A few days before February 27, 2015 approached, I warned my Latinos In Action students to be at the school at 6:30 am. We needed to get up to Logan, Utah and Utah State University for the Hispanic Leadership Conference, which was two hours away. Even as I would announce the time to students, I doubted their ability to make it to school that early. For one, it would mean that they, teenagers, had to wake up even earlier. Two, they were Latinos who traditionally run late or do not focus on time. Thirdly, most of them live on the West side of the valley, far away from the school and do not have cars, meaning that they are bussed. But I was asking them to arrive about half an hour before their busses would. In actuality, I was asking their hard-working parents to arrive that early. Three strikes and I'm out, right?
That is not what I saw on February 27. Instead, as I walked out to the bus, I saw nearly 60 students dressed professionally, waiting even before 6:30. 60 LATINO students. We all boarded the bus and made it as the conference was starting. As I was giving directions, I acted like they merely met my expectations. Secretly, I was in shock. If I accomplish nothing else this year, I want it on record that I was able to get 60 LATINO teenagers to school early. Success.
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