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In the midst of the noise, accusations and negative publicity that plague Central Falls High School, some students are fighting to rise above the turmoil.
Photography by Dana Smith
The alarm rings at six. Her first class at Central Falls High School doesn’t start for two hours, but Yessica Galdamez is already up. There’s so much to do: a hot shower, a bowl of Lucky Charms, a quick text message to a friend. Should she wear leggings or jeans? The top is never easy, but this morning she settles on the purple striped shirt with three-quarter sleeves. Her long hair, black as coal, takes the most time. She runs a straightening iron through her curls again and again.
On her mirrored dresser and throughout her bedroom sit all the things she treasures: her junior varsity track certificate, stuffed teddy bears, an old Barbie doll in a pink chiffon gown — Glinda the Good Witch. It’s almost time to leave, but first, one last task. With a single spray, the fragrance of Britney Spears’ perfume fills the room.
“Okay then,” says Yessica, buttoning her sweet-scented coat. “Ready.”
The high school is in flux, but this eighteen-year-old senior isn’t. It seems funny, she knows, but the morning grooming routine steels her for a day of chaos: absent teachers, substitutes who can’t control the classroom, kids wreaking havoc in the hallways, reporters staked out along the sidewalk to get the latest details on the “High School in Crisis.”
“If I look good,” Yessica says, “the teachers take me serious.”
She could skip, as she did for a week at the start of the year, when the disruptions got to be too much. But then she remembers she belongs to that special club whose members have never been held back, a willful group determined to graduate in four short years, to “walk on that stage.”
It hasn’t been easy. “I really had a feeling that this year was going to suck,” she says. “Your senior year is supposed to be your best year, but I’m not sure. Every morning I get up and say, ‘Oh, this piece of crap school.’ ”
But she goes.
She goes for her father, a janitor, and her mother, a pizza dough maker, who both left El Salvador to give her what they never had. She goes for her brother, David, who graduated in 2008 and went on to Lincoln Tech to become an electrician. And she goes for herself, because she will be somebody — a chef or a police detective or a teacher for children with special needs.
Can she make it before the school implodes?
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I was very moved and saddened by the plight of Yessica Galdamez! Ms. Rau's story put a face on the turmoil at Central Falls High School, reminding us that here are real young people, struggling to make something of themselves while politics and garbage swirl around them. A young woman who would keep going, determined to "walk on that stage," intuiting that if she made herself look like a serious person, she would be taken seriously, has what she needs to succeed IN SPITE OF the disgraceful so-called education she has been offered. Thank you for showing us the human side of this sad story.
Dr. Rosa Maria Pegueros, J.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of History & Women's Studies Program
University of Rhode Island
What I can't get out of my head after reading this story, is how
Yessica Galdamez's parent could be in Rhode Island USA for 35 years and can barely speaking English!!! They want better for their children they always say, but do they as parents do anything towards that goal, like perhaps learn the language so they can participate fully in their children's education, or do they expect schools to do everything for them? I come from a French speaking family in Fall River, and my Mother had to learn to speak English before she could even go to school. Who did she learn from? Her French speaking parents, who learned English, as they knew that was how to succeed in this country. My Mother taught my sisiter's and I both French and English when we first were learning to talk, and she also taught us, that while it was wonderful to know our native tongue, it was also rude to speak it in public where others might not undertand. By learning the language, she was able to participate fully in our education. I have very little simpity for these new "immigrants" who say they come here for a better life for their kids, but in my opition just dump them off at school and expect the teachers to deal with it. I know there are some bad teachers out there, but I for one am tired of people blaming the teachers for their failures which in term create failures for their children.
I agree with the comment above. Illegal aliens are destroying this country. How would they think their kids will do good in school when they don't prepare them. Since when is it the taxpayers responsibilty to teach their kids English. My family has had a summer home in Tiverton for 65 years and all my life I wished for the day I could move back there. After observing how the illegals are ruining the State, I'm not so sure I want to live there anymore. What a shame that the politians in R.I. would rather lose successful tax paying citizens such as myself over kowtowing to illegals.
Dear Anonymous,
I understand your position & why you feel that way & while I MAY agree with SOME of it to a certain degree, you should know that Yessica is a natural born US citizen as is her older brother. Her parents have been here for many years (I've known them since 1987) & they are decent hardworking people who have raised their children with values like getting an education & working hard to support your family. Maybe they could go to night school in order to learn the language, but I'm sure they probably do not have as much need to know the language in the line of work in which they are employed. Would it benefit them to try to learn? I'm sure it would but why is it any of your business to point out areas in which they may be lacking? You just paint them with the same brush as the rest of the illegals. We all have to get along the best way we can & your hurtful comments do not aid the situation. Next time think before you post. You would have done better to congratulate Yessica for her dedication to getting an education in a time when most of her peers prefer to take the easy route & drop out.