Kris Acosta, Brian Duke, Samanta Fuchser-McKinstry, Natasha Lafler-Ryder , Marta Branch, and Sheri De Raimo following the OASIS graduation, Saturday, June 6 in Eastsound
Orcas Alternative Student-Initiated Studies (OASIS), now in its third year as an official Orcas Island School District school, proudly graduated seven students on Saturday, June 6. Valedictorian Natasha earned a diploma, as did Salutatorian Brian Duke.
Acosta, De Raimo, Fuchster-McKinstry earned General Education Development (GED)certificates.
Darren Stevens and Kyle Wahlburg also earned GEDs but were not present at the ceremony.
In opening remarks, Orcas Island School District Superintendent Barabara Kline complemented the graduates for the “unique and fabulous style in finishing high school: I respect and honor them all for their ability to do that.”
Kline also saluted the students’ parents for “the trust, confidence and eternal hope [in their children] that has been well-founded.”
Kline introduced Marta Branch, instructor for OASIS High School, as “the heart and soul of OASIS.”
Branch praised her students as “pioneers who endured the bumps, uncertainty and chaos” in pursing their education. She quoted from Paul Hawken, environmentalist, entrepreneur and journalist, who recently gave the commencement address at the University of Portland, saying, “The earth needs a new operating system and you are the programmers….
“This is your century. Take it and run as if our life depended on it.”
Valedictorian Natasha Lafler-Ryder thanked her parents for their support of the OASIS program. Salutatorian Brian Duke said he was “extremely grateful for a program you can get credit for the things you’re passionate about.”
Sheri De Raimo said she’d almost given up on everything, and praised Branch for “never giving up on me.”
She noted that “you don’t get to graduate unless you actually do the work,” and said it was one of the greatest moments in her life. She advised other students, “you can’t give up. Things will work out.
“It’s not the end of the world if you’ve made some bad choices. ”
Samantha Fuchser-McKinstry thanked her family for giving her “the push I needed” to finish her GED after dropping out of high school twice.
Orcas Alternative Student-Initiated Studies
Currently, 31 students are enrolled in OASIS High School, but that can change month to month. This year, the alternative high school has served 45 students.
Teacher Marta Branch describes her workload, in a program designed for 23 students as overwhelming, but asks, “How do you not serve students who want to learn?”
An analysis of the OASIS student “body” may present some surprises.
25% of the students enrolled attend because of health issues. Many of the students have disabilities and chronic illnesses that result in missing “a week of school here, two days there – it makes it very difficult to keep up, especially if they’re goal-oriented and competing with students attending a four-year traditional high school.
Another group of students are highly motivated to progress along their career path, already identified by high school. “They’re marching to the beat of a different drummer,” Branch says, and need a different schedule to accommodate online classes. Other stone such student is home-school and has put together an “amazing classics program,” Branch says.
Many OASIS students work part-time or full-time and “seat time” in the traditional classroom “doesn’t work for them. OASIS is where these kids need to be because of circumstances beyond their control,” says Branch.
“I try to get to know my students as people: OASIS has such a wide range of kids, and the program is as expansive as the need.
“Philosophically, ethically, we can not put these kids on a waiting list.”
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