Bell Gardens High Program Aims to Help All Students Go To College
Past students say they were left on their own to figure it all out.
By Eloisa España, EGP Staff Writer
It’s that time of year again, when high school students across the country are anxiously trying to meet college financial aid and scholarship application deadlines, such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA.
At Bell Gardens High School, where five years ago college guidance was usually only given to AVID students, the school has taken on a school-wide approach to informing and helping students get accepted to four-year schools.
Flags from universities that previous students have attended from all across the U.S. hang from the ceiling in the senior AVID class at Bell Gardens High School. EGP photo by Eloisa España.
This was the first year that 10th graders were recruited by college counselor Tracy Brendzal to take the PSAT, a test previously taken towards the end of junior year. This test, along with the SAT I, II and ACT have a cost, but every student is given two fee waivers for each of the tests. “I recommend they take each one at the end of their junior year… and then again in their senior year,” said Brendzal, who says waiting to test after nearly a full year of instruction helps them score better.
At Bell Gardens, every senior fills out the FAFSA, getting step-by-step guidance; help that five years ago was only offered to those labeled as “college bound,” according to some former students. “They [would] focus too much on the cream of the crop,” said Ana Rodriguez, a Bell Gardens High class of 2005 graduate. “They need to focus on the kids who are struggling,” she said when asked by EGP what she thought of the “college assistance she received as a former student. Rodriguez graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara last June, majoring in Spanish with a minor in Education and Applied Psychology.
She would be glad to hear that her former high school now has 12 counselors on staff, thanks to a seven-year Quality Education Impact Act (QEIA) grant to reduce class size in core classes (English, Math, Science and Social Studies) to a student teacher ration of 25:1, and the counselor load to 300:1. The school is in its third year of the grant. “When I first started, I had 900 students on my case, so that is nearly impossible to work with,” said Brendzal.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes at the school is an effort by counselors to meet with students and their parents at least once a year. This allows parents to keep track of their child’s classes and whether they are meeting college admission requirements. “All we wish [for the students] is that they continue their education in some form,” said Brendzal, words Robert Mendez, class of 2004, wishes someone had told him when he was in high school.
“I didn’t have high expectations [for myself], but I think teachers are the ones that guide students [in] that direction,” he said. As a future educator, Mendez says his goal is to reach all children and not just the few who never struggle. “I think any effort coming from any student is what counts,” he said. Mendez is currently working on his Masters of Art and Teaching Music at the University of Southern California.
But it is not just students planning on attending four-year schools who are receiving guidance these days. Bell Gardens students, who plan to attend a vocational, technical or community college after graduation, also receive help from counselors.
Despite better counseling that has exposed students to more opportunities, “Most of the students stay inside the bubble of Bell Gardens, and it’s really hard to encourage them to go outside of that bubble…” said Brendzal, explaining that most students still only apply to Cal State and UC schools, thinking other schools are out of their reach. Not much has changed in that sense, according to Ernesto Diaz, class of 2004, who was one of the few to take the big leap to a private university; he attended Stanford University in Palo Alto.
Ernesto Diaz is a Masters Degree Candidate in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford, where he recently earned his Bachelors of Science degree. Dias is a Bell Gardens High School graduate, Class of 2004. Photo courtesy of the Diaz family.
As Valedictorian for his graduating class, you might think Diaz was one of those students who met every deadline his senior year of high school. But you would be wrong, says the Stanford graduate, currently working on his Masters in Aeronautics and Astronautics. Diaz says he did not have anyone to read over the application materials he sent to Stanford. He said he always saw himself going to college, but adds he did not encounter people in his community with college-based careers growing up. “Our community sometimes limits the way students think about higher-education,” said Diaz. He says having role models in the community is extremely important to students, so they can see people from their community who are successful.
Overcoming the fear of applying to an out-of-state school is not easy, but “If a student is willing to go out of state, we are willing to do everything to help them,” Brendzal said.
Last year, seniors accepted to four-year colleges received over $93,000 in scholarships. “You have to be very persistent with scholarships…” Brendzal said, talking about students not wanting to apply or who feel they will not get any financial help. “Maybe you have to apply to 10 scholarships before you get one, but that one scholarship can be worth every little bit.”
Neither Diaz nor Mendez received scholarships from the school or the city, Rodriguez receive a scholarship from the Bell Gardens High newspaper where she wrote for four years. However, they all believe they could have been helped in other ways. Better outreach from counselors is what Mendez said he would have liked during his time in school. “They could have been the gateway of information for us to have better access to college.” More college visits, said Rodriguez, “not just for the AP students but for all students that struggle, they are the ones that need to see it.”
Counselors should keep in contact with those who do further their education and encourage them to return to speak to younger students, say the former students. And now Bell Gardens is doing just that, through a new mentoring program meant to connect Bell Gardens college graduates with high school sophomores.
Every senior is encouraged to apply to some college, even if they do not plan on attending, “so whether they go or not, they go through the process,” said Brendzal, who hopes to keep students from coming in later and saying they regret not having applied to at least one school.
On the positive side, a pattern might develop from knowing others who went to college; both Rodriguez and Diaz have younger siblings attending UCSB and the University of Michigan.
As of last week, several students at Bell Gardens had already been accepted to prestigious schools, including: University of California, Riverside, University of La Verne, Whittier College and Yale.
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March 4, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Eastern Group Publications, Inc.
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