A couple weeks ago I was invited by Timpview High School in Provo, UT to do a work shop for Hispanic students on choosing, applying, and paying for college. I worked in the middle school ESOL program there for 4 years so the majority of Hispanic students at Timpview are former students of mine.
It was great to see some of my students again. From the moment I stepped into the building I was surround by old students of mine that wanted to say hi to me and tell me about what's going on in their lives. We actually ended up starting the workshop late because of it. I was amazed by how many of my students were still so interested in college and by how much they had improved. When I worked with these students they were the ones that most of the teachers wrote off as unmotivated and unteachable. To see so many of them were still in high school, on track to graduation, and getting good grades was almost overwhelming. The very fact that they came to my workshop, over 40 of them, after school and that they actually took notes just floored me.
Before and after the workshop I went around with the district social worker visiting former students of mine that were having troubles or that I wanted to check on. He told me that for days several teachers had been asking him who was this Ryan that the Hispanic students were writing about in their journals and so excited to see when he came to visit.
It was a wonderful trip.
