Skylar Woodside

Ruben Martinez gives instructions in Spanish to students who need help.

When Jennifer Gay checks her roster of students at the beginning of the quarter, she sometimes feels overwhelmed with the number of students in her class and foresees the difficulties to come. Because students need fine arts credits to graduate, many of them choose to take 3D Art. Luckily, she isn’t alone. Alongside her is Ruben Martinez, a volunteer who helps her to manage her classroom.

“Ruben is a huge help around the classroom,” Gay said. “I would say he’s my right-hand man. He is able to help students when I’m busy helping other kids. My room is very compact so if I have everybody trying to ask me a question, it’s nice to have somebody else who knows what they’re doing to ask. I would not be able to do what I do in this classroom without his help.”

Martinez is a quiet, yet impactful presence at FHS. You’ll find him in Gay’s classroom D111, where he volunteers. Martinez helps teach students how to master the pottery wheel while also communicating and translating instructions to English language learners.

“He helps with translating, so students who can’t communicate with me or have trouble communicating with me know that they can go and ask him their questions,” Gay said.  “What’s also nice is that he’s an amazing artist, so he’s not just somebody who speaks Spanish. He can actually justifiably teach this class just as I do because I feel like he knows everything that I know and sometimes even more.” 

Before volunteering his time, Martinez was a bodybuilder, personal trainer, welder, sculptor, and even radio host for “It’s Your Body, Body Talk.” He also hosted TV segments focused on fitness, assisting others in their exercise journeys.

“I took three-quarters of theater and drama in college,” Martinez said. “I took acting classes, but I was never afraid to get up onto the stage. As an instructor, I’m in front of a lot of people teaching them exercise. It didn’t bother me.”

Throughout his career as a fitness instructor, he discovered his knack for motivating others.

“It’s a sense of confidence, right?” Martinez said. “I mean that’s what a lot of people hired me for, for their confidence to boost up.”

In his younger years, he loved to play football. But due to an injury he sustained while playing, he had to quit.  He continued to pursue his health by always exercising and training with others.

In recent years, however, arthritis in both of his knees has kept him from his passion, limiting his ability to stay active.

”My knees were really bad.” Martinez said. “I was in very bad pain for almost six years.”

Although he may not be able to do as much physical activity as he used to, Martinez is a man of many talents and has channeled his energy into other passions – like art.  As an experienced artist, Martinez has mastered various mediums in art like pottery and sculpture, which he uses to help students in the classroom.

“He was the first to show me how to use the wheel,” junior Camila Coronado said. “Whenever I get up there, if I ever struggle with anything he’s always there to help. With other projects too, like the clock I  just made. If I have a problem, he always has a solution.” 

Martinez donated his personal kick pottering wheel to FHS, thinking that he didn’t have much use for it anymore. Gay readily accepted the donation and even requested that Martinez come in and provide a demonstration on the wheel for her class. Eight years later, he still continues to come in and help in any way he can. 

“Ruben taught me that there is a solution to everything,” Coronado said. “If you have a problem, there’s definitely something that we can use to fix it.”

With Martinez’s combined pottery skills and motivational spirit, he is a huge support to Gay and all of her students. One of the most difficult tasks in pottery is a technique called pulling handles and attaching them to a vessel, yet Martinez guides students through the process.

“I want everybody to have a cup with a handle,” Martinez said. “It’s cool. When they see their cup come out of the kiln, it’s just very rewarding to me.” 

Martinez and Gay easily consider each other friends. After years of teaching together, many students say they make a pretty good team. 

 “Mrs. Gay has been an amazing friend and she’s been very motivational for me,” Martinez said. “She’s pretty cool.”

“Through the last eight years, Ruben and I have become pretty good friends, and there’s not a problem he and I cannot solve,” Gay said. “If I can’t figure it out he usually can, or we’ll both look at it together. He makes me a better artist.” 

In a class like 3D Art, students tend to be at different stages in their work and need different hands-on instruction. When there are 24 students all needing individual instruction, a second set of hands, especially talented ones, makes all the difference. 

Not only does Martinez encompass his own set of skills, but he appreciates the talent and artistic abilities of the students he witnesses as well.

“I also enjoy what the students can do, I mean there are some amazing students – right here,” Martinez said. “They’re smart, they’re intelligent, they can do different things, and it just astounds me. Every student is different; I learn something from all of them.”

Martinez dedicates his time and energy to the classroom purely as a volunteer, without compensation.

“I come here only to see the students work,” Martinez said. “For example, if I have a freshman starting in art classes, can you imagine what they’ll be like senior year? I see the vision.”

Nevertheless, he spends every available day in the classroom—not for any material reward, but because he was raised to work hard and inspire others.

“My grandpa taught me to share your skills,” Martinez said. “ That’s art, drawing, whatever I can do to help someone perform and do better. It’s not for me, it’s for you. That’s what I tell the kids.”