OASIS High to Graduate Seven this Saturday

OASIS High School Teacher Marta Branch holds the sign created by OASIS valedictorian Lily Huffstodt last June. The OASIS graduation will be on Saturday, June 5 at 2 p.m. at Emmanuel Episcopla Parish Hall

Students Initiate their Education in OASIS High School

Fernando Arevalo, Erik Sherman, Adam Thomas, Barry Sharp, Alaina Vedder, Sheri DeRaimo and Alex Brown will graduate from Orcas Alternative Student Initiated Studies (OASIS) High School this Saturday, June 5 at 2 p.m. in Emmanuel Episcopal Parish Hall.

In addition, General Educational Development (or GED) certificates have been earned by Conor Pamatian, Brittany Dufour, Andrew Vodros, Arthur Brand and Kieran Zoeller. GED certification requires passing nationally formulated and administered tests in math, writing, reading, science and social studies which certify that the taker has American or Canadian high school-level academic skills. The GED is sometimes referred to as a General Equivalency Diploma or General Education Diploma. To pass the GED Tests and earn a GED credential, test takers must score higher than 60 percent of graduating high school seniors nationwide.

For the past two weeks the OASIS graduates have given their “Culminating Project” presentations on subjects varying from writing and producing a CD,  devising a drug awareness curriculum, creating metal art castings, building a carbon-fiber sailboat, cleaning polluted waters through bio-remediation,  to producing and promoting a boxing match.

Marta Branch, OASIS High School teacher, gives some history of the program, formally established with the Orcas Island School District three years ago:

OASIS Alternative Learning Education (ALE), as a whole was founded with families involved in a parent-partnership program that began in 2001. Catherine Laflin was the first teacher, and Kathy Morris, was one of the first families, who coined the acronym OASIS. It’s a great acronym because it provides a mission statement.

When I was tapped to found the high school component I strove to remain true to that mission – it’s just a different way of doing things.

Class Valedictorian Sheri DeRaimo earned her GED last year and returend to OASIS to earn her diploma this year. She plans to work on Orcas this summer and attend Edmonds Community College next fall. Branch says, “It’s exciting that the school district is creating an environment where students will go on to more difficult levels in education.” She notes that many two-year colleges and vocational schools require completion of the GED or high school diploma for entrance, and that some four-year schools of higher education will accept completion of the GED as an entrance requirement.

“It’s rewarding to watch these students take on the lifelong learner piece and start to connect with where they’re going next,” says Branch.

Brittany DuFour will go on to serve with the Job Corps in Alaska.

“Barry Sharp deserves special mention, because he was been with OASIS High School since its inception,” said Branch. “He’s been willing to try this grand experiment that now is working for 60-some kids. We’re in debt to his willingness to experiment with education has made things more diverse for all the students in the district.”

The OASIS High School program has grown to include about 70 students, fulltime and part-time included. Marta Branch, OASIS teachers says  about half of these students are fulltime OASIS  students or  graduate from OASIS High School, and that it is possible to be enrolled in both Orcas High School and OASIS High School.

Branch and teacher Gregory Books, who with Branch were the first teachers at OASIS High School, were “amazed at how fast it grew,” says Branch.

This is the first year that out-of-district or “Choice” students have been enrolled in the OASIS/ALE programs. “Due to changes in state ALE law, districts can accept student form anywhere in the state and create an electronie ‘check in’ option,” says Branch.

This originally served Waldron Island students, who were faced with the option of commuting to Orcas, moving to Orcas, or finding a place to stay on Orcas.  “One of our student/parent pairs, Camilla and Julia Loyd from Waldron, have been with OASIS High School for the past three years,” says Branch.

“Laflin established the [electronic] relationship with online learning through the Digital Learning Commons, coordinated between the high school and the Funhouse,” Branch explained. “It allowed us to explore programs with alternative learners.” OASIS now uses the Wings program to track student students, allowing the students to propose a course for credit that is assessed by OASIS teachers.

Some of the classes proposed by OASIS students have been the Saxon math method, videography,  and writing. There is always a qualified supervising teacher, Branch says. OASIS teaching staff includes Kathy Collister, Corey Wiscomb, Jill Sherman, Don Weston as well as Branch.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for Washington State requires four steps for a student to graduate high school:

1)     a High School and Beyond Plan
2)     class credit requirements
3)     certificate of academic/individual achievement (acquired through testing)
4)     a culminating project

OASIS High School operates out of a classroom behind the school library, that is staffed from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (and sometimes until 7 p.m.) to accommodate “everybody’s crazy schedules,” says Branch.