On his mind, on the mic

Cesar Fernandez teaches 9th and 10th grade integrated math at Otay Ranch High School.

But when he is not teaching his students how to solve exponential equations, he can be heard on the microphone giving his opinion on  “The Educated Guess” podcast.

The math teacher has always had an admiration for being in front of the microphone; with his podcast he is front and center with co-host and teacher Rodrigo Arancibia sharing stories that educators want to hear.

“In my 18 years of teaching, I’ve came across a lot of great, inspiring educators and I don’t think their stories are ever told,” Fernandez said. “I’ve always liked to be in front of the microphone to be talking…So for me this was an opportunity to be in front of the mic myself and then also tell the stories of other educators.”

“The Educated Guess” primarily focuses on topics revolving around education with some airtime dedicated to South Bay politics, sports and occasionally hip-hop music.

Fernandez, the treasurer for the Sweetwater Education Association, and a progressive Democrat, admits that his opinion comes with a bias point of view towards unions and working class families, so he always gives a disclaimer at the beginning of every podcast episode that his opinions do not reflect those of the Sweetwater Union High School District or Otay Ranch High School.

Fernandez, 43, created “The Educated Guess” podcast a year ago and on Jan. 16 aired its ninth episode titled “AskUnionBoss.”

In this episode, Fernandez interviewed Roberto Rodriguez, the former Sweetwater Education Association president and currently the Regional Director for the California Teachers Association, to discuss what union activism might look like during the next four years under President-Elect Donald Trump.

Although Fernandez is nine episodes in, he said he still is trying to get into the swing of the things since this is his first try at podcasting.

In total, “The Educated Guess” has generated about 2,200 listens over the nine-episode catalogue. Episode 6 about how teachers unions work had garnered the most listens at 350.

“I’m small, I’m just starting off,” he said. “[But] I’m definitely growing.”

Fernandez said some of the most compelling stories for the podcast have come unexpectedly like Episode 4. Fernandez said as he was getting set to record a fellow teacher came to visit him.  That teacher had lost his brother 32 years ago in the San Ysidro McDonald’s massacre and had been interviewed about the tragedy in a recent documentary.

“That was something that my buddy had always kept close to his heart,” Fernandez said.  “But that day in the summer, I’m hooking up all my stuff and I’m like ‘hey, test this out let me hear how you sound’ and we started having a conversation and he told me about being part of that documentary. That ended up being episode 4.”

Fernandez estimates he has spent about $1,500 on audio equipment to produce the podcast.

Fernandez said podcasting has been therapeutic for him.

“Some people write in their diary, some people have a blog, some write poetry,” he said. “This is my way of sharing my opinion of education with the world.”

“The Educated Guess” can be heard on Blog Talk Radio, on Apple’s iTunes, the Tune In app and on Player FM. However, when searching for the podcast on iTunes EducatedGuess is one word.