By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

White Center is undergoing a cultural revolution of its own

In the midst of this communitywide cleanup, White Center is undergoing itsown cultural revolution. For many residents, English is a second language. Andnot every sign or menu in White Center is printed in English.

The community has the largest concentration of residents of Cambodiandescent in the state. In all, 37 foreign languages are spoken at public schools.

"There is a real little world society here," says Rita Creighton, who workswith youths through the Highline School District. Half the students at EvergreenHigh School speak a language other than English at home.

Such a profound shift in social and economic conditions has strained WhiteCenter's subsidized housing, social services, food bank, health centers andpolice force.

But it has not shaken White Center's faith. Several new ethnic churches arebeing built or are planned, and its oldest places of worship still are heavily used.

When the bell tolls on Sundays at Holy Family Church, 600 Catholics attendafternoon Mass, which is celebrated in Spanish. More than 40 percent of thekids attending the parish school are Hispanic or Southeast Asian.

"We are not dealing with some highfalutin population," says Bob Scripko,Holy Family's school principal. "We are a blue-collar, lower-end-of-the-payscalecommunity. But people here care as much about their child's education asanywhere else, and they roll up their sleeves and get involved."

Evergreen High School, which once had the highest dropout rate in thedistrict, now has the lowest, says Creighton, who credits a mentoring programand the community's willingness to offer internships and other programs.

One of the first students Creighton began to work with in 1994 was fingeredin a gang-related shooting outside the high school. The 16-year-old boy had thereading and writing skills of a third-grader. She offered him and a friend asecond chance at school, and they went for it.

"It's pretty amazing to see a young guy involved in dangerous activities --shootings, drugs, gangs -- and really turn his life around," Creighton says. "The fact that he is not dead is pretty remarkable."

Continued:

• A community outgrows its wilder days
• Many came here looking for a second chance
• Reputation of wild and woolly past still lingers
• Looking for a few good community leaders
• Low home prices make area a good place to start out