CORPUS CHRISTI —The battle cry of César Chávez, “sí se puede,” or yes we can, isn’t just a slogan for students at the Dr. M.L. Garza-Gonzalez Charter School.

Understanding the fight for equality and the meaning behind those words is a message teachers hope students will start to understand after a skit and march in honor of Chávez on Wednesday.

Prekindergarten through third grade students, 170 strong, carried signs and shouted the slogan as they participated in the annual march.

“César Chávez was a Latino-American civil rights activist,” said Xavier Sanchez, 9. “He wanted them (farmworkers) to have the same thing other people had. They didn’t get paid enough.”

While some children participating in Wednesday’s march may not entirely understand the concept behind Chávez and his movement, it plants a seed that will continue to grow, said Maria Luisa Garza, superintendent of the school.

“The children begin to absorb the meaning of what it takes to make a change in society,” she said. “They can sing the song now and as they grow older it expands and they begin to understand the history.”

The topic hits close to home for many of the children at the school because they may have had grandparents or parents that were farmworkers, said Jessica Gutierrez, the early childhood coordinator.

“It’s a celebration of not only their culture but also a Hispanic leader,” she said.