Print
Email Story
KENNEWICK -- Quienes son las estudiantes ms famosas? Pues, Angelica Barbosa and Maria De La Cruz, claro!
Translation: "Who are the most famous students? Well, Angelica Barbosa and Maria De La Cruz, of course!"
Angelica and Maria, both Kamaikin High School students, won first place in the middle school division of the state Higher Education Coordinating Board's "Lights, Camera, College" student film contest.
The teens, who are cousins, took their ideas and a camera to Park Middle School and went looking for El Mas Inteligente, or the most intelligent middle schooler. Theirs was the only one of eight winning videos to be scripted entirely in Spanish.
"For two Mexican girls who aren't from here and who don't know the language (very well) ... Wow," Maria said. "It gives me a lot of encouragement."
The video provides an opportunity for students enrolled in the English as a second-language program to be part of something positive, said Sarah Del Toro, Kennewick School District's parent involvement coordinator.
Originally the three-minute video was intended for Jueves Gigante -- a Kennewick School District event designed to make Latino families comfortable at school. The name is a play on the Spanish variety TV show Sabado Gigante.
Del Toro said the video encourages seventh- and eighth-graders to apply for the state College Bound Scholarship. "It's a creative way to tell the students what they need to know about the scholarship" in a way they could relate to, she said.
The video was then submitted to the state-wide contest, but the girls, who both speak primarily Spanish, thought they were a longshot.
When they heard the news about winning last week, "I was jumping up and down and screaming," said 16-year-old Angelica, a senior.
"She was doing somersaults in the air," joked 15-year-old sophomore Maria.
The girls' humor is embedded in the video, with scenes of them changing their clothes Superman-style by jumping out of the frame. They also included a girl who says she's worthy of the scholarship because she's pretty.
The cousins, both born in Chiapas, Mexico, are constantly laughing and joking with one another in spite of the challenges they've faced.
As children of migrant workers, they move frequently to where their parents find work. Angelica has moved seven times in the past three years, finally settling in Kennewick last year with her siblings and Maria. Angelica's mother now lives with them, but her father and Maria's parents remain in Mexico.
The girls say they keep their grades up and use every opportunity to make their parents proud.
"It goes to show that (what my parents have sacrificed) has a value," Angelica said.
"It's not easy," Maria said. "But knowing that you're paying back their hard work the best way you can. It's a very satisfying feeling."
Maria said two days after they received the news she hadn't yet told her parents of the accomplishment, but she knew what their reaction would be.
"My parents sent me here to excel, and when they hear what I've done, they'd say, 'Eso es mi hija!' (That's my girl!)"
