JPS-TV and the Jeffco Schools Foundation are partnering to present this special series, honoring Jeffco Public Schools students and teachers of extraordinary character, leadership, and strength.
Meet 2016 Jeffco Hero Award honoree Oscar Lopez Aguirre who is one of five Jeffco Public Schools students being recognized by the Jeffco Schools Foundation for their extraordinary character, leadership, and strength.
It was a Thursday edition of Friday night lights at Denver’s All City Stadium as the Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Saints took on the West High School Cowboys. As he does at every game, number 32 sees a lot of action. That’s Oscar. Oscar Lopez Aguirre. Few watching him play are likely aware of what it took for Oscar to be here; to be anywhere. A troubled family history that included addiction almost caused Oscar to give up on sports, on school, and on life.
“Something clicked in my head, that ‘I don’t want to be doing that. I don’t want to live that lifestyle.’ And that’s when I switched my entire mentality of how I’m going to act. And then from there, I just started going to school, started being more involved. I just want to be the total opposite of the other side of my family,” said Lopez Aguirre.
Oscar re-focused, and he thrived, determined to break the cycle of what had come before. He motivated himself by wanting to make his mother, and his sister, who’d lived through the bad times with him, proud.
“We saw in Oscar the true definition of a survivor, someone who committed himself to ideals and values and assets that he had in order to succeed. And he’s had some obstacles in his life, and many, many kids would probably have allowed the obstacles to prevail instead of themselves. So Oscar’s someone that has definitely faced life and grabbed life by the ears,” said Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School Principal Michael James.
He’s so determined to get an education, Oscar, who open enrolled at Jefferson, rides an RTD bus from his home in Aurora every school day, waking at four a.m.
“I would just always get here, and the focus was to get here on time. And if I’m on time, that’s even better. That means I can start doing some work. On the bus, I’ll be doing my schoolwork. It takes like an hour maybe, an hour forty five, to get here. And it was just that I can’t give up,” said Lopez Aguirre. “I just have to keep pushing myself. And I want this. My mom told me ‘It’s going to be hard.’ And I was like ‘Yeah, I know it is.’”
His teachers say Oscar is one of the most genuine, compassionate students they’ve ever known. They love to watch him mentor younger Saints, urging them on, encouraging them to keep fighting, as he’s fought.
“Many kids have talents that no one knows, it could be like a singer, a writer, we all have something. And so I want to show them that even though you live that life, you could always move on. You’ve got to break the cycle. It just goes over and over again. Your dad did it, your grandpa did it, you need to be the one that breaks the cycle and move a different way,” said Lopez Aguirre.
As if his school life wasn’t full enough, Oscar also takes culinary arts classes at Warren Tech with the goal of one day becoming a chef.
“When I serve people food, I can see in their face that they smile and it’s just like, I gave them a little—a moment in their life where they’re happy. They’re not thinking of anything. They’re like, ‘Wow, this is a great dish,’” said Lopez Aguirre.
Oscar’s hard work and determination has made him a role model for classmates and younger students. He’s never used his past as an excuse, but instead as fuel for his passion to succeed.
“My goal as a principal is that every kid is like you. That every kid looks at where they are in their lives, looks at where they came from, celebrates that, but looks beyond that, and creates a future for themselves bigger than what they had,” said James. “You took a risk and you threw yourself into it, and I think that’s what’s going to make your life amazing. It will make your life amazing; there’s no question.”
Watch the JPS-TV version of this story here.