Rural finalist for Obama graduation speech overcomes obstacles for disadvantaged kids

UPDATE, May 19: Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will give the commencement address at Bridgeport.
The White House will announce Monday the high school where has announced that President Obama will give a graduation speech in Memphis., and even if rural Bridgeport High School in Washington doesn't didn't make it, but its role as one of the three finalists has highlighted its success at raising expectations for disadvantaged students. (Google map; click for larger image)

"Bridgeport boasts a 100 percent college acceptance rate; over 80 percent of the class has already committed to college," writes Tim Newcomb of Time magazine. Bridgeport High's population is 90 percent Hispanic and 100 percent of the district's students qualify for the free- or reduced-lunch program." Principal Tamra Jackson told Newcomb, “We created our own prep program. . . . We have set the bar pretty high and the students are meeting those standards.” (Read more)

The local Wenatchee World reported on the finalist announcement: "The 200-student school was by far the most rural of the six candidates competing in the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. They faced big-city schools and specialized charter schools, mostly east of the Mississippi River." (Read more)