David Pérez was born 1962 in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, México. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was five, and a year later settled in Salinas. 

During his formative years David experienced first hand the life of Migrant farm workers in California. While his family's home base was Salinas, they followed the crops all through the San Joaquin Valley, harvesting cucumbers, chilies, prunes and strawberries in Stockton, Colusa, and Soledad. 

David attended Alisal High in Salinas, where he received acclaim as a standout basketball player. After graduating he went on to play two years for Hartnell and then for Humboldt State University. He continued his Spanish studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.

After returning to the US, he attended San José State University, from where he received his credentials as an elementary bilingual teacher.  He taught at Meyer Elementary in San José, and then returned to Salinas to teach at Bardin, his old elementary school.

David continued to pursue his education during summer vacations at CSU Sacramento, where he received his M.A. in 1998. His course work included travel to Guatemala, Costa Rica, Spain, and Mexico. In 1997 he joined Gavilan College as a part-time instructor and two years later became a full-time member of the faculty. Besides teaching Beginning Spanish and Spanish for Spanish Speakers, David also teaches ESL at Gavilan's Hollister campus.

"I really enjoy relating my experience to the diversified and eclectic student populace here at Gavilan College"

David met his wife Yvonne Zúñiga while at San Jose State University. They live in Hollister with their two boys, Adrián and Marcos. His hobbies continue to include basketball and photography, but mainly he enjoys spending weekends with his family.

Address of this page is: http://hhh.gavilan.edu/dperez/index.html
Last updated on 01/22/10 .
Send questions or comments to David Pérez at
dperez@gavilan.edu