The grammar of gratitude

Students write from the heart

For information on how to purchase Documented Dreams, please contact the Hispanic Institute for Social Issues at www.hisi.org, or (480) 983-1445

A group of undocumented students at Gateway Early College High School wanted to send thank-you letters to donors who made continuation of their education possible.

The letters ended up as a book, thanks to the help of Gateway’s principal, Yvonne Watterson.

Gateway educates underserved students who would have trouble transitioning from high school to college in a traditional environment. They have an enrollment of 280 students. The school allows students to take college courses and earn credit while in high school. About 38 of them are Mexican immigrants who came to this country at a young age and cannot establish their legal residency.

 Watterson was impressed with the heartfelt letters that reflected the raw emotions of young people caught in a debate over whether they belong in the only country they’ve ever known and call home, or in a foreign country anti-immigration activists want to send them to.

 “These are stories of human triumph and despair,” she says.

Concerned they would be filed away and forgotten, Watterson typed up the letters and approached the Mesa-based publisher Hispanic Institute of Social Issues with the idea of publishing a book.

In February, the first copies of Documented Dreams came off the presses. The compilation of students’  letters is sold for a minimum $25 donation. Proceeds benefit Gateway students.

The 2006 passage of Proposition 300, which prohibits in-state college tuition for undocumented immigrants, hit the school hard. Watterson knew her students could not afford to pay the out-of-state rate, generally $280 a credit. Last spring, Watterson publicly pleaded on behalf of her students, and donors came through with the $86,000 she needed to fund their tuition.

This month, Watterson will see Gateway’s first four-year class graduate, each one with a high school diploma and associates degree. She hopes donations continue to roll in, to support many future students.

“This is not about borders and fences, it’s about children whom, for all intents and purposes are American,” she says. “They took their first steps here, took the Pledge of Allegiance every day. I think they’ve earned it.”

For information or how to purchase Documented Dreams, contact the Hispanic Institute for Social Issues at www.hisi.org, or (480) 983-1445.
For information about Gateway or to make a donation, contact the Maricopa Community Colleges at (480) 731-8000, or www.maricopa.edu.