Only the beginning

Their reasons for not completing high school until now are as varied as their futures undoubtedly will be – from needing to work for a living, to international travel interrupting senior year, to hospitalization, to personal family matters, to “not being able to get it together.”

Their reasons for not completing high school until now are as varied as their futures undoubtedly will be – from needing to work for a living, to international travel interrupting senior year, to hospitalization, to personal family matters, to “not being able to get it together.”

But the OASIS grads all have reached a milestone in their lives, thanks to the support of OASIS teachers, particularly Marta Branch, and to the Orcas Island School District Board and Superintendent, for their ever-vigilant commitment to education and belief in Orcas Island kids who may not fit the mold of what we commonly think of as high-school students.

Many of this year’s OASIS graduates were steered to the program by their peers, some of them earlier OASIS grads. But they were all on Branch’s radar as she sought them out to let them know they could still finish, they could move on into adulthood with that basic stepping stone, a high school diploma or a G.E.D.

The School Board is to be commended for recognizing and acting upon a “win-win” solution when presented with it last January.

The main factor in OISD’s declining funding from the state is a downturn in enrollment. When High School Principal Barbara Kline informed the Board that the OASIS program could be expanded to accept more students if Branch’s hours (full-time equivalent, or FTE) were increased, board member Charlie Glasser said, “Our real strength is the ability to see opportunity and move on it.” He characterized the OASIS situation as an opportunity both to educate more students and to increase enrollment.

The Board increased Branch’s hours that night and Kline then practiced her art of rescheduling her teachers’ workloads so that Branch could devote herself to more OASIS students. The very next day, Branch was able to take in a new student, who graduated last Saturday after attending seven different high schools in four years. The word is getting out and the OASIS program has enabled Orcas Island children to complete a vital step forward.

All of this year’s graduates are long-time island kids, with the “newest” among them having lived on the island for six years. Thanks to OASIS, before launching into the greater world, they have the great gift of knowing that their community gave them a vote of confidence and believed that they could not only work hard, but they could overcome setbacks to achieve an important goal. They could succeed.

The OASIS commencement ceremony is only the beginning.

Bradley leaves

The Islands’ Sounder

This week The Islands’ Sounder says goodbye and farewell to its reporter Claudia Bradley, who has returned to her career as a pharmacist. While working for the Sounder, Claudia covered sports and business stories, as well as features and hard news. Her willingness to work with whatever assignment, story and deadline was given her, along with her perceptive comments, photography skills and background research, were highly valuable to the Sounder.

We will miss her, and wish her well as she commutes from her Lopez Island home to “America.”