Wednesday, Sep. 02, 2009

Delta High launches new era in Tri-City education

By Sara Schilling, Herald staff writer

RICHLAND -- Omar Baradi wasn't feeling nervous on his first day at the new Delta High School in Richland.

He was feeling lucky. And he was pretty sure his classmates were too.

"We're really happy to be here," the 13-year-old said. "We want the school to be the best. We want it to lead in math and science in any way it can."

That's the idea. Delta High -- which opened Tuesday after years of dreaming and planning by educators and community leaders -- has a special focus on science, technology, engineering and math.

There's no other school like it in the Tri-Cities, and it's one of the first of its kind in the state.

"I'm kind of proud of myself that I'm one of the first to (take classes at Delta)," Omar said.

He's part of the school's inaugural class of just over 100 freshmen. Nearly three times that number applied to attend the school, and the slots were filled through a computerized lottery.

The school will have only freshmen in 2009-10, with a grade added each year until it's full with about 400 students.

Delta leaders have emphasized the school isn't just for advanced students. Some will struggle in STEM fields, while others excel; their common thread is that they all want to be there.

The school is the result of more than two years of work.

The three Tri-City school districts, Battelle and Washington State University Tri-Cities announced in August 2007 their plan to explore starting a STEM school. Columbia Basin College later joined the partnership and provided its former Richland campus as an initial home.

The CBC buildings off Northgate Drive were renovated this summer to prepare for the school's first students.

Omar and his classmates already appeared to be at home a few hours into their first day.

They made their way through the hallways, chatted with teachers and got to know each other while sitting in class or over lunch.

Principal Deidre Holmberg said everything was going smoothly thanks to the work of the teachers, partners and community members.

"The community support has been critical to our success. Our community is making this happen," she said.

Delta High isn't unique only for its STEM focus. It'll also have a different schedule than most area high schools, with students taking classes in 90-minute blocks.

Teachers also plan to do a lot of collaboration, even assigning projects that cross subject lines.

Teachers said that will help students make connections and apply what they're learning to the real world.

"I see it as, I'm never going to have a kid say, 'Why am I learning this?' " said math teacher Linda Estes. "They're going to know."

Internships also will be part of the program.

That's one reason Cristal Farias wanted to attend. The 14-year-old from Pasco is interested in becoming a surgeon and hopes to get an internship in the medical field when she's an upperclassman.

"There are going to be a lot of hands-on activities," she said.

Cristal said her first day at Delta High was going well. She knew a couple of students from middle school and was making new friends.

"It's good to meet my teachers and (fellow) students," she said.

The school's teachers also appeared to be having fun. They're all veteran Tri-City educators, and they said in an interview before classes started that they were looking forward to the challenge of something new

"For me, I've been teaching for 30 years," said Jim Hendricks, the engineering and technology teacher. "I felt the school was built for what I do. The learning here is integrated. That has the possibility of making learning really exciting."

Along with Estes and Hendricks, Delta's other teachers are: Jenny Rodriquez, Linda Stairet and Mary Beth Tilson.

The school will meet at the Northgate Drive campus for at least a few years. Officials are working on plans for a permanent facility.

On Tuesday, about 25 students gathered in the computer lab at Delta High. They typed furiously as Hendricks showed them how to start a 3-D drawing program they'll be using this year.

Before too long, they'll be proficient in the program, which will help them get internships down the road, he said.

Holmberg, the principal, walked around, talking with students and sharing their excitement about the first day. She said it felt good to finally see the school filled with teens.

"We're getting to know each other, we're figuring it out," Holmberg said. "We hit the ground running. The learning started and it's not going to stop."

-- Sara Schilling: 582-1402; sschilling@tricityherald.com