These immigrant students in a high school continuation program have started a student council to give the students a united voice. They are learning about democracy from the inside. DP
In an Immigrant-Heavy Arlington High School Program, Students Contending With Classes and Jobs Seek a Voice as Well
By Theresa Vargas, Washington Post Staff Writer
A Guatemalan immigrant who arrived alone in Arlington County a few years ago, Ramiro Cortez longs for many things: a high school diploma, the ability to speak English with ease and the means to earn more money than his job as a waiter will ever pay.
For now, though, he will settle for one simple title: student council president.
As the nation's attention was tuned to a historic election, an unexpected display of democracy was playing out among an unlikely group of students at a Northern Virginia school. At the Arlington Mill High School Continuation Program, where many students are immigrants, there had never been a student council. But in the past few months, three students from different Latin American countries worked to change that.
On Tuesday, the student council met formally at the school for the first time.
"I think it's grand," Principal Barbara Thompson said. "Just them coming together with a voice, it's touching and powerful, very powerful."
About 85 percent of students at the school are Latino, and most are older than the average high school student; there is no upper age limit for enrollment. For many of the students, work shifts slam into class schedules, with little time to study and sleep, let alone participate in extracurricular activities.
That's why Thompson was surprised when Cortez and two other students, Delfino Escudero and Jose Luis Pinto, approached her in September with the idea for the council. She said they told her they wanted a more organized voice. She presented the possibility to the faculty and students, and it received unanimous approval.
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