Wahluke educator leaves the big apple

MATTAWA - When it comes to leaving the city for the country, one can hardly top Wahluke High School math teacher Jose Vidot.

Vidot grew up in the Red Hook neighborhood of the projects in New York City. His first reaction upon seeing sparsely populated desert eastern Washington in 1990 was: "What the heck is this?"

But Vidot took a good look under the surface and decided country life was better than city life. He went home to tell his wife Judith this was the place to raise a family.

The Vidots moved the summer of 1990, in time for Vidot to pick up his education career at a middle school in Sunnyside. He started teaching math at Wahluke High in 2008.

The Vidots visit family in New York from time to time but never feel an urge to go back. Same for their three children, who are grown now.

The story of Vidot's transformation started with sort of a dare from a sister-in-law who was an educator in Prosser. He met her while she visited in New York during the Christmas season of 1989, and she was saying wonderful things about eastern Washington schools.

Vidot heard that buildings sparkled, graffiti was rare and crime was next to non-existent. Schools had carpet, air conditioning and students who studied.

All of that was good, but what really got Vidot's attention was the fact he could buy a comfortable new home for less than $100,000. That, he couldn't believe.

"The way she painted it, I thought she was BS-ing me," Vidot said.

"Well, come out and see for yourself," the sister-in-law said.

"You're on," Vidot responded.

Vidot was teaching in the city at the time. So he came out during his spring vacation, which was before spring vacation in Prosser. He got to see Prosser schools with the students at study.

Vidot did not bring Judith, but he brought a video camera. When she saw what he had photographed, she was all in.

"It was surreal," he said. "I couldn't believe how nice it was. The New York system was bad. The crime rate was high."

One last event for Vidot at Prosser was a barbecue that left him impressed. He was nearing 30 and had never seen one, not even one as simple as hamburgers and hot dogs.

He was amazed by the hugs and warmth of all of the family and friends who attended. Texan accordion pop artist Ramon Ayala played in the background as guests commiserated.

"I felt so happy," he said.

Truth be told, leaving the city was not a foreign concept to Vidot. He grew up with two parents and family values most of his friends and acquaintances didn't have.

"Most of the kids I knew were from single-parent homes," he said.

And Vidot had a work ethic that was demonstrated by his father.

"He was working three jobs," he said.

Vidot started working at the age of eight, helping the milk delivery man for 50 cents a day. At 12, he took a job at the dry cleaners, cleaning bathrooms and removing trash 1-2 hours a day.

At 14, Vidot started working at a grocery store two hours a day. At 16, he took a job at a luggage factory.

And, all the while, Vidot attended school as a straight-A student.

"My dad gave me a dime for every A," he recalled.

And then, at 18, Vidot joined the U.S. Marines.

"I wanted to get the hell out of there," he said.

After the Marines, Vidot returned to school. He earned a bachelors at the State University of New York.

Vidot worked as an engineer in Florida. When that dried up, he moved back to New York to substitute teach and earn a masters in math education at Columbia University. Then he came to Sunnyside.

After working in the Yakima Valley for several years, including a stint as principal at Davis High, Vidot went back to New York to be with his ailing mother. He stayed five years, then came back to Washington.

Vidot taught in Ephrata for three months in 2006, then worked at WSU-Tri Cities and Columbia Basin College. His next stop was Wahluke High.

"I really liked the superintendent and principal," he said.

Vidot also liked the challenge Wahluke presented. Only seven percent of sophomores were passing state-mandated math tests. Last year, 54.7 percent passed algebra, and 61.3 percent passed geometry.

"We want to beat that this year," he said.

One of the first challenges Vidot had to solve was the "I can't do math" attitude among the mostly Mexican enrollment. He took the students back in time.

"Mexicans love math," he said. "It's in the history of the Aztecs and the Mayas and the Spanish. Without math, the Spaniards would not have crossed the ocean."

Vidot has encountered troubled youths here but not nearly in the numbers of New York. Here, he said, youngsters have a sense of responsibility and work.

"I don't have to teach them work ethic," he said. "I just have to remind them. Most of them have two parents who work hard all day every day. The kids are doing their job, and the parents do what we ask them to do. I really appreciate the kids and the parents."

They're a lot like that kid and two parents he knew in the projects of New York City.