STUDENT SUCCESS

We all hope for the best for our students once they leave our class; unfortunately, more often than not, we lose track of them once they're gone. Whether they have achieved their GED diploma, gained citizenship, or improved their English skills, we always hope that their achievements while in our class, were not an end, but a start to bigger and better things.

In the past year, I've had the extremely fortunate opportunity to follow a past student through one of the most incredible success stories our program has ever seen. Her name is Julie Requenez. Julie is a twenty-three-year-old single mom with three children. She entered my JOBS/GED class in 1996 and received her GED in only a few months while, at the same time, volunteering as a clerical worker for her D.H.S. case managers.

Because of the student population we serve, amazing stories, some amazingly tragic, others amazingly courageous, are common. Julie's first day was no exception; a probation officer had crossed the professional lines in his conduct toward her and she was looking for help and advice. Those of you who teach in the JOBS program know that many times, in addition to teaching, we have to assume the role of counselor, advisor and good friend.

In class, Julie was an excellent student. She was helpful, insightful and, most of all, always had something funny to share. She was an avid writer. While in my class, she wrote an incredibly colorful twenty page autobiography titled "About Me". This story can now be accessed on the Internet.

When our program coordinator, Nancy Dunlap, was looking for a speaker for our end of year graduation ceremony, I had the perfect candidate. Captivating an audience made up of ESL completers, GED graduates, and Northside Board members, Julie eloquently told of her experiences on the streets and her escape from that world. Involvement with gangs taught her how to steal cars, deal drugs, and end up, several times, in jail. After her last incarceration, she vowed to change her life for good. She vowed to work toward a better life and set a better example for her children. After graduating, she entered the Electronic Technician Certificate Program at San Antonio College where she currently is doing well.

Julie's graduation speech was only a start. On July 10, 1997, Julie was chosen to speak at the National Outstanding GED Graduates Awards Dinner sponsored by the American Council on Education held at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. There, under the chandeliers of the Menger Hotel's main ballroom and in front of a national audience which included such GED successes as Diana Estill and Sonya Carson, this year's Cornelius P. Turner Awardee as the outstanding GED graduate, Julie shared her unique story with other graduates from around the country who had overcome their own unique obstacles.

This past summer, while taking part in a TEA teleconference on the Project FORWARD curriculum, I told Deborah Stedman and the other participants about Julie's story. A few weeks later, when Pavlos Roussos received a call from Washington seeking a state representative for a literacy convention, Deborah knew just who to recommend. A few days later Julie was officially invited by the U.S. Department of Education to be the only Texan to represent the state as an Ambassador to the conference and to participate in the National Forum on Adult Education and Literacy conference, "Views from Adult Learners", to be held in Washington D.C. on September 7-10.

As you can imagine, Julie was thunderstruck by the news. She was just starting her first electronics classes at San Antonio. As the date crept closer, we received more and more news about the events: airfare and per diem, as well as a room at the Marriott Metro Hotel in downtown D.C., were to be paid by the U.S. Department of Education. There was to be participation in events at a Congressional Symposium to be held on National Literacy Day on Capitol Hill, as well as break-out groups with participants from all over the U.S. in attendance. Planning for a trip like this is a lot of work. For a single mother of three attending college while on public assistance, the preparation is that much more challenging: Who will watch the kids? How can I miss class? Where will I get money for food, cabs and site seeing? What will I wear?

Suddenly, our conversations turned from talk about the starry events to come in Washington, to the practical realities of the next day. A few weeks before she was to leave, Julie found herself with no place for her and her three children to live; the support system that had been behind her gave out. Luckily, in the eleventh hour, Julie found help from an old friend. That problem was temporarily taken care of.

I was never so relieved as when I saw Julie's face peak out of the window at her house when I pulled up in her driveway at 4:30 a.m. to take her to the airport. Everything had come together. We reached the airport exactly one hour before her flight. She was off!

In adult education our greatest success stories come when students, instructors and members of the community work hand in hand to create a network that makes it happen. From the top brass of TEA to the case managers, administrators, fellow students and precious friends who gave her a home when she needed it most, Julie found herself a network second to none.

Julie kept a journal while in Washington and is currently working up the next chapter in her story for all to read. You can e-mail directly at JRenquenez@aol.com