George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa got a visit Friday from a group of students from Cetis 98, a junior-senior high school in Ojinaga, Mexico.
During a one-day visit, they got a chance to tour the school and see the different programs that are offered. The group included eight girls and three teachers. The girls formed an art club this year, something that NTO art teacher Jesus Valeriano said is unusual.
“… In Mexico, there’s no such thing as visual arts education. Sometimes you get a little bit of music and things like that, but really there’s no art classes as such. So that’s it’s a different thing from them to start an art club,” Valeriano said.
He added that the teacher invited him to take students from NTO to Ojinaga, but NTO Principal Gerardo Ramirez proposed that the group come to Odessa instead.
The students and teachers did a little bit of art, toured the school, showed how it works and they did some virtual reality with the Ector County ISD Innovation Department.
“… We got a lot of support from the bilingual department, the LOTE Department, the Talent Development Department, the Fine Arts department. They all pitched in to make this happen,” Valeriano said.
LOTE stands for Languages Other Than English.
With Valeriano translating, Violeta Triste said NTO is very different from what they are used to and it’s a “very privileged school.”
But he said they felt comfortable there and they felt good about practicing their English.
Evelyn Lujan said she dreamed of going to a school like NTO.
Kayla Alvarado said she felt there were many benefits to studying here.
“It opens doors to many choices that you want to do in your life. I really liked it. There’s no bullying; no judging over here. You can be yourself here. I’m really grateful that we’re here,” Alvarado said.
