Winslow School District officials are making a concerted effort to help students and parents understand the potential for the district’s students as they move beyond high school and into post-secondary education. This was most apparent last month when counselors, teachers and administrators at Winslow High School spent a day giving students in each grade an opportunity to look beyond the moment and into a brighter future.
The freshmen took the day to visit Northland Pioneer College’s Skills Center in Holbrook to learn about careers in the construction trades, welding and mechatronics. The sophomores settled in and took the ASVAB (Armed Services Battery Aptitude Test), the juniors took the ACT test and the seniors spent the day applying for colleges throughout the state.
To assist with the endeavor, numerous college representatives were on hand to help seniors fill out applications to colleges and universities without having to pay an application fee, and the juniors were also taking the ACT free of charge.
It’s all part of a new culture at the high school, one that says students, no matter their economic status or their background, can eliminate obstacles and access their dreams.
One of those people assisting students was teacher Tom Breeze. The story of how he obtained his degree is not only inspiring, but also diminishes any excuses that students may have about their ability to attend college.
Breeze grew up on Winslow’s south side and told the students what he did to obtain his education.
“My mother never graduated high school and my dad didn’t go past the seventh grade because he had to go to work. My parents had nine kids and eight of them have obtained their master’s degree,” explained Breeze.
He credits a strong work ethic instilled by his parents for his accomplishments and those of his siblings. Breeze has a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in English as a Second Language. His siblings are employed in a variety of professions, including as a psychologist, principal, superintendent engineer, nurse, accountant and two lawyers. One of his siblings has passed away.
Breeze not only obtained his master’s degree, he did it debt free and without scholarships. “I went here to Winslow High School and I had a wrestling scholarship that would have given me a free ride, but I blew my knee out and the scholarship disappeared. I didn’t have a backup plan. Everything rode on that scholarship,” he recalled.
He decided that giving up wasn’t an option and made a new plan, a much more challenging plan. “I got a job and put in 40 hours a week and went to college at night. I’d stay up studying until midnight, and get up the next day and do it all over again until I graduated. I paid as I went and didn’t owe a dime by the time I graduated,” he said.
When addressing the students as they prepared to fill out college applications, Breeze offered this bit of advice, “Any of you can get what you want; I recommend you take this seriously.”
In visiting with Principal Chris Gilmore, he noted that the new culture they’ve developed at the school began being implemented three years ago and the results are becoming apparent. This year WHS has a three percent dropout rate, nearly half of what it was last year. But the dropout rate isn’t all that’s improved at the school. According to the Arizona Department of Education, the graduation rate for WHS for 2014 was 92 percent, a seven percent increase over last year and a whopping 21 percent increase over the 2009 graduation rate of 71 percent.
The students who are graduating are also reaching new heights. Last year the school produced one graduate who obtained a three-year scholarship to Dartmouth College, an Ivy League research university in New Hampshire, and another was awarded a Gates Millennial Scholarship that provides funding for the student’s entire post-secondary education regardless of choice of educational institution. The previous year two students were awarded Gates Millennial Scholarships.
An important aspect of the change is placing the kids in front of a computer and having them fill out a college application. “When the students get accepted to a university or college, then find out that they can get $5,775 in financial aid that they don’t have to pay back, their face just lights up. It’s as if a whole new future has opened up for them. When you see that you realize that this is what you’re here for as a teacher and administrator. It’s not the graduation, it’s that moment when they realize their potential,” stated Gilmore.
The school has made it a priority to set students on the path toward a brighter future early in their grade school career, and not just by test scores and grades, but by attitude. Students are encouraged through their elementary school years to explore ideas of what they’d like to be when they grow up, then beginning in the seventh grade the counselors meet with each of the students every semester to help them formulate their goals into a real plan.
Gilmore noted, “We’re creating a college-going culture. That’s not to eliminate other goals that may not include college. It’s about being successful at who they want to be. We need to send them out and explore the possibilities, and maybe bring that back to their community or maybe they move on to new places. As an educator, it’s exciting to be a part of.”
