BRIDGEPORT — Students at tiny Bridgeport High School shed some tears Tuesday with news that President Barack Obama won’t give the commencement address, but a little ice cream and word that the governor and a cabinet secretary will attend eased the disappointment.
The school that serves 200 s
tudents in Eastern Washington’s orchard country was one of three finalists in the Race to the Top challenge. Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis won the honor; High Tech High International in San Diego was the third finalist.
“We weren’t on the map, but now everybody says, ‘What’s up Bridgeport?'” said Carina Ochoa, a senior who will attend Washington State University in the fall. “We’re sad, but we’re proud of what we accomplished.”
Ochoa and four friends who helped make a video touting their school for the competition waited anxiously with the principal in her office for the call from the White House.
The girls cried in the office as they waited for the student body to file into the gymnasium for the announcement. Two teachers danced a jig, bringing laughs from the students, and teachers handed out small U.S. flags for the students to wave.
Principal Tamra Jackson broke the news, reminding the students that making the final three was a huge accomplishment.
“Do you know how big this nation is? Do you know how many high schools there are in this nation?” she asked the students. “You guys are amazing, so you need to give yourselves a hand.”
The school largely serves the students of farm workers who labor in the neighboring apple and cherry orchards, and 100 percent of the students receive free or reduced lunch. Many are the only members of their household who speak English, and some are the first in their families to finish high school, let alone go on to college.
Yet all 37 seniors at Bridgeport will graduate this year, and all plan to attend college or trade school.
Ana Soto, a senior who will attend Whitworth University, said her parents would be disappointed with the news.
“They’ll be happy to know that we tried,” she said, adding that she learned a lot from the experience.
“That we can work together,” she said. “And that our school has done a lot for us.”
Jackson also announced that Gov. Chris Gregoire and an as-yet-unnamed cabinet secretary would attend graduation, and teachers handed out ice cream to celebrate.
Gregoire said in a statement that the presidential challenge highlights some of the most innovative and inspiring high schools across the country. Bridgeport fits that category, she said, and the students are rising above the odds and breaking barriers of the past.
“They have made Washington proud,” she said.
Nain Sanchez, a 14-year-old freshman, said people haven’t heard the last of Bridgeport.
“I’m thinking my senior year,” he said. “We can do it again. We’ll try harder.”
That positive attitude is exactly what the school has tried to foster in the students, Jackson said.
“It’s all about relationships,” she said. “These kids know that we really, really care about them.”
And while the disappointment is real, she said the excitement for graduation will return.
“We tried to prepare them for that moment either way,” she said. “I am disappointed, but I am still excited we made it this far.”
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