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By MIKE ANTONUCCI / Mercury
News
people
can always count on Jose Taina.
The feeling at the San Jose Conservation Corps, where Taina runs
the auto shop, is that he does every task better than needed. When
he was a student at the Corps' charter school, he was quick to spend
time helping classmates, even though he seemed to fill every other
second by loading more work on himself.
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Jose Taina works on the underbelly of a truck
at the San Jose Conservation Corps in San Jose.
(Susanna
Frohman / Mercury News)
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"It took him probably six months to do two years of work,'' says
Joe Frausto, who teaches English and social studies.
Taina, who came from Peru to join two older brothers in a storybook
quest for a better life, now needs some help from Wish Book readers.
That's because there's so much more he wants to learn and accomplish.
He's lauded as reliable, modest and religious, with a warm personality
that projects a reassuring calm. He plays the guitar and likes soccer,
but what he loves is escuela -- school.
"The first goal is to have more knowledge,'' says Taina, 28.
Donations will help him enroll in intensive English language classes
at Evergreen Valley College and build a set of quality automotive
tools. He knew the value of education when he arrived in the United
States, hence his intense pursuit of a high school diploma from
the Corps' charter school as well as high school equivalency certification
from the state.
He dedicated himself to using his limited English to communicate
and encouraged classmates to do the same. He took maximum advantage
of individual instruction, Frausto recalls, to forge ahead at an
accelerated pace. On graduation day, it was as if he was finishing
a sprint instead of an epic journey.
But even Taina has been surprised at what he learned besides algebra,
geometry and U.S. history.
He never anticipated being a mechanic, for example. As part of
the charter school's job-training curriculum, he picked up those
skills at the Corps' auto shop with his usual combination of curiosity,
instinct and relentless effort.
"When I fix one car, it's wonderful,'' says Taina.
Taina's oldest brother works at a high-tech company in the South
Bay; the other, Fernando, is the supervisor for the Corps' recycling
program. Jose doesn't like being separated from his parents and
three sisters, who remain in South and Central America, but he says
the educational, economic and political conditions suggested a limited
future for him.
"He has embraced all of the opportunities the United States has
to offer,'' says Donna Howe, the charter school's principal.
To make the most of his potential, Taina needs help with tuition,
fees, books and supplies ($1,000),
plus an electronic speller/translator ($60).
And each donation
of $100 will go toward gift cards that will allow Taina to purchase
tools to make up a professional auto mechanic's set.
For
more information on the San Jose Conservation Corps,
go to www.sjcccharterschool.org.
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