“This is not unique to Latino students, this is for all.” “You create opportunities for students to excel and they will excel,” Williams said. She said the program has been “instrumental in contributing to an equitable school” because it teaches the members that they are capable and worthy of respect and dignity. One of the students in the first LIA cohort earned a master’s degree in counseling and works at a school, and another is currently studying to take the MCAT and go to medical school, Williams said. Dozens of LIA alumni have graduated from the high school and continued their education beyond. Now, there are 32 students in the program and a waiting list of teens hoping to get in. Teachers and administrators tried to coax Williams into being more lenient about the GPA standard, but she was adamant that the program needed to set a high enough bar that it meant something for the students who qualified. ![]() The students could not maintain a high enough GPA to remain in the program, she said. Williams started the first semester with 14 students in the class, but she ended the year with seven. Tom VanGorder, a former associate superintendent, eventually gave Williams the go-ahead for one pilot year. Leaders dismissed her idea, but Williams was persistent. She heard about the nationwide program Latinos in Action, and she pitched the idea of starting a chapter at the school. You create opportunities for students to excel and they will excel. She knew she had to do something to boost the Latino graduation rate. ![]() About 30 percent of the students in her ESL classes were graduating high school, she said. She said Latino students rarely took Advanced Placement classes, and they were often unaware what the ACT exam was, let alone prepared to take it. ![]() She became aware of disparities among the Latino population while teaching English as a second language. When she first came to the school district 15 years ago, she said phrases like “social equity” and “the opportunity gap” were not heard in Park City. Social equity has been a buzzword in Park City for the last couple years, particularly after the municipal government deemed it a critical priority last spring.Īnna Williams, who teaches English and Latinos in Action at the high school, is glad to see the community-wide shift. Last year, the Park City Board of Education took what advocates called a significant step by removing academic fees so students have equal access to classes.īut teachers, principals and district administrators know there is still plenty of work to do to ensure every student in Park City has all they need to succeed. Since the leadership group Latinos in Action launched at the high school 10 years ago, the Latino graduation rate has leapt from approximately 50 percent to 85 percent. She is one of a collection of people who say it is time to find solutions to social inequalities in Park City, though she also knows better than anyone that the district has made progress toward closing the gap. Gonzalez is not taking on the opportunity gap in Park City School District alone. PCHS scores in the 97th percentile of Utah schools based on its students’ overall test scores and grades, for instance, but Latino and economically disadvantaged students fall 6 percent below average state scores. In the wealthiest town in the state, the gap between students graduating from Ivy League colleges and those who can’t afford college is profound. It’s apparent in Park City School District’s Latino students, who typically have lower grades, test scores and graduation rates compared to their peers. The opportunity gap is the disparity in academic performance and access to resources between affluent students and those from underprivileged families. ![]() After graduating from the high school five years ago, she has her eyes set on closing the opportunity gap for students in Park City who, like her, are first-generation college students from low-income families. The woman sitting behind the desk is Rebeca Gonzalez, program manager of Bright Futures, an emerging program that aims to prepare Latino students for college. She knows firsthand how important it is to see one’s culture represented when walking through school halls as a teenager. It’s an intentional move by the woman who works inside. The images are visible to students passing through the hallways. In a glass-walled office on Park City High School’s second floor, inspirational quotes in Spanish and photos of Hispanic icons like Dolores Huerta plaster the interior. The program is part of the district's initiative to provide extra resources to its Latino population and close the opportunity gap. In Park City School District's summer education program, older students visit the younger kids to help them practice reading.
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