare.
From helping LFL students get into college to cooking with his son, Rowe seems to have quite the roster of successful recipes in his repertoire.
What are three things in your fridge right now?
- Fresh blueberries: “I want my students to get the best, most focused version of me every single day.”
- Valentina hot sauce: “Because it adds a bit of home to any dish.”
- Raw kimchi: “I don’t know exactly what to do with it yet, but I’m always open to new experiences.”
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 7.7- ounce can El Pato Jalapeño Sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- ½ can black beans drained and rinsed
- 4 cups tortilla chips thick, sturdy chips work best
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup shredded cheese queso fresco, Monterey jack, or Cheddar
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or Mexican crema
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped, for garnish
- ½ red onion thinly sliced, for garnish
- 1 avocado sliced, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, heat vegetable oil. Add El Pato sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin powder, and salt. Stir and let simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Stir in black beans and cook for an additional 2 minutes to heat through.
- If using store-bought tortilla chips, ensure they are thick and sturdy. For homemade chips, fry or bake corn tortillas cut into triangles until golden and crispy.
- In a separate pan, heat a little oil or butter over medium heat. Crack the eggs into a bowl, whisk, then cook, stirring frequently until soft and fluffy; remove from heat.
- Reduce the saucepan heat to low and gently toss tortilla chips in sauce, making sure they’re evenly coated but not too soggy. Cook for about 1 or 2 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately sprinkle with shredded cheese, allowing it to melt slightly. Top with scrambled eggs. Drizzle with crema or sour cream, then garnish with cilantro, red onion, and avocado.
- Serve and enjoy!
More From This Issue
Rhubarb
What’s In Season
