By Tammy Ayer, for the Yakima Herald, originally published on Dec 2, 2017
Ivan Godinez arrived at Sunnyside High School one recent morning in an angry mood, rudely responding to Principal Ryan Maxwell who noticed Godinez was late and asked him if he was going to class. That’s when teacher Felix DeLeon stepped in.
“He’s like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’ He calmed me down,” Godinez said of DeLeon, who immediately took the teen aside and talked with him privately rather than confronting him in anger.
A junior, Godinez has attended several Yakima Valley schools, having moved multiple times in the last few years. He likes Sunnyside because the school’s teachers, counselors and other staff members take a personal interest in him, helping him navigate potential roadblocks to success, Godinez said.
“When I graduate, I’m going to thank them all,” Godinez said of his teachers. “They’ve understood what I was going through and they gave me steps to be successful.”
Godinez, who hopes to become a physical therapist, was among two dozen Sunnyside High students enjoying a Prevention Club Friendsgiving lunch last month just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Members of the school club discourage destructive decisions regarding drugs, tobacco, alcohol, bullying and texting and driving.
Such issues can challenge the most centered teens. But adverse childhood experiences can result in stress so toxic that it physically affects developing brains, possibly leading to risky health behaviors as adults, chronic health conditions, low life potential and even early death.
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