After facing tough odds, Mt. Madonna’s Saul Cardoza now
determined to triumph over one more hurdle
– the California High School Exit Exam
Gilroy – It was 11pm and Saul Cardoza had no where to go. But that didn’t matter, his foster mother wanted him out.
So he listened to her orders.
“I grabbed my guitar and went to a friend’s,” he said.
Once there, Cardoza called a previous foster mother he’d lived with for a month.
Gail Young freaked out when she heard Cardoza’s voice on the other end. Social services had yanked him out of her home during the summer and placed him in another home because she’d exceeded the six-foster-child-per-home limit by one.
Young made some calls and was able to move another foster child out and bring Cardoza back home. That’s just one of the many tragic stories the Mt. Madonna High School student will tell politely, nonchalantly, with little pressing.
The 18-year-old has lived in three different foster homes and group homes. Last school year he was kicked out of GHS for skipping school and failing classes and sent to Gilroy’s continuation school to finish up his education. He’s even spent some time in juvenile hall.
And Cardoza, who prefers to be called “Sal,” still has another hurdle to clear: the California High School Exit Exam. He passed the English language arts section with a 356 (six points above the required 350) but wasn’t quite up to snuff on the math portion, scoring a 320.
Cardoza will find out if all the hard work he poured into Mt. Madonna’s CAHSEE intervention study sessions paid off when the results from the November test are released on Jan. 13. If he doesn’t pass, the senior will have one more chance in February.
Officials from school districts across the state, including Gilroy Unified School District, are still trying to determine what will happen to students if they end their senior year without a passing grade on the exit exam. Some school districts, such as San Benito High School in Hollister, have decided to allow those students to participate in graduation ceremonies.
GUSD officials plan to stage a couple meetings throughout the year to discuss the options, which could range from granting certificates of completion and letting the students walk with their classmates to saying no one can don a cap and gown unless they’ve passed the CAHSEE.
Still, despite all the apprehension surrounding his future, Cardoza has remained optimistic.
“I think I passed it,” he said. “I’m just waiting for the results.”
Poetry, Heavy Metal and High School
Decked out in punk rock attire – ripped black jeans, fingerless gloves, worn Nirvana T-shirt, scruffy head and facial hair – Cardoza could easily play the part of the disaffected youth. But his smile, his attitude and his eagerness to fit into the family convinced Young and her husband otherwise.
“He came over and we fell in love with him right away,” she said.
Cardoza spent time getting to know the Young family before moving in this summer. He joined them on the long drive to Brawley to visit Young’s daughter. He became good friends with her grandson. Young said she was impressed that Cardoza wanted to spend his free time with her family, since few foster children are interested in doing so.
The foster mother, who currently has six foster children between the ages of 7 and 18 living in her two-story Gilroy home, maintains a strict “don’t tell and you’re out” policy. If drugs are brought into her home and another kid knows about it but doesn’t let her know, they’re out because they’re contributing to the delinquency, said Young. She’s had some problems with foster children, but Cardoza has yet to make the naughty list.
“I think, so far, Sal’s stayed pretty smart,” Young said.
“Pretty” is definitely the key word. Cardoza moved to Gilroy after spending a month in juvenile hall for stealing his grandfather’s shotgun.
He stole the gun because he wanted to use it as collateral to buy more band equipment. Now he realizes what a mistake that was and he regrets his decision.
“It was really stupid,” he said.
The San Jose native still talks to his mom. Dad’s out of the picture. His brothers live in Spokane, Wash. and Tracy. But Cardoza doesn’t dwell on what stands in his way. As the guitar-playing, poetry-writing teen strummed his Kurt Cobain decorated instrument on the staircase of his home, he explained how he first became interested in music at 14.
When he told his aunt, who he was living with at the time, about his newfound love of music – she cut him a deal.
“It was an agreement,” Cardoza said. “If I cut my hair she’d buy me a guitar.”
They both held up their end – Cardoza chopped his mane and his aunt bought the guitar. But there was one problem – she never specified how long the short hair had to last.
“So I grew it back and then she got mad again,” he said, laughing.
Later, at his home, Cardoza disappeared for a moment and returned with a few copies of his poems. He began writing poetry and song lyrics in his early teens and taught himself how to play the guitar. The teen said he scrawls down words to a new poem or lyrics “whenever an idea pops in.”
On Friday, the last day of school before break, Cardoza showed off the certificate Mt. Madonna staff awarded him for his dedication in the CAHSEE intervention class. The CAHSEE is definitely at the forefront of his future and he already has plans lined up that depend on his passage of the exit exam.
Unlike many foster children, who end up on the street when they finish high school since the state no longer has to care for them, Cardoza will still have a home after his senior year.
Young and her husband allow their foster kids to stay as long as they’re responsible adults.
While clutching the class pet, a lizard he’s taking care of at his home, Cardoza said he’s applying to two local pet stores and hopes to work at both while attending Gavilan College.
The time he served in juvenile hall really made him think about his future, that he wants to graduate from high school, attend Gavilan College and then transfer to a four-year university. He has his eye set on New Zealand, someplace where he can study marine biology.
“That was a very good move (having to go to juvenile hall) so I could change and I have changed,” he said.
Saul ‘Sal’ Cardoza
– Age: 18
– Still needs to pass: Math; needs a minimum 350 to pass
– Scores from March test:
– English: 356
– Math: 320
– High school history: Overfelt High School in San Jose, then Gilroy High School. Had to transfer to Mt. Madonna from GHS this year because he was behind on credits and failing his classes.
– Hobbies: plays guitar, writes poetry
– Goals: study marine biology
