The clothes make the man. You are what you wear.
If you think that’s a philosophy you’re unlikely to encounter in Yakima Valley high schools, you haven’t visited Toppenish High recently.
If you had, you would more than likely have seen Daryel Rueda or Lionardo Fuentes or two other students who are taking an innovative hospitality elective there.
Though it’s not a requirement, they decided that it’s important to dress the part.
The class is called the Hospitality Corps, and it is the brainchild of Jeane Williamson, the school’s migrant counselor.
The idea behind the Corps is to enlist students to help create an atmosphere at THS that is friendlier, Williamson said.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for 10 or 15 years,” she said.
Williamson put together a proposal for principal Trevor Greene, who gave his approval, and she began recruiting students.
Initially, what Williamson asked participants in the Corps to do was simply greet visitors, students, and staff in the foyer of the THS front entrance. 
She encouraged them to learn people’s names and welcome them with a smile.
“I didn’t set any dress standards,” said Williamson.
However, Corps members took it upon themselves to enhance their interaction with the people they greeted and to upgrade the way they dressed.
Corps members began the program by greeting visitors while seated. They decided it would be better to stand and to open the door for those entering the school.
They also decided they would dress differently, and most days they are attired in suit and tie or at least coat and tie.
Wearing ties required learning how to tie them, and when Williamson couldn’t help with that, Fuentes took the initiative and found a book that had that information.
He gave the book to Williamson so she could pass the information on to future Corps members who needed it.
The response to the change in the way they dressed has been very positive.
“It changes how they act and how they are perceived,” said Williamson.
She said, rightly or wrongly, people make judgments about others based on what they wear.
Fuentes said the way he dressed created a “positive attitude” in other students and teachers.
“I get respect when I dress up,” he said.
Rueda, who Williamson described as “extremely shy,” has become more involved in school activities, Williamson said, and decided to attend the prom this year for the first time.
The behavior of the corps members has changed in other ways, as well.
Williamson said corps members who had expressed no interest in higher education were no making plans to attend college. 
Fuentes and Martin Romero, another corps member, attended the Latino Educational Achievement Project conference in California recently, where they talked about the Hospitality Corps.
Williamson said there was a great deal of interest in the program expressed there.
She said her intent was to make a presentation about the program at the next LEAP conference.
Fuentes encouraged other students to get involved in the corps.
“It’s a good experience,” he said. “You get out of your comfort zone. You’re not afraid to talk to people.”
Williamson said she hopes to add at least two more students to the program next year, so there will be a corps member at the school’s front entrance during each period of the school day.
She said the corps, which qualifies as a full-credit class, has become so much more than students greeting visitors.
“They have become ambassadors,” said Williamson.