Janeth Palomera passed math, now waits for her CAHSEE English
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Gilroy – Janeth Palomera still stumbles a bit when she speaks. She smiles nervously, slowly plucking from her brain the right word to fit the explanation.
It’s been six years since she immigrated to the U.S. from Jalisco, Mexico, but Palomera still has difficulties with the writing and speaking aspects of her second language. She still translates from Spanish to English in her head before speaking.
And when she writes she knows what she wants to say but organizing her thoughts on paper often trips her up.
That’s what happened when Palomera took the California High School Exit Exam in February. The 17-year-old passed the math section with a 353 – three points above the 350 required to pass – but failed the English language arts portion, scoring just 328.
She took the English section again in November and will receive the results on Jan. 13.
Those language setbacks aren’t a laughing matter, they may prevent Palomera from earning her high school degree.
As a member of the class of 2006, Palomera is among the first group of students required to pass the CAHSEE in order to graduate. Enacted by state legislature in 1999, the exit exam was initially intended to effect the class of 2004.
But because such a high number of students were failing the test, in 2003 the California Department of Education postponed the requirement. The Gilroy Unified School District is still deciding whether students who don’t pass the CAHSEE will still be able to participate in graduation ceremonies and/or receive a certificate of completion.
Knowing that if she doesn’t manage to pass the English section of the CAHSEE she won’t take home a degree, has caused some stress in Palomera’s life and that of her parents. If she doesn’t pass the test she took in November, she can take it again in February and still graduate.
But if she fails the February test, even if she takes it again in May, she won’t graduate with the class of 2006.
“It’s very important because I really want to get a better education and go to college and get a career because I really want to do something and be someone,” Palomera said.
If the petite teen manages to earn her high school degree and graduate from a four-year university, she’ll be the first in her family, one of the reasons her parents, neither of whom speak English, place so much pressure on her.
Palomera plans to attend Gavilan College, transfer to a university and go into the veterinarian field. Yes, those are all quite lofty goals, but Palomera has already demonstrated that she knows a thing or two about conquering challenges and bashing barriers.
When her family moved here from Mexico they settled in Morgan Hill where she attended school there until moving to Gilroy during the last half of her middle school years.
When she hit high school, Palomera heard from a friend that El Portal Charter High School had a great program for English language learners, so she chose to attend the eastside school rather than Gilroy High School. But, instead of honing her skills, Palomera fell in with the wrong crowd.
The teen ditched school to hang out with gangster friends and failed classes.
“I didn’t learn anything,” she said. “I never went to school. I missed school a lot. It just was hard and I didn’t like it.”
Many of the students did whatever they wanted, there wasn’t much control and there were a lot of bad attitudes. At the time, Palomera’s ex-boyfriend was attending Mt. Madonna, so she transferred and she’s much happier at the continuation school.
This Christmas vacation she’s spending her time helping her mom care for her two younger siblings, a 2-year-old girl and 8-month-old baby boy. She often watches the children but she said it doesn’t get in the way of her studies because her 15-year-old sister helps out.
As Palomera talks about passing the CAHSEE, the recent break-up with her boyfriend of two years and her dreams, Katia Palomera, her pig-tailed sister runs around the living room of their modest northwest apartment and jumps up to sit next to her older sister.
During the interview her mother remains mostly out of eye’s view wandering around, the baby boy in her arms, doing chores and Palomera almost forgets to mention that she has another sister who is still fast asleep.
Although she no longer has a boyfriend to help her study, the Mt. Madonna student hopes the CAHSEE intervention classes she took will land her in the passing zone. But Palomera, who confidently says “I’m good at math,” isn’t as optimistic when it comes to her English skills.
“I probably think that maybe I’ll have to take it again, but I did my best,” she said.
Janeth Palomera
– Age: 17
– Born: Jalisco, Mexico
– Needs to pass: English; needs minimum 350
– Scores from February test
– Math: 353
– English: 328
– Family: three younger siblings, stay-at-home mother, truck driver father
– High school history: Attended El Portal Charter School. Transferred to Mt. Madonna because boyfriend was going to school there at the time.
– Goals: graduate from high school and college, veterinarian school
