Interlake ELITES Turn Hispanic Education Around

It’s been a grey, grey week, but when I read this Seattle Times article about the incredible power of mobilized Hispanic students at Interlake High School, things seemed a little bit brighter.

According to the Times, 17 year-old Osbaldo Hernandez kept looking around his Bellevue school and seeing Hispanic students growing discouraged, skipping class and dropping out. But sadly, no one was doing anything to stop or help them.

That’s when Osbaldo organized his fellow Hispanic students to raise academic achievement, graduate from high school and go to college. He called his group ELITES—Estudiantes Latinos Internacionales Trabajando por una Educatión Superior or International Latino Student Working Toward Higher Education—and they now meet twice a month to help each other with homework and research college options and financial aid. The group also helps students coordinate support from parents, school counselors and volunteers to help navigate the college application process.

Thanks to the efforts of Osbaldo and ELITES, students from his group now have the option to choose between schools such as Gonzaga, St. Martin’s, Western Washington University, the UW and Whitman.

"They just needed someone who had their back, someone saying, 'you can do this,' " said Osbaldo, who will attend Seattle University next year and plans to study Criminal Justice.

Hats off to Osbaldo and the Interlake ELITES for their hard work, commitment to postsecondary education and proving that encouragement and support can mean the different in a student’s education.