Quincy student finds language no barrier to graduation

QUINCY - Olivia Camacho's family had to make a choice, about the time she was starting her freshman year in high school. Her parents had to decide if they would stay in Mexico, where there wasn't a lot of work to support the family, or try to make a new future elsewhere.

Two of her brothers had moved to Quincy, up in Washington, and there was work there. So the family came north. There was work, but there was also an adjustment for Olivia, now a freshman at Quincy High School.

For one thing, Camacho didn't know any English, not one word. "Not even 'hi' or 'bye' or anything," she said. Quincy High School has kids who speak Spanish, but they didn't show a lot of interest in the new girl, she said.

It was difficult. She had to learn a new language at the same time she was learning math, science and literature, she said. She was kind of shy, and she had to get used to a whole new school, she said, not to mention a whole new country and way of thinking. "It was really hard to learn," she said.

"I was scared. Scared of everything. You feel lost," Olivia said. "It was really hard for me." In fact it was so tough she thought about sticking around long enough to learn enough English to get by, and then leaving.

After all, there was work around, high school diploma or not. She could always get work in a fast food place, or something. At the time that sounded good enough, Camacho said. All that changed in one of her science classes, because of her science teacher. "She was kind of an example to me," she said.

Olivia was in a biology class for students with limited knowledge of English. Teacher Michele Blakely didn't know much Spanish, but that didn't stop her from setting high standards, and encouraging the students to think big.

Blakely told Olivia she had the chance for something a lot better than a fast food job. She was going to have to work for it, the teacher said, but she could do it, and Blakely offered to help Olivia with her schoolwork when she needed it.

"Every class where I need help, she helps me," Olivia said. That help changed a lot of things, including Camacho's attitude toward school. All of a sudden just good enough wasn't good enough any more.

Her parents and family encouraged her to keep going, keep learning. Her two older brothers, the two who had moved to Quincy before the rest of the family, wanted her to finish - she had to be an example to her younger brother and sister.

"My brothers said, 'you better graduate,'" she said. She will be the first in her family to finish high school and go on to college, she said. She said other kids in her situation just need to keep going. "Never give up," Olivia said. "And ask for help if you really need it. There's no pride or anything. Just ask."

She plans to attend Central Washington University in Ellensburg, and wants to be a math teacher. "I want to be a professor," she said.

She's going to take Blakely's advice. "She told me, 'you have to be somebody. So I will be somebody," she said.