Rio Grande City High School

BESTT students learn about family's education

RGCCISD News Release

How did school used to be? What was education like for mom and grandma? Did they have homework as I do?

Those are some of the many questions some students at Rio Grande City High School are exploring as part of a study of their family's educational history.

It is part of the curriculum assigned to students enrolled in the class Bridging the Educational Scene for Teachers of Tomorrow (BESTT).

The assignment, entitled "Three Generations of Education'', asks students to examine how education was during the lifetime of their parents and grandparents.

BESTT Instructor Diane Shaffer said the project was designed to allow students the opportunity to explore the field of education and to obtain a better perspective.

"The primary purpose, of course, was for the students to have a first-hand approach to the history of education - a more personal approach - and to see the differences after they talked to their parents and grandparents to see how education has changed,'' Shaffer said.

Seventeen-year-old senior Martie Yvette Garcia called the study "incredible.''

"Education has become an absolute necessity today; however, in earlier generations it was based solely on individual need,'' said Garcia, the daughter of Javier and Sylvia Garcia of Garciasville.

Students were asked to discuss education with older relatives, then write a report and make an oral presentation to the class, complete with poster-type visual aids.

The students learned that education then and now is quite different.

"I learned that during my grandmother's time and my mother's time they did not have as much stress with school and homework,'' said senior Ashley E. Webb.

"My grandmother made it clear how different school is now and about all the stress and homework you have to put into school just to attempt to get into college,'' said Webb, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Leopoldo Muniz of Rio Grande City.

Shaffer said students also learned that today there is a greater lack of respect for teachers, yet teachers were stricter in the past.

"It's ironic because the problems then were minor compared to those today, yet they (teachers) were much stricter and harsher on the students for chewing gum or talking out of turn. Whereas, nowadays we worry about drugs, we worry about violence in the schools, etcetera,'' Shaffer said.

"I learned that education in the 1920's was very limited,'' 17-year-old senior Monica Garcia said. "Most children didn't go on into high school. Homework was rare and the teachers were more strict than today.''

Shaffer concurred. "Some didn't even have homework and these kids, of course most of them are honors students, are just inundated with homework.

"And of course we didn't have air conditioning, we didn't have computers, (and) we didn't even had overhead projector, TV, none of that,'' Shaffer said.

All of that is available today.

"What really surprised me about my research was how far education has come,'' Webb said.

Garcia, daughter of Gilberto E. and Rosie Garcia, also found out something new in her study.

"What surprised me most about my research was that there were high morals, especially for girls. What also surprise me was that my parents had to work throughout high school to have money for themselves,'' she said.

Shaffer noted another positive coming out of the project.

"I have found some seniors that have never been up in front of a class before,'' she said, "and since this is a very hands-on course and they go out and do observations and eventually do some teaching that they have to get used to being up in front of a group. This is one way to break the ice and let us get to know them.''

All in all BESTT students gained a better understanding of a unique profession.

"I think the students now have a better perspective of where we've been and where we're going in education,'' Shaffer said.

Rio Grande City school district offers distance-learning classes to Valley students

RGCCISD News Release

Students at La Joya High School are taking classes in art history - and the teacher is 25 miles away in Rio Grande City.

Thanks to advances in technology and far-sighted educators in the Valley, the distance-learning class is being offered to the La Joya students.

The Advanced Placement (AP) class is being taught by Mary Rodriguez, who instructs students at a Rio Grande City High School classroom. The lessons are then simultaneously broadcast to La Joya by a special camera and television.

Students in both locales can hear and see what Rodriguez is teaching, plus cameras at both sites allows the teacher to see all the students and to be able to interact with them.

Rodriguez currently teaches two classes and 18 students in Rio and another five students in La Joya.

"Distances learning allows an underserved school district the opportunity to have classes it wouldn't normally be able to offer,'' Rodriguez said.

The pilot program's genesis began in the summer when Linda Phemister, the Region I Educational Service Center Gifted/Talented Program coordinator, wrote a proposal to the State of Texas seeking funding and approval to help small districts receive classes they couldn't offer.

Phemister met with Region I G/T coordinators, including Edna Gonzalez of Rio Grande City school district, to find ways to utilize the program.

Gonzalez said the RGCCISD received $14,000 from the state to purchase the special equipment, including monitors, cameras, microphones, fax machines and a dedicated telephone line.

Technologists Eddie Saenz and Jerry Gonzalez helped install the needed equipment for the district.

Rodriguez said the states of Oklahoma and Iowa have successfully been using distance learning in the past.

"Students can take any class from anywhere it is offered, especially in Iowa, which is a big homeschooling state,'' she said.

Gonzalez said she hopes Rio Grande City CISD can offer or even receive more AP classes such as calculus, statistics, psychology or Spanish in the future.

The cameras, mounted on the monitor, can move 180 degrees around the classroom and are complete with a zoom lens that allows students at both locations a fairly good view of the lesson.

Students or teachers can manipulate the camera with a remote control.

Rodriguez said a teacher aide monitors students in La Joya during tests and regular classes.

Distance learning in the Valley has a few shortcomings, such as one school now only being able to broadcast to one other school.

"I would like to be able to receive courses we don't currently offer,'' she said. She said RGCCISD tried to receive European history classes from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD, but that Rio Hondo gained access first.

Rodriguez said other glitches include a sound system that needs improvement. Also, the present microphone is difficult to carry around, she said.

Difference in the scheduling at La Joya and Rio also presents a minor problem, she said.

All in all, though, distance learning gives students another chance to improve their education without having to travel. And districts can offer courses without hiring new teachers.