FIRST CLASS: Bilingual students set to graduate from program

The bilingual guinea pigs will soon leave the cage.

High school seniors Marlem Cavazos and Aisha Loya will be the first to graduate from the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district's dual-language program. About 45 more dual language students will complete the curriculum in May.

"It's been an experience," Loya said of the program.

"We were raised with families that speak English and Spanish," she said. "We didn't know it was out of the norm."

But even for schools along the U.S-Mexico border, it was.

PSJA's dual-language program was started in 1995 to allow students to grow up learning in both of the most common languages in the Rio Grande Valley, said Rosalva Silva, who coordinates the program for the district.

Cavazos and Loya's parents enrolled them in the program voluntarily when the students were in kindergarten.

They chose to stick with it, completing the rigorous curriculum a semester before they earn their high school diplomas.
"They are truly bilingual and bi-cultural," Silva said. "The coursework is not easy."

Starting students at an early age to take courses like mathematics or science in English and Spanish gives them a leg up on others, Silva said.

"If they're bilingual, they stand a chance to get better careers and make more money," she said.

About 900 students between grades six and 12 participate in the district's dual language program, Silva said. Students at six elementary schools also have the chance to participate. School leaders plan on rolling out the bilingual classes to all the district's campuses in the coming years, Silva said.

Both Cavazos and Loya are set to graduate near the top of their respective high school classes in May, and will read essays they wrote about their experiences during a dual language ceremony on Saturday to mark their achievements.

In the fall, Loya, 18, plans on enrolling at Abiline Christian University to study family and youth ministry. Cavazos, 17, has been accepted at the Baylor University, where she wants to study psychology.

"We just want to give back to the people who helped us," Cavazos said.

Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.