Wahluke alumni to current students: You, too, can do it
Dec. 16 was like an early Christmas for Wahluke High School students when 21 former students, who have been successful in college and careers, stopped by to offer encouragement and inspiration. They gave a total of 105 motivational presentations. The visiting alumni, not in a particular order, were Daniel Barajas, Monica Barajas, Marcela (Negrete) Bautista, Maria (Barajas) Bazzell, Elena Calderon, Diego Cazares, Ricardo Cuevas, Jose Garcia, Marie Greisen, Andres Ibarra, Gabriela Leon, Angelica Lopez, Nidia Lopez, Juan Pablo Martinez Tlatenchi, Andrea Negrete, Jesus Osorio, Sidney Puentes, Ver…
MATTAWA - There was no gift wrapping and no bow, but 21 Wahluke High School graduates delivered a gift to current students on Dec. 16, the last day before Christmas Vacation.
Responding to a call from Wahluke administrators, these alumni came home to give motivational presentations. Each of them has been successful in college and a career.
"It was a wonderful day," Principal Jeff Pietila said. "The majority of the students who talked to me were very grateful."
The returning graduates spoke about various aspects of their lives, but most of the presentations were about careers or the way in which each graduate got there.
Students went to five different presentations during the morning hours, one per half hour. They had a choice of 21 each session. Pietila noted the most popular were nursing, medical and engineering.
"Jesus Osorio was very popular," Pietila said.
Osorio, who was born in Mexico and comes from a farm worker family, has a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering technology from the University of Washington. He is employed on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Pietila visited 12 of the presentations. He was impressed. So were representative of high schools as far away as Spokane.
"They had good things to say," Pietila said. "They are thinking of using us as a model."
One of the presenters was 2009 graduate Veronica Quintero. She is a UW communications major in the honors program. She will be back next year if she's invited.
"This was much-needed inspiration," she said. "They needed to see there is something beyond Mattawa. Growing up in a place like Mattawa, it's hard to see what's beyond."
Juan Pablo Martinez Tlatenchi, a 1998 graduate and teacher in the Wahluke system, spoke about his specialty, bilingual education. But he focused more on breaking the farm work cycle.
"We did it," he said. "They can do it. I tried to inspire them to be somebody."
Quintero included mention of her travels as a UW student. She attended exploratory seminars in Tahiti and India and has plans for further study abroad this summer.
"Their eyes just lit up," Quintero said. "I could tell they had interest in what I was doing."