When a new kid gets thrown into the mix
6:14 PM 4/23/04
Andy Hall and Dean Mosiman Wisconsin State Journal

"I just want to go over your schedule with you, honey," counselor Jane Hallock tells sixth-grader Luis Lugo. <

Hallock informs the Madison School District's newest pupil that today his classmates will begin learning a new language - Spanish. <

"Is that something you know about?" she asks. <

"Yeah, I speak it," Luis says with a toothy grin. <

Just like that, the Chicago-to-Madison pipeline of people fleeing violence and unemployment sweeps Luis into Jefferson Middle School. <

"It's a great day for school," Principal Paul Bishop declares on the intercom, over which the Pledge of Allegiance soon blares. <

It's Dec. 2, a sunny, bitterly cold morning. <

Luis, who sports a gold earring and gelled hair, gets a locker, learns how to operate a combination lock and unloads his backpack. Hallock is impressed that his parents sent him well-equipped with supplies - notebooks, pocket folders, markers, glue and scissors. <

Across the hall, the band is playing, "On, Wisconsin." <

Luis settles into his first class. It happens to be Spanish. <

"Hola, Luis," his classmates say. <

His teacher, Ric Saenz, asks the class what "hasta manana" means. <

Luis' hand shoots up. <

"Until tomorrow." <

"Excelente. Perfecto." <

Luis beams. <

"What's it like being a new kid?" his science teacher, Marylou Baker, asks Luis. <

"I wasn't that nervous," Luis says. "This happens to me every year. We move to a new school." <

"We'ree hoping you'ree here for a long time," Baker says. <

"Me too," he says. <

The science students, including Katie who says "I never smile" and a newcomer from Mexico who's too shy to say anything except her name, introduce themselves to Luis. They make it through a class on Newton's laws of motion, with one girl asking, "Is it the same person as Fig Newton?" <

Assured that Newton is a very old, and very dead guy, the classmates laugh. <

Right after class, several students chat with Luis. <

He'ss among friends, already. <

<

<

<

Luis' family - parents Gary and Marielyn Lugo and four children - and the family of Gary Lugo's brother are crammed into two Allied Drive apartments with the extended family of Maria Alvarez and Jose Torres - friends who formerly lived near them in Chicago. There are 18 people sharing these apartments. <

Gang violence and scant job opportunities made life untenable in Chicago, the Lugos say. It took 50 stitches to close the wounds after Gary Lugo's brother was jumped by three gang members. <

A native of New Jersey who met his wife in her native Puerto Rico, Lugo has worked as a caterer, shuttle driver, bell captain and security guard but he wants a job as a computer network installer. To hedge his bets, he's also applying at a check-cashing firm. <

"I've been hearing a lot about opportunities here," Gary Lugo says in late November, two days after arriving. <

"I'm taking a chance." <

It ends up taking him three months to find a decent job. <

In early March, Lugo is hired for $10 an hour to help operate cafeterias in workplaces throughout the Madison area. He's working as a cook, translator, inventory keeper and assistant manager. <

After staying with their friends for three months, Lugo's family moves into another Allied Drive apartment, feeling, he says, that the neighborhood is improving. He's comforted to see police on foot, on mountain bikes and in cars. "The impression they're giving me is they're trying to fix Allied Drive." <

Luis and two siblings are thriving in Madison's schools. Luis joined the band, where he plays flute. <

Another child is on the way in August. <

The Lugo family hopes to buy a home. <

"It's going to be hard, but it's not impossible," Lugo says. "I guess from there, we're set. Maintain it and see my kids grow." <

<