Room 10A at Davis High School helps students learn in their natural language

YAKIMA, Wash. -- At first glimpse, Room 10A at Davis High School seems like any other classroom.

There are computers, tables, chairs and students.

But a closer look reveals something else. Walls are draped with Mexican maps and tapestries.

Standing before about two dozen students, teacher Jorge Herrera jots algebraic equations on a large wall monitor as he gives instruction in Spanish.

Students listen attentively before firing back with questions in Spanish.

Welcome to the school's CONEVyT portal, an online program developed by the Mexican government, adopted by the Yakima School District three years ago and now gaining converts across the state.

Because of its agricultural base, the Yakima Valley sees large numbers of workers from Mexico. Each year, dozens of students come to the school district unable to complete classes because they speak only Spanish.

The portal lets them study in Spanish until becoming proficient in English.

The program is credited, in part, with helping the district reduce its dropout rate from about 20 percent a few years ago -- the highest in the state -- to 7 percent, said Yakima School District Superintendent Ben Soria.

Unlike bilingual education, where elementary students are taught in both languages, this program focuses on high school students and allows them to work on courses taught entirely in Spanish. Meanwhile, they also take separate English classes. When they master the ability to write and speak in English, they begin using it in their studies.

Students enrolled in the program must meet the same graduation requirements as other students, including English proficiency.

When the Yakima School District began the online program three years ago, it had just 17 students. Since that time, it has grown to about 90 students. So far, it's credited with helping more than 20 graduate.

Herrera said it can take a student from four to seven years to learn English, and that having 20 graduates within three years shows great strides.

"It helps keep them on schedule for graduation rather than have them fall behind while learning English," he said of Spanish-language instruction. "Many of them would drop out."

Yakima was the first school district in the state to adopt the program, which has since gained wider acceptance.

Calling the Yakima program a success, Howard De Leeuw, the state director for Migrant and Bilingual Education in Olympia, said he wants more schools to adopt it.

"We're stepping up our efforts at the state level to make sure every district that can benefit from CONEVyT knows about it so they can use it," he said.

CONEVyT is an acronym in Spanish for Consejo Nacional de Educación para la Vida y el Trabajo, or National Education Council for Life and Work.

So far, schools in Walla Walla, Vancouver and Renton are using the portal. The Toppenish School District offers it to adults in the evening and plans to soon offer it to students.

On a recent afternoon, a Davis High School student studied Washington state history in both English and Spanish. Because of his improved English skills, the lesson was split in both languages on his computer screen.

"The main purpose of the portal is to help them learn English at a faster pace," Herrera said while standing behind the student.

It's something Luis Fernando Duran-Franco is diligently working toward.

The 20-year-old sophomore came here five years ago from Nayarit in central Mexico, where his parents still work in fields.

In search of a better life, he moved in with his grandparents in Yakima. Unable to understand English, he said he was lost in class before using the portal.

"But right now, I speak a little," he said.

Through a partnership with the Mexican government, the Yakima School District is able to use the program free of charge.

Initially, the program was designed to allow migrant workers -- students and adults alike -- to earn a Mexican high school diploma while abroad.

But after learning that much of the Mexican courses met standards here, the Yakima School District began using it to transition Spanish-speaking students into the English language.

Not everyone is enamored with the program.

Joe Ray, the state director of the Minutemen, a group pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigration, said the school district shouldn't offer bilingual education of any kind.

"Absolutely not," he said. "If a kid can't speak English by the time they get to first grade, it's not the school's fault -- it's the parents fault."

He complains that government agencies too often cater to immigrants and that it's costing taxpayers.

"I'm just fed up with us having to try and cure every one else's problems," he said. "If an American family moved to Mexico and had a youngster that spoke no Spanish enter the school, I wonder if they would give him bilingual education? I don't think so."

But Soria said if anything, the program is saving taxpayers money.

It costs the district one teacher's salary, about $54,900 a year, to run the program, which consists of most core courses including state history and government, he said.

Herrera, who coordinates the program, teaches a number of subjects through which all 90 students rotate.

"So you're consolidating four levels of mathematics and four levels of history under one teacher," Soria said. "This is not an added expenditure."

It's not clear just how many students are here illegally, and school districts are not legally required to ask, he said.

Furthermore, attitudes of intolerance won't solve the problem, he said.

"I have an obligation to educate all kids," he said. "Do you want them to fail all their core classes while they learn English? The answer should be no -- it's a no-brainer."

* Phil Ferolito can be reached at 509-577-7749 or pferolito@yakimaherald.com.

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