Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/969549
in our community, so our educators are always trying to bring the world to them." Field trips h elp, say Huron Middle School math and science teachers Pete A lv a ra d o a n d K a r r i e Ma d r i g a l , w h o brought children to the Griffith Observa- tory and La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. e school provides clothing and food to students in need, making a point of offering these things discreetly. Caring and sharing extends to a newly created program called SMART, where adminis- trators, teachers and counselors "adopt" students to offer them emotional support and inspire motivation. Staff credit this "relationship building" with a turnaround that brought the campus recognition in the state Schools to Watch – Taking Cen- ter Stage program. Last year the high school graduation rate rose to 88 percent, says counselor Janine Wagner proudly. But a big chal- lenge remains — convincing parents to allow their children to go away to college. "I grew up here and went away to col- lege," says Wagner. "I try to highlight my experiences and let them know I sur - vived, came back, and have been giving back to our community for 11 years. But many of our parents are fearful to have children leave home." Coalinga High School teacher Tom L u c e r o t e a c h e s re a l - w o r l d s k i l l s t o journalism students, who produce an award-w innin g ma gazin e and creat e weekly multimedia news broadcasts on YouTub e. Hi s drama students put on productions that entertain the entire At Huron Elementary, Tom Wells reads to his students. town ; school plays and football games a re b i g s o u r c e s of e n t e r t a i n m e n t i n rural communities. Lucero has taken students to Fresno for Broadway plays, and will take students to New York on a field trip. He comments that people in rural communities are generous when it comes to fundraising for these outings, even if they are poor. Because rural schools are short on funding, they are continuously fund- raising at school events, fairs and town festivals, holding bake sales, car washes a n d ra f f l e s . It 's a l o t of w o rk , b u t it strengthens educators' ties to the com- munity, say teachers. How e v e r, w h e n t e a c h e r s re si d e i n the rural town where they teach, it can feel as though they are living under a microscope, comments Lucero, a Coal- inga resident. "There's no such thing as anonymity. People call me by name at the gas sta- tion, the grocery store and movie theater. Even the elementary students know me by name." Opportunities in agriculture and other fields Almost 60 percent of students in rural schools in California are of color, many of them Hispanic and from families with ties to the agriculture or service industries. Huron Elementary 's Christina Mon- real , a C HU TA m emb er, says h er school recently started th ematic 27 A P R I L / M AY 2 018 We want our students to discover the world, but that can be hard in our community, so our educators are always trying to bring the world to them." — Tom Wells, Coalinga-Huron Unified Teachers Association