Jim: On the next Inside California Education
Evelyn: The death of a language, it goes hand in hand
with the death of a culture, and that should be stopped
as much as possible.
Jim: The language spoken by the Yurok tribe in Northern
California is being saved from the brink of extinction...
and it's being done with the help of local
public school students.
Explore a new push to enroll foster youth in
college.... an effort that supporters say is necessary
for them to live above the poverty line in expensive
areas of California like the Silicon Valley.
Melanee Wyatt: Alright, you ready for
the dance audition?
Jim: And a long-running performing arts program in
Modesto casts students from several different
schools and grades, uniting them all through
the experience of theater.
It's all next...on Inside California Education!
Annc: Funding for Inside California Education is made
possible by: Since 1985, the California Lottery has
raised more than $32 billion dollars in supplemental
funding for California's 1,100 public school
districts from kindergarten through college.
That's approximately $191 for each full-time student
based on $1.5 billion contributed in fiscal year
2016-17.
With caring teachers, committed administrators,
and active parents, every public school student can
realize their dreams.
The California Lottery: Imagine the Possibilities.
The Stuart Foundation: Improving life outcomes for
young people through education
♪♪
Jim: Welcome to Inside California Education,
I'm Jim Finnerty.
In far northern California near Eureka,
you'll discover rugged beaches and rivers that have
been the home to the Yurok Tribe for centuries.
That's where we found tribal members who are partnering
with schools there to keep a key part of their culture
alive -- the Yurok language.
♪♪
James: You're going to copycat me three times.
You're going to do this three times,
ok?
So.
(Speaking Yurok)
James:(Translates)
(Speaks Yurok)
Rob: JAMES GENSAW IS TEACHING THESE
STUDENTS AN ANCIENT NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE.
IT'S ALSO HIS TRIBE'S NATIVE LANGUAGE.
James: All the words in Yurok,
I think they're so beautiful.
Rob: YUROK IS ONE OF THREE WORLD LANGUAGES OFFERED
TO STUDENTS AT EUREKA HIGH SCHOOL IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY
IT'S ONE OF SEVERAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACHING YUROK IN
THE FAR NORTHERN REGION OF CALIFORNIA.
James: Not pare, but pare.
James: There's a lot of kids that take Yurok that take it
because just because they're curious and they want to
find out what it's all about.
Evelyn: I can learn Spanish or German anywhere else.
This is the only place I can actually learn Yurok.
I took it just out of interest in linguistics and
I really do like how it sounds.
It sounds aesthetically nice to me.
Rob: OTHER STUDENTS ARE LEARNING YUROK FOR DEEPER
REASONS THAN FULFILLING THEIR FOREIGN LANGUAGE
REQUIREMENT.
James: Probably about a quarter of the students
have Yurok descendancy.
So I think part of that trying to find out who they
are and find out a little bit more about themselves.
Rob: DANNY IS ONE OF THOSE STUDENTS WHO IS TAKING THE
ADVANCED YUROK LANGUAGE CLASS.
Danny: Mr. Gensaw not only teaches the language but he
also teaches the cultures and the stories that
come with it.
He's done so much to help this language.
James: When I started to learn this language,
there was - all my speakers were all in their 90s,
a couple that were close to 100 years old.
There's only 25 fluent speakers in Yurok.
Rob: THE LANGUAGE NEEDS ALL THE HELP IT CAN GET......
IT'S ON THE BRINK OF BECOMING EXTINCT.
James: Linguists 25 years ago predicted the
Yurok language was going to be extinct by the year 2010.
Rob: THE LAST KNOWN FULLY FLUENT NATIVE SPEAKER PASSED
AWAY IN 2013.
ALL THAT REMAINS TODAY ARE ROUGHLY THIRTY
CONVERSATIONALLY FLUENT SPEAKERS AND ONLY SEVERAL
PEOPLE WHO CAN SPEAK YUROK AT A HIGH FLUENCY LEVEL -
WITH JAMES BEING ONE OF THEM.
James: I think when any endangered language becomes
extinct or loses its last speaker,
I think that we as humans lose part of our own humanity.
Rob: FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS THE YUROK - WHOSE NAME MEANS
'DOWNRIVER PEOPLE' - THRIVED IN DOZENS OF VILLAGES ALONG
THE KLAMATH RIVER.......
IT WAS THEIR LIFELINE.....
USED FOR TRANSPORTATION, AND PROVIDING A RICH BOUNTY OF
SALMON AND OTHER ESSENTIALS.
Rob: BUT THE ARRIVAL OF WHITE SETTLERS AND THEIR
DISEASES DURING THE GOLD RUSH STARTED THE YUROK'S
DECLINE.
THOUSANDS DIED...
AND OTHERS WERE SENT TO BOARDING SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED
BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
TO ERADICATE THE YUROK CULTURE.
CHILDREN WERE PUNISHED FOR SPEAKING THEIR NATIVE
LANGUAGE AND FORCED TO LEARN ENGLISH.
BY EARLY 1900S, ONLY A FEW YUROK STILL SPOKE IN THEIR
NATIVE TONGUE.
James: It was like an apocalypse.
I mean our whole world changed.
It's a lot of deep wounds and it's going to take time.
It's not something that can be fixed in one generation
or two generations.
I think that all of us are working towards that healing
and I think the language plays an important role in
that healing process.
Rob: NOW THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IS TRYING TO HELP
MAKE UP FOR WRONGS COMMITTED IN THE PAST.
James: I think it's a little ironic that part of the
reason the Yurok language almost became extinct was
because of the boarding schools and a school system,
but we can use that system and we can use as a tool to
revitalize our language and kind of breath life back
into the language.
Rob: THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE AN INTEGRAL PART TO THE
TRIBE'S LANGUAGE RESTORATION PROGRAM.
Barbara: The long term goal is for our people to once
again be speaking only Yurok as our primary language.
Rob: BARBARA MCQUILLEN IS WITH YUROK LANGUAGE
RESTORATION PROGRAM, ESTABLISHED BY TRIBAL ELDERS
IN THE 1950S.
Barbara: We owe a lot to those elders that had enough
foresight to know that we needed to preserve
our language.
Rob: LIKE JAMES....
SHE TOO TEACHES YUROK.
SHE REMEMBERS ONE STUDENT IN PARTICULAR IN ONE OF HER
COMMUNITY LANGUAGE CLASSES SHE WAS TEACHING BACK IN THE
EARLY 2000'S.
Barbara: He really applied himself and I hadn't seen
anybody like that.
He had flash cards, he would write everything down,
he'd go home and practice, he'd come back the next
week, you know, ready to learn more and use
what he learned.
Rob: THE STUDENT WAS JAMES GENSAW.
Barbara: You know it's always a goal of a teacher
to have students learn more than than you are able to
teach them and he did that.
(Speaking Yurok)
James: To me I took on that responsibility and I don't
think of it as a burden.
I think of it as, somebody has to do it.
I think of it as something that I was chosen to do.
(Speaking Yurok)
Rob: SUSTAINING, AND SHARING THIS ESSENTIAL PART OF AN
ANCIENT CULTURE WITH FUTURE GENERATIONS IS EXACTLY WHAT
BARBARA, JAMES AND THEIR STUDENTS HOPE IS ALREADY
STARTING TO HAPPEN.
Luca: I'm taking this class because I am Yurok.
And my ultimate goal is to keep the language going,
to learn it completely so that I can pass it on to
younger people too.
Danny: It is part of my culture and if I can do
anything to help it, I definitely will.
Evelyn: The death of a language,
it goes hand in hand with the death of a culture and
that should be stopped as much as possible.
(Speaking Yurok)
Rob: EACH YEAR THE NUMBER OF YUROK SPEAKERS GROWS,
AND THIS LANGUAGE RESTORATION PROGRAM IS
WIDELY RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF CALIFORNIA'S
MOST SUCCESSFUL.
(Speaking Yurok)
(Rushing water)
James: One day the Yurok language will be a living
and flourishing language where it's
spoken everywhere.
Barbara: I know for sure it's going to happen,
may not happen in my lifetime.
But our language will be back,
our ceremonies will be back, and once again we're going
to be whole.
(SPEAKING IN YUROK)
James:All those elders, they're up there
(speaks Yurok) and they're looking
down and I think they're really happy.
♪♪
Narr: Prior to the arrival of Columbus,
about 300 indigenous languages were spoken
in North America.
Today, only half of those languages still exist.
Some languages, like Navajo in the Southwest
and Dakota in the Midwest, are thriving with
tens of thousands of speakers.
But many others are facing extinction,
with scholars predicting that only 20 indigenous
languages will remain by 2050.
Jim: Our next story explores the unique challenges faced
by California's foster youth,
many of whom are moved from home to home,
and as a result, from school to school.
A new effort is underway to help more of these foster
youth not only graduate from high school,
but to move on to college and professional careers.
♪♪
Marshal: The foster care system can be really,
really messed up.
Through the foster care system,
I experienced just about every kind of abuse.
I've had to endure different types of punishments.
It was really rough.
Going to school and getting picked up by someone that
doesn't look like me and then all everyone is asking
is 'Who's that?' And not knowing how to answer that.
Christina: Marshal was just four years old when the
police arrived at his home and arrested his parents.
That moment began his entry into the
foster care system...
a journey that would place him in dozens of foster
homes, sometimes moving every two weeks,
until the age of 15.
Marshal: From there, it was like,
OK, this kid isn't going to make it in the foster home.
So from that point on I was in group homes
until I was 18.
That's where for me where my drug addiction started,
where my alcoholism really kicked off.
Christina: Drugs and alcohol...
lead to stints in jail, followed by periods when
Marshal slept in his car.
But today, Marshal is doing what would have seemed
impossible a decade ago he's four years sober,
and a thriving college student at
California State University, Monterey Bay.
He credits the Bill Wilson Center in Santa Clara
for helping him rise above his past.
He regularly meets with one of the center's case
managers, Rebecca Trejo, for guidance and support.
Rebecca: He's grown so much, just to see him from where
he came in, you know, struggling day-to-day.
The most basic things and seeing him
so successful now.
You know, being in his own apartment
it's just amazing. It amazes me.
Christina: The Bill Wilson Center,
and other foster care providers like it,
are placing more young people into college
than ever before.
It's part of a broader, statewide effort that
began in 2012.
That's the year California enacted a new law extending
foster care services from 18 until the age of 21.
Amy: What it's meant for California,
is now we have almost 9,000 18-to 21-year olds in
foster care in California.
And we, for the first time, have the opportunity to
really help them make a safe,
supported transition into post-secondary education.
Sparky: Fifteen years ago, working with kids leaving
the foster care system at age 18,
we used to focus on just getting them through
high school or a GED.
Well that started changing about ten years ago,
where we said, in Silicon Valley,
you need to have a college education.
So our focus became, let's get kids into college.
Let's get youth in foster care to
graduate from college.
Because that's what you need in this valley to get a good
job, a paying job, where you can be successful.
Diana: She is good at a lot of things.
She has the same name as you!
Christina: Diana hopes that college will provide a fresh
path for her, and her young daughter.
Diana was in the foster care system from the age of 9
until she aged out at 21.
Diana: I remember having to move around a lot.
And really that affected my studies because I was always
having to continuously adjust to different schools
and different classes and that's why I always felt
like I was behind.
Christina: Diana dropped out of high school when
she was 17 years old.
She earned her GED a year later.
But she knew she wanted more for her growing family.
She joined the Bill Wilson Center's Transitional
Housing Program, which provides a range of services
for foster youth through the age of 25 helping with
everything from rent to food and transportation.
Ashley Rarick is the supervisor of the program,
as well as Diana's case manager.
Ashley: For a lot of foster youth,
they've been to 20 or more schools and been interrupted
multiple times in one academic year.
So you can imagine constantly having to move
and get used a new teacher, a new structure.
What you were working on in the last class is no longer
being worked on in the new class.
So we start out by ensuring do they have
a high school diploma?
If not, we'll work with them on a plan to get there.
And then next, on to post-secondary education.
The case manager is there every step of the way,
helping that young person complete each
and every step.
They were always checking in on me to make sure that I
was meeting upcoming deadlines.
So that I could stay on track with school.
When I was in high school I felt like I wasn't prepared
and I didn't get the help that I needed.
In contrast to that, when I started at Evergreen Valley
College, Bill Wilson Center, they made sure that I was
prepared to go to school.
Christina: Today, Diana in her final semester at
Evergreen Valley College in San Jose.
She's earning two associates degrees.
Next, she's transferring to a four-year university.
Amy: This is really about helping young people,
you know, get that academic credential,
earn a place in, in the living wage economy,
and have the opportunities for themselves and their
family to, to live with security,
and to live with dignity.
Ashley: In in this area, particularly in Santa Clara
County, you cannot afford to live a decent life,
a stable life, where you're not at risk of homelessness,
without a college degree.
Or a vocational certificate beyond high school.
This is the climate that we're in.
Christina: Although more foster youth are accessing
college now, challenges remain.
Many do not understand the financial aid resources
available to them.
So even though all foster youth are eligible for the
Pell grant, only 50 percent of them are receiving it.
An even fewer number are getting the Cal grant.
And many do not realize they can get help with
career technical education.
Amy: That's a very common misconception.
If a young person wants to go into a shorter-term
training program, they think,
"Well, I don't have to do the FAFSA, um,
because I'm going to be in the automotive,
uh, program at a local community college."
That is also eligible.
Those funds can also be used to offset the real
costs that go with those kind of programs.
Christina: Diana says...
she wants other foster kids to know that there are
resources available to them, financial or otherwise.
Diana: If they do choose to go to college,
know that they're going to be well supported and that
many opportunities are going to be heading their way.
But most importantly that they aren't in it alone.
Christina: For Marshal, he says he still deals with the
trauma he went through as a child,
memories that will never completely disappear....
Marshal: It's hard to overcome that.
And that really prohibits us from being successful.
Christina: But today, he IS successful.
He's on the path to graduate with a bachelor's degree
in collaborative health and community services,
with an emphasis in social work.
Marshal: Today my goal is to be a social worker and
effect positive change, you know,
and it's beautiful.
This journey is hard, but it is doable and worth it.
Narr: Did you know?
Foster youth get priority registration at California
community colleges and California State University
campuses under current state law.
Foster youth are also given priority for on-campus
housing at CSU campuses.
During academic breaks, foster youth are allowed
to stay in the housing at no additional cost.
Jim: Finally, let's explore a popular performing arts
program in Modesto that's been bringing together
students from various schools for decades.
It's called the YES Company, and it helps students
discover valuable life skills through the power
of performance.
♪♪
(Singing from Mary Poppins)
Michael: This looks as professional
as a Broadway tour of Mary Poppins...
playing in front of a packed audience at the Gallo Center
for the Arts in Modesto.
But these aren't professionals.
They're schoolchildren from all across
Stanislaus County...
coming together in harmony and providing some
powerful lessons.
Melanee: The arts are amazing because because
there are so many things that a young person
can learn. They learn about
being responsible,
about teamwork, about working together,
problem-solving leadership and it's all through
the performing arts.
Michael: Melanee Wyatt is the founder and director
of YES Company.
It began in 1992 as a program for at-risk kids
during the summer.
But it quickly blossomed into a beloved county-wide
program, encompassing students of all
socio-economic backgrounds.
From elementary through high school,
students participate in YES Company theater performances
backed by the Stanislaus County Office of Education.
Melanee: It is so important to keep arts in the schools.
And in education.
Because sometimes that's the only place a young person
will shine and they will find a place for themselves
in the educational system.
And unfortunately funding is cut and cut and cut and my
premises is the arts survive when to civilization dies.
Lynn: YES Company really is special.
They're one of our resident companies.
And they are the only one geared entirely to youth.
I bring in acts from all over the country,
all over the world really.
You will never be disappointed in the quality
of a YES Company show.
It is spectacular, really and truly,
it's just the costuming, the choreography,
the sets.
It's like a touring Broadway show.
Really, truly.
They're very good at what they do.
Michael: Melanee spends the year auditioning,
selecting and rehearsing with students.
This group is practicing for the summer performance
of Beauty and the Beast.
Melanee herself once had her eyes on the stage,
moving to Manhattan and landing a major
modeling contract ....
becoming the first international plus-size model,
while auditioning for Broadway shows.
But a back injury forced her to put her acting dreams
on hold.
Melanee: I came home for a one-week vacation
to Modesto, where I was born and raised,
and I never made it back to New York City and I took
that as, you know you're back is your support system
and maybe it was just a little too hard,
I wasn't being really supported.
Michael: Former county superintendent
Martin Peterson heard a star student was back in town...
and asked her to come up with an idea on how to bring
performing arts to students in Stanislaus County.
Melanee: I wanted to start with a positive acronym.
So that is why it is called Yes Company.
Youth entertainment stage company.
Because in acting and in everything,
you need to say yes.
You need to say yes.
And amazing things come to you through that
Lynn: Several of her students perform in Broadway touring
shows now, and she's got opera stars and Broadway
stars and all sorts of amazing talent out there
that Melanie cultivated with this YES Company program.
Michael: Talent like Aaron Raby...
who says the YES Company opened the doors
to his future....
in more ways than one.
Aaron: Melanie has been not only a role model,
but a caring adult and a mother to everyone who
has come through the program.
My parents divorced at a very young age,
and to be able to go through the program and have
an adult care for you, genuinely.
She definitely filled an emotional void in my life.
When you are in your formative years,
you need.
And it sets the foundation for relationships
you have later.
Michael: Aaron was in YES Company in high school.
Onstage, playing the lead role in West Side Story...
offstage, finding the love of his life,
Natalie, who sang in the musical Grease.
He credits the YES Company for their fifth grade
daughter's confidence - inside and outside
the classroom.
Aaron:: Her public speaking ability and way she comes
across, and even her ability to make friends and put
herself out there they are all correlations to what she
is learning here.
Michael: After 27 years, YES Company is changing.
Melanee: We gratefully have been supported through
the Stanislaus office of education.
But times change, funding sources change,
priorities change of what's important or what
needs focus.
The program has grown so that I've been told it's
pretty much unsustainable right now and
I understand that.
Michael: The County Office of Education says
YES Company will continue in some capacity.
In the meantime, Melanee plans to retire and hopes to
continue working with students and
the performing arts...
because she still draws inspiration from
students like David.
David: I've been at YES company for a decade now.
I wouldn't say it has enriched me,
so much as it has made me.
YES Company has been an absolutely defining part
of my life.
I don't know who I would be if I wasn't part of
YES Company.
Melanee: I have high expectations because they
always rise to those expectations.
A lot of times people second-guess children and
look down on them, and they're absolutely amazing.
They're amazing what they can achieve.
YES!
Jim: And that's it for this edition of
Inside California Education.
Now, if you'd like more information about the
program it's easy just log on to our website
insidecaled dot org.
We have video from all of our shows,
and you can connect with us on social media as well.
Thanks for joining us.
We'll see you next time on Inside California Education.
♪♪
♪♪
Annc: Funding for Inside California Education
is made possible by:
Since 1985, the California Lottery
has raised more than $32 billion dollars
in supplemental funding for California's
11-hundred public school districts from kindergarten
through college.
That's approximately $191 for each full-time student
based on $1.5 billion contributed in fiscal year
2016-17.
With caring teachers, committed administrators,
and active parents, every public school student can
realize their dreams.
The California Lottery: Imagine the Possibilities.
Dr. Pascal: So, Greg, it's a lot to take in.
And I know that's hard to hear.
But the doctors caught it early.
Hi, Blake.
My dad has cancer.
And I know how hard that is to hear.
But you are in the right place.
Dr. Pascal and her team, they know what to do.
They know what to do.
The doctors know what to do.
So here's the plan.
First off, we're going to give you (fades out).
The Stuart Foundation: Improving Life Outcomes
for Young People through Education
Additional funding for Inside California Education
is made possible by
these organizations supporting public education:
♪♪
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