WASHINGTON STUDENTS HONORED IN NATIONAL PASS CENTER REPORT

About 16,000 migrant students in 30 states achieve credit each year toward high school graduation through the PASS (Portable Assisted Study Sequence) semi-independent curriculum. About 1/10 of those are from Washington state.

In the National PASS Center’s 2004-2005 Report published in April 2006, however, seven of the 14 success stories were about Washington migrant students.

The PASS curriculum is a valuable resource to help migrant students achieve the credit they need to graduate from high school, despite their mobile lifestyle that sometimes requires them to leave school during one semester and not return until after a new semester has already begun, explains Robert Lynch, director of the National PASS Center (NPC).

Lynch, National PASS Coordinator Sally Fox and Washington’s Linda Roberts, chair of the National PASS Coordinating Committee (NPCC), presented a workshop at the National Migrant Education Conference in Denver recently.

“PASS courses are specifically designed to address the needs of this mobile population by incorporating a high level of content and instruction in units of manageable size and written at an accessible reading level,” Lynch says. “These attributes, combined with assistance from a teacher/mentor, help to assure student success.”

The quality and flexibility of PASS has also proven the curriculum valuable to other student populations, as well, he explains. Students who are ill or are incarcerated are among those who have benefited from PASS.

"Through PASS, Migrant Education's focus remains on 'continuity of education,'” says Roberts, director of the Office of Secondary Education for Migrant Youth (SEMY), which administers PASS in Washington. “PASS helps to mitigate the factors associated with missed classes, lacking credits, disjointed academic preparation, problematic scheduling and dissimilar standards in multiple schools.  PASS also provides educators across state boundaries to focus on consistent and comprehensive academic preparation."

Because mobile students frequently miss portions of courses, PASS has been created with portable units, which allows the school to select specific content for the student to complete, Roberts explains. A student may only have to complete one of five units to finish a course, but the difference in completing that one unit or not may be the difference between an A or an F.

In an overview for the national report Roberts wrote: “Does PASS make a difference? …Over 16,000 migrant students think so! … Hundreds across the United States … have graduated from high school because they earned the credits they needed through PASS.”

Here are the stories of some of the Washington students included in the PASS National Report, which exemplify the needs filled by the PASS curriculum.

LACY GASPARD

The family of Lacy Gaspard of Wahkiakum High School in Cathlamet, Wash., began moving all over the U.S. when she was 5 years old.

“She never stayed at one place long enough to finish an entire school year until she came to Washington state,” her migrant outreach coordinator, Marilyn Gatens wrote.  “Before that the only state the family lived in for more than three months was Louisiana.” 

Consequently, when Lacy entered Wahkiakum High School, she was almost 17 years old and had only 1 ½ credits toward graduation. 

“She saw no hope of ever graduating from high school — and in reality would have had to drop out for lack of credits,” Gatens wrote. However, “from May of 2003, with 1 ½ credits, to June of 2005, Lacy … earned 25 ¼ credits” and qualified to graduate. She also qualified for the Honor Roll and participated in volleyball and track while holding down a part-time job, helping to care for her younger sisters, and performing household chores. 

“In my 15 years in migrant education, I have never had a student work so hard to accumulate enough credits to graduate,” Gatens wrote.  “Lacy will be the first in her family to reach this goal. 

“When she first moved here, Lacy had no hope of ever achieving any success.  She worked on PASS courses during the summers, and continued to do them with a full school load, sports, and working.  The PASS Program has given Lacy the key to the future she never thought she could have,” Gatens concluded.

“This program helped me gain more confidence and more strength for myself,” Lacy explained.  “Without the PASS Program, I would not be where I am today.

“My adviser, Ms. Gatens, has helped me the entire year by motivating me.  She always tells me that I can be whatever I want to be and never to discourage myself by saying that I can’t do it,” she wrote.

While she is completing her PASS workbooks she also motivated herself by thinking about “where and what am I going to be in the future?” Lacy wrote.

Someday she hopes to be a nurse or a doctor to help in “delivering babies or treating patients.”

 
ANA GONZALEZ

Ana Gonzalez of Pasco had a worse problem to overcome than “just” being a migrant student in order to graduate last spring. She had to survive cancer. During three of her four years in high school, she missed a lot of classroom instruction because of her sickness.

“When I was receiving treatment for my cancer, the PASS program allowed me not only to complete my classes, but also helped me to complete those difficult years.  Those years were so crucial for me physically and emotionally that the PASS program made it uncomplicated for me to teach myself through the simple lessons,” she writes.

“Even now during my senior year, I continue to work through the PASS program.  For the reason that I am not able to return to school until one year post my bone marrow transplant.  The PASS program allows me to work on school courses at home, so that when I am ready to return to school, I have already completed those courses in a shorter amount of time.  I would recommend anyone to work through the program because it is an efficient way to complete school courses when times seem to be problematic,” Ana writes.

Education has been a high priority for Ana all her life, and she hopes to continue past her high school diploma, ultimately going to culinary school to become a master chef.

CATALINA CRUZ

Catalina Cruz was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, but spent most of her growing-up years in Baja California while her father crossed into the United States each year to find work. After 13 years of missing her father, Catalina, her mother and four siblings were finally able to join him in the U.S., where he has now left the onion fields to work at a dairy. 

“He says it is very hard work there, but it’s the one job that pays really well.  That’s why he tells us to study so we can get a good job that pays well,” Catalina says. “I want to finish high school and go to the university to receive a better education, prepare for the future, and serve my community.  I want to be an administrator or a teacher.” 

Catalina had only recently entered the U.S. when she enrolled at Nooksack Valley High School in 2003.

“It was very difficult for me because I didn’t understand anything in English, and it was difficult to learn,” Catalina wrote. “I am thankful for PASS classes.  …   I think that PASS is very important for me to graduate.  …   I feel really worried, so I study more and more.”

She was able to take classes in Spanish through the PASS program.  Altogether, 13 of the 36 PASS courses available in Washington have been translated into Spanish and one into Russian.

“In my opinion, the PASS class helps the migrant student to learn more.  Each student has the right to a quality education.  PASS lets me study in my own language while I am learning English,” she wrote.

EDGAR GERMAN

“Edgar exemplifies the goals of the PASS Program.  As the oldest son of a migrant family, he has endured large breaks in his education, resulting in the loss of credit due,” wrote Rod Luce, his Quincy High School counselor.

 He added that Edgar “has shouldered the burden of helping with family responsibilities and finances.”

Despite these hardships, Luce wrote, “Edgar has persevered in his goal of receiving his high school diploma and going on to further training after high school.  His personal motivation, his attitude toward his education and the welfare of his parents and siblings, and his strong work ethic are examples of the kind of person we want all students to become.”

But Edgar got far enough behind that he felt like quitting sometimes.

“The PASS Program has helped me believe that I should keep going and not drop out.  They have given me hope that I can succeed with a little hard work and earn my high school diploma,” he wrote. “Even if I have to wait a little longer to get my diploma, it will be worth it so I can have a good career.  After I get my high school diploma, I would like to go to Universal Technical Institute to learn about mechanics and auto body collision repair.”

Later he would to be a technical adviser for movies that “have a lot of cars and racing.”

“Another goal I have is to help my parents … pay off their debts so they can move back to Mexico,” Edgar wrote.  “The reason they are in the U.S. is so my brother and sisters and I can get a good education.”

The PASS courses not only helped him make up lost credits, they also helped him understand difficult subjects better.

“I liked the workbooks because I can actually understand what they say,” he wrote. “I sometimes have difficulty studying, but with these workbooks I actually understood the terms and everything they taught.  I took Economics to learn what it was about because I didn’t know how little I knew about things like trade with other countries and the budget of a business or the government.  Right now I am taking Color and Design, and I am learning that I actually have some artistic talent.”

AZUCENA VILLA

Azucena Villa went to school in Mexico from age 5 until age 15. Then her parents wanted to come to the U.S. with Azucena, her sister and her brother.

“In Wenatchee I started in Eastmont High School when I was 15 years old.  When I came to the United States it was the most difficult time for me because it was a different home, different climate, I didn’t have friends, and also, I didn’t know the language,” Azucena wrote.  “So, when I came to the school my first day, I was crying because I didn’t know what the teachers said to me, and the students laughed at me.  The first days were the most difficult in my life.”

In her sophomore year Azucena took U.S. History in the PASS program.

“This helped me a lot because I could do it by myself, and on my own time because it was in Spanish.  In my junior year I took Transitional English in the summer PASS program, and this helped me a lot because I had a teacher only for me so I understood better,” she wrote. 

She later took English 10 and Geography through the PASS program.

“I have a lot of goals and dreams that I want to do,” Azucena wrote.  “My long-term goals or dreams are to be a business administrator, later have my own company, and help my parents in their old age.  I also want to get married and have two children, then return to Mexico with my family.”

DIANA SANCHEZ

Diana Sanchez of Pasco is a teenage single mom from a family that had never celebrated a high school graduation until Diana and her brother achieved that goal last spring.

The PASS program helped Diana overcome some of the challenges of motherhood.

“The course I am currently taking through PASS is required for graduation.  Since being a single mother of two has left me with other types of responsibilities, I was unable to take this course [in the classroom],” Diana wrote.  “I was working a full-time job, requiring me to work long shifts, including overtime.  …It didn’t leave me much time for school since supporting my family was a higher priority at the time.”

But Diana also wanted to go beyond high school and become a dental assistant, having taken a related course at Tri-Tech Skills Center last year.

“I want to pursue a permanent career in the dental field.  The dental field is not an easy occupation or an easy field to study.  Still, my growing passion for dental encourages my desire to complete my high school education … [and] attend college and work on my prerequisites in order to get into the dental hygiene program,” Diana wrote.

“Being able to take courses through PASS has made a great difference in my life.  Through PASS I realized I can achieve my goals.  PASS has helped me have more confidence in myself, my decisions, and my life.  By being able to take my required courses through PASS, I will achieve my short-term goal this year and graduate.  I do realize there are a couple of steps I have to achieve in order to get into the dental hygiene program.  PASS, however, has helped me to get one step closer to my career goal,” she wrote. 

“PASS not only has made a difference in my life, but will continue making a difference in others’ lives, too, through me,” Diana concluded.

Washington state currently offers 36 PASS courses containing five units each. Students are allowed to take the entire course or just those units they failed to complete in the classroom. A list of courses and additional information about the PASS program is available at http://www.semy.org/.