Video: Teen Parents

 
This year is the 10th anniversary of Pacific High School's First Steps Child Development Center. While the teens study in class, their children are also learning at the First Steps Center..
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Dana Rene Bowler / Star staff From left, Felicity Perez and Caidyn Bivins prepare for the First Steps Child Development Center as Michael Bivins, Caidyn's father, and Sara Perez, Felicity's mother, get ready for their own Pacific High School classes.

At 16, Adriana Garcia enjoyed partying with her friends and often cut class when she attended Ventura High School. In her junior year, with only 10 credits completed, she decided to drop out of school.

She later found out she was pregnant and eventually decided to continue her education at Pacific High School, an alternative school in Ventura. The move ended up being a positive one for Garcia and her newborn, Joseph.

"My mom wasn't there when I was growing up, and I didn't want my child to feel like that," Garcia said. "It was hard, but I had to change."

Like many other teen parents who attend school in the Ventura Unified School District, Garcia took advantage not only of the academic programs at Pacific, but also the school's First Steps Child Development Center. This year marks the child care center's 10th anniversary.

The center is funded through a state Department of Education program called California School Age Family Education, or Cal-SAFE. There are seven Cal-SAFE centers at Ventura County schools, plus a similar program at Apollo High School in Simi Valley.

Pacific High's College Drive campus started with 12 teen parents. Today, it provides services for 40 young parents or pregnant students.

"I'm sure there were more than 12 teen parents out there when we started, but maybe some of them already dropped out of the system," said Superintendent Trudy Tuttle Arriaga. "Now we are providing students what they need to secure their education. We want to break that cycle so they will be well-educated and their children will be well-educated."

A decade ago, Arriaga, then principal of Pacific High, noticed that some young students were having difficulty balancing school work and the responsibility of being a new parent. Arriaga recalled one particular student who burst into her office one morning.

"She would get up at 5 a.m. every morning and ride the city bus with her son across town just to drop him off at her aunt's house, and then she would have to take the bus to school," Arriaga said. "That day she arrived at 8:20 a.m. and was given detention for being late. She went into my office and said, I quit. I've had enough.' At that moment, I knew if we didn't do something, we would lose her. Losing her was symbolic of losing the others."

Today, Pacific High students drop off their children before the bell rings at 8 a.m. The center is divided into two main rooms: one for children 6 weeks to 2 years old; and another for those 18 months to 3 years old, said Anna Izaguirre, the center's site leader.

The center is also open to families in the community for a fee. So far, five families are taking advantage of the services, Izaguirre said.

While student parents are busy learning about Shakespeare and algebra, their toddlers are only a few yards away learning songs, listening to stories and playing. About 20 children attend the center five days a week, Izaguirre said.

In return for free child care, which includes formula, diaper changes and breakfast for the toddlers, the students must take teen-parenting classes and volunteer at the center.

"They have the teachers as role models and they are also supporting each other," Arriaga said.

In the parenting classes, students learn life skills and participate in group discussions about the challenges and triumphs of raising a child and staying in school.

Having professionals help with the care of his daughter is a blessing, said Pacific junior Michael Bivins, 17. His 20-month-old child, Caidyn, attends the center from 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. while he goes to classes at Pacific and then rushes over to a course at Ventura College.

Bivins said the parenting classes also have helped him become a better father. "It helps a lot because I'm there with other parents who are going through the same thing as me," he said. "I couldn't do this at Ventura High School, where I was going. I didn't have good grades when I was going there, but now I'm going to graduate in fall 2009."

While Bivins recently attended a weekly group session with the other parents, Caidyn and 10 other toddlers sat down for breakfast with First Steps teacher Janet Mahoney. The children quietly munched on their cheese omelets, fruit and cinnamon raisin toast.

Caidyn quickly tossed her plate and bowl into a bucket after finishing her meal and proceeded to play with the others. Another child picked Cheerios off the floor, while another was busy washing her hands.

"This really shows you what children are capable of," Mahoney said.

For Garcia, growing up meant being a responsible student and mother to Joseph. She enrolled at Pacific High, and Joseph started at First Steps when he was just 6 weeks old.

Garcia, now 19, is scheduled to graduate in June. She plans to take college courses and become a juvenile probation officer.

She said her family, the staff at Pacific High and the child care center helped her turn her life around.

"I don't recommend anyone to have a child when you are young, but if I didn't have my son, I wouldn't be here right now more focused," she said.