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A dark cloud seemed to have settled long ago over the Hearne school district.
Students enrolled in the small-town school district were aware of disparaging comments often made by their counterparts in surrounding districts -- and even by people in their own community.
Hearne was an inferior district, a place for failing teachers who had nowhere else to land. The kids weren't smart. They couldn't learn. And, frankly, no one cared if they did.
"We felt like trash. We didn't exist. Like we're not people or anything, we're just dumb," Hearne High School freshman Dayana Diaz, 15, said quietly as she sat in the school library surrounded by a trio of classmates. "We wanted to exist again."
The Hearne school district was ranked academically unacceptable in 2007, and all four of its schools -- Hearne High School, Hearne Junior High and Blackshear and East Side elementary schools -- were given the same label in both 2007 and 2006.
For the past three years, students and teachers alike have been working steadily to improve the rankings, particularly at the high school and junior high levels. A district consultant was hired to organize extensive staff development. New administrators came on board, putting an end to a revolving door in the school's front office. Almost half the teachers were replaced.
This year, it appears that the work finally has paid off. The percentage of high school and junior high students who passed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test rose significantly when compared with previous years' -- especially on the high school math portion of the test, according to preliminary results.
At the high school, the biggest jump came from ninth-graders. Just 22 percent passed in 2005, while 86 percent passed in 2008, according to the preliminary data. In 10th grade, just 19 percent of students passed the math exam in 2005, while 75 percent passed in 2008. Among 11th-graders, 70 percent of students passed the math test in 2005, but that number dropped to 41 percent the following year. This year, 90 percent of the juniors passed the test.
At Hearne Junior High, students made strides in all areas, but the biggest gains came on the science and social studies portions of the test. According to preliminary results, 82 percent of all students passed the social studies test this year, compared with 43 percent who passed it the previous year. In science, 60 percent of students passed this year while just 29 percent passed in 2007.
The increases were so significant that they probably will boost the state ratings for the high school and junior high to an acceptable level.
"We're successful together," Hearne High School Principal Jonathan Wells said Wednesday. "We're all in this together."
Fighting an uphill battle
Hearne educators say it's hard to pinpoint when and why things in the district started to go awry. Possibly it was the constant state of upheaval that resulted from a string of new principals in just a few years. Or maybe it was teachers who, for whatever reason, no longer believed in their students.
Athletic Director and coach Ralph Lymas noticed the apathetic attitude shortly after being recruited to Hearne about 2 1/2 years ago. Lymas said he had been on the job only a couple of weeks when he began to second-guess his decision to work in Hearne.
During weekly staff development sessions, many teachers weren't responsive and didn't want to try new programs. Lymas wondered how the teachers could expect their students to pay attention in class when they weren't willing to do the same.
No one seemed committed. The district had taken a Band-Aid approach to fixing problems. Even the community seemed skeptical.
"People don't like change. Change means conflict," the coach said. "That's what we had to come in here and do."
But all that change couldn't come at once. After going so long without having anyone to believe in them, the students needed to take baby steps, said Stacy Beal, a track coach and English teacher who has been teaching for nearly two decades, the last two years in Hearne.
Expectations had to be high but realistic. Otherwise, she said, the students felt overwhelmed. The first step simply was stressing to students -- many of whom were from broken and poverty-stricken homes -- that they shouldn't settle for mediocrity. The teachers wanted their students to be the best, she said. But more important, they wanted them to want to be the best.
"We have to tell them it doesn't matter what you see at home, you have a choice," Beal said, adding that each student was smart and capable of succeeding. "Set the standard for yourself. You don't have to settle," the students were told.
Just believe
There has been a marked difference at the school since English teacher Erica Cox arrived three years ago. During her first year in Hearne, which also was her first year as a teacher, there was no camaraderie among the educators, she said. Some didn't even like other teachers peering into their classrooms. One teacher in particular sent Cox home in tears every night.
"The first year I was here was kind of like the worst year ever," said Cox, who has since helped reinstate the high school yearbook program. "I stayed because of the kids, and I'm still here because of the kids."
Cox's first year was the same year consultant Judy LeUnes -- a 30-year teacher who launched her career in Hearne before moving to College Station schools -- came aboard and was asked to coordinate extensive staff training.
It was after LeUnes joined the staff, she and others have said, that things started to improve. Now, Cox said, Hearne High School feels like family.
School officials have pointed to an increase in staff development, the hiring of new teachers and administrators and a focus on good instruction as the reasons why test scores improved so dramatically. But there was another measure that was just as important: ensuring that teachers believed in the students, which had a trickle-down effect.
At the high school, Wells said, he and others stressed the slogan "We can and we will." At the junior high, the motto simply was "Believe."
"We got the kids to believe in themselves," said Robert Garcia, the new principal of Hearne Junior High, where eight of roughly 15 teachers have been replaced.
The Rev. Donald Adams, a member of the Hearne school board, said the district essentially underwent a change in philosophy. Rather than bow to the whims of individual complaining parents, the board agreed to stand firm behind its policies and teachers and provide them with whatever tools they needed to succeed, he said.
"We do care about our kids. The kids are our future. We love them," Adams said. "All we ask out of them is respect and to carry the name of Hearne ISD as far as they can carry it."
Overhauling perception
It wasn't long ago that many Hearne students didn't expect to go to college. Some didn't even expect to graduate from high school.
Freshman Mariza Torres was one of them. Neither her parents nor her three older siblings finished high school. Now, she is on track to be the first in her family to graduate.
Torres passed the math section of the TAKS but failed the English portion. She already is gearing up for next year, eager to pass all sections. And the 16-year-old who once thought she wouldn't go to college now is entertaining the idea of playing college softball -- possibly at Baylor University.
"We wanted to be known as a good school, better than we were," Torres said, explaining why she and others worked so hard to improve. Torres said she knows a college education equates to a better salary, which means she won't have to struggle as her parents have. And, she said, she can serve as a role model to her two younger stepsiblings. "I am proud of myself. I want to be the first in my family to graduate high school. I want to make my family proud."
Of course, there is more work to be done. The disheartening perception of the district isn't lost on the teachers and administrators any more than on the students. The educators often watch as their counterparts across the state cringe upon hearing that they teach in Hearne.
Such a response is frustrating, they said. Yes, the scores have been low. But that doesn't mean Hearne students deserve to be labeled as bad kids. There are few discipline problems on campus despite rumors that suggest otherwise. In fact, the teachers said, the students enrolled in Hearne High School are among the most respectful on any campus.
The challenge now is getting others to recognize the transformation. Wells said the students would shoulder some of that burden. They can help tell the community that this year isn't a fluke.
"That's one of the ways we can get to the community. Let the kiddos go out and say, 'This is what is happening on campus,'" Wells said. "It's out there. It's going to change."
Sending a message
Scads of students already have signed up for the challenge.
Junior John Gonzales was born in Hearne but transferred in the fifth grade to neighboring Mumford schools, where he stayed until this year. The 17-year-old said he didn't think the TAKS test mattered until his junior year, so it didn't bother him that he had failed it before.
"I just figured next year I'd crack down. I had to do it to graduate," said Gonzales, who plans to enroll in a media tech program at a community college in Houston after graduating. "I just started trying. I could do it if I put my mind to it."
After working with Hearne teachers this year, he passed all but the math portion of the exam, which he will retake in July.
Principal Wells said simply explaining the importance of the test -- something that hadn't been done before -- might have helped some students. Like Gonzales, many thought the test didn't count until their junior year, which is when they take the exit-level exam that they must pass to graduate. Some students didn't even read the questions. They simply bubbled in random answers. Wells and fellow educators explained to the kids that the scores did make a difference -- for them and for the district as a whole.
Another motivation may have been pride. It was exhausting and disheartening to hear people say time and again that students in Hearne just weren't smart enough to pass the test
Junior Christ Mitchell -- like Diaz, Torres and Gonzales -- grew tired of the grumbling, and he challenged himself to do better. This year, the 17-year-old passed everything but the English portion of the test, he said, explaining that apparently just a question or two kept him from making the grade. He now is working with his English teacher each day to prepare for his July retest. Each night, he said, he has a different assignment to complete at home.
Now that he knows he can pass the state test, Mitchell has set his sights on a loftier goal: attending Angelo State University. And he has a message for those who have so long refused to believe in the students.
"I'd tell them one thing," Mitchell said, his voice soft but sure. "Don't ever doubt us."
• Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.
