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A Unique Partnership In Doña Ana County Helps Students Complete The GED Test

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EaAUBH5Zoo&feature=youtu.be

In Southern New Mexico, a unique partnership between a local public school district and a District Attorney’s Office is taking on truancy.  It’s preparing students to not only complete the GED test, but also giving them the resources to prepare for life afterwards. 

On a weekday morning, a few high school students are waiting for their teacher to arrive.  But there are no school bells sounding outside of this classroom. These students are attending a truancy school in the 3rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Doña Ana County.

Rosa Cipriano says her mom drove her to school every day, but as a freshman she and close to 30 other teens would skip school every day and hang out at city parks or fast food restaurants. Her mother eventually found out and tried to stop Rosa from skipping.

“She would walk me all the way into the attendance lady, and the attendance lady had me on escort and I would still go skipping, cause I had the bad friends. Now, I don’t even have those friends they are not even worth it,” she says.

Rosa says the program has helped her to recognize the mistakes she has made in the past and she now realizes the importance of education. 

“I used to think that education is nothing, cause I would not care about anything, now I’m growing up and I’m thinking I want money, I want to have this stuff, but you have to work for everything, it’s not free. Education, everybody is always telling me that it’s something that nobody can take away from you,” she says.

In 2008, this Tier Two Truancy School was established between the DA’s office and The Las Cruces Public Schools.

 Dan Rosales, Director of Special Programs with the District Attorney’s Office says many of these students want to complete their GED so they can go to work, because they have to take care of family members.

“A lot of these kids come from homes that they not only want to help out financially, but they need to help out financially. So now we look at work readiness,” says Rosales.

While students are prepping for the GED test, they also learn soft workforce skills like preparing a resume and practicing job interview skills.  Students also learn about other opportunities in higher education and the military.

The Las Cruces Public Schools in 2012-2013 saw the number of high school students who missed 10 or more days of school rise from less than a thousand to nearly 1800.  This past school year…the number dropped to just over 1700.

Richard Chavez works as a facilitator with the Las Cruces Public Schools Attendance and Student Support Services. He says his department is constantly battling truancy issues and tries to identify the early warning signs of a problem.

“It’s a huge issue; we’re constantly trying to drive our numbers up. We want more kids in school. What we see with lack of attendance is usually it’s a symptom of a much bigger issue. Whether it’s mental health, whether it’s drug use, criminal activity or dysfunctional homes,” says Chavez.

Karina Hermosillo sees many of these issues on a daily basis. She works as the part-time teacher. Hermosillo says she stays in contact with parents or guardians and directs students to the resources they need.

“Most of my kids, if they have both parents at home, it’s a hard relationship. We have parents that may be alcoholics; we have parents that may be on into drugs. We have parents who used to be alcoholics or drug addicts, and now are pushing their kid to keep going as well,” says Hermosillo.

Cipriano wants to complete her GED soon so she can join the National Guard and then go on to college. She sees the sacrifices that her mother has made and continues to make for her. She wants to complete her GED so she can help her mother out more.

“She does anything for me…I thank her a lot for everything she does. She’s always motivates me even when I’m having a bad day. She makes it better. She’s my best friend…I don’t know anyone that is going to be there for me like her,” says Cipriano.

District Attorney Mark D’Antonio says this program won’t stop truancy tomorrow, but he says the program may help students achieve goals and avoid being caught up in the justice system.

“The worst thing for me in the world is to put a child in jail. I would rather educate that child and make them successful and the parents are the key to that success,” says D’Antonio.

The program works with each student individually to ensure they’re ready to take the GED test on their own time. When a student does pass the test, there is a celebration in the District Attorney’s office.  A celebration before they begin the journey toward their next goals in life.