Page One

Twenty-three young men and women were sent out to conquer the real world on Friday. 

As faculty, staff and students gathered at St. John’s Presbyterian Church to celebrate the hopes and dreams of Berkeley Technology Academy’s (B-Tech) graduating class of 2007, students and teachers said there was no denying that the school had come a long way since its inception as a continuation school. 

“It’s been my most enjoyable year as an educator,” B-Tech principal Victor Diaz told the Planet. “Together we have accomplished great things. Our students are preparing for college much earlier and with a greater sense of commitment. Teachers and students are pushing the envelope in the classroom by mastering the standards and connecting them to larger social issues.” 

Diaz is not the only one to praise the school once labeled as a “dumping ground” for kids unable to fit in anywhere else. 

Twenty-three out of the school’s 30 seniors graduated this year, an increase from the past. Two students will have to re-take their California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) in order to graduate, and five will have to boost up their credits over the summer. 

Student attendance is up, and suspensions have plunged, Diaz said. 

More students passed the CAHSEE this year than ever before, a fact that makes Diaz ecstatic. 

“We focused a lot on the math part of the exit exam this time,” he said. “Prof. Christopher Knaus from the African American Studies department at UC Berkeley sent over some of his undergrads to work with us all summer. Our two main goals were CAHSEE prep and getting all our seniors signed up for Peralta Community College. Once we crossed that hurdle, students went on to bigger and better things like the SATs.” 

In November, 15 kids from B-Tech took a Black College Tour of African-American educational institutions in the South. 

The students produced B-Tech’s first yearbook this year. A 60-page color volume filled with poems, profiles and photographs, the book highlights top B-Tech talent and captures some of the school’s best moments. 

“The students worked really hard on this one,” said Joy Lee, who teaches English. An ethnic studies major from Stanford, Lee taught her students Adobe Photoshop and other pagemaking skills necessary to create a yearbook. 

“I tell them that it’s very important to apply themselves to every situation,” she said. “Sometimes they have problems with the reading session in the exit exam and the only way to overcome that is by practice.” 

Lucrecia Irvin, who topped the graduating class, said that she had managed to get all A’s by doing just that. 

“Things started looking up when Victor became principal in 2005,” she said. “Then they brought in more staff and since last year it’s been all good.” 

Irvin, who works part-time at Popeye’s in downtown Oakland, wants to pursue nursing at San Francisco State University. 

Turning her dreams into reality are teachers such as Rachel Bolden-Kramer, B-Tech’s youngest acquisition. 

This year, the B-Tech summer school—also a first—will help students prepare for their exit exam and give them a chance to make up their credits in order to graduate. 

“If the summer program had existed earlier, more students would have been able to graduate,” said Diaz. “We want to teach them deeper concepts and expose them to areas they haven’t come across before. For example statistics and geometry. Next year, more students will prepare for college by the normal deadlines. Instead of letting them play catch, we will make sure that their financial aid applications and SAT scores are turned in by November.” 

As students walked up to receive their diplomas, cheering echoed throughout the church. 

Some thanked their mother, some God, but the majority thanked “Vic.” 

Dwarfed by most of his students, Diaz perhaps bore the biggest smile during the ceremony Friday. It was easy to spot the bond he had created with his students, one that went beyond that of a teacher and a friend. 

As the seniors hugged him to death, school superintendent Michele Lawrence lauded Diaz’s commitment toward B-Tech. 

“He is simply amazing with the kids,” she told the Planet. “His incredible relationship with his students and the incredible hard work that B-Tech staff have put into the school is evident from its success today.”