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She has since worked closely with her teachers and advisors to complete all her credits and is on target to graduate in February 2011, which will be 1 year ahead of schedule.  

In conjunction with her high school courses, Ashley is enrolled and taking courses at Tarrant County Junior College, where she will complete her basic requirements and plans on transferring to a University to study Marriage Counseling. 

"Ashley has come full circle, she now feels like continuing her education which is very important to her and she has made huge strides" added Mrs. Lewis, Fort Worth Can! Academy Campus Drive Principal.

The last time I dropped out of high school was in November of 2008. I distinctly remember this because it was due to my pregnancy, mainly the morning sickness. I was always throwing up. My whole pregnancy was really hard on me. I was constantly admitted into the hospital because of dehydration, and I had morning sickness up until the time I delivered my daughter.

Once I had my baby, my world changed dramatically. She opened my eyes and because of her I have matured a lot. I started to think about all the things I could do to better my daughter’s life. I began to realize how important higher education was, especially for the well being of my family. I would see my daughter’s father get rejected for jobs because he had no higher than a ninth grade education. Employers that require high school diplomas wouldn’t even give him a chance. For a while he was working at temporary agencies and it was a struggle to get by with the baby and all of our expenses.

I thought about getting a GED and then I thought; Why not go back to Austin Can! Academy, a place that would believe in me even when I had given up on myself, the school where the teachers knew I could become something more than just a high school dropout? I decided to give it a try, and I was able to enroll and start right away.

As soon as I decided to come back to school to give my daughter a better, more financially secure future, my prayers were answered and my daughter’s father was offered a job getting paid pretty well. The only bad thing about the job is it is very hard work. I don’t want him to work that hard for the rest of his life. Since way before I was pregnant my daughter’s dad had been working to get all the things we needed. He has been working extra hard since the baby has been here and now I think it will be good for us if I let him stay home with the baby while I pursue a career. I’m hoping once I graduate I can find a great job with good benefits and I can also start going to college. That will give my daughter and her father a whole lot of time together and it will also give him the opportunity to get his high school diploma or a GED. I am graduating in January 2011, and thanks to my wonderful family, life couldn’t be going any better right now.

Alexis has been enrolled in Houston Can! since the 10th grade. She was frustrated in her previous large public school because of the class sizes and interruptions. Other kids were “class clowns” and disruptive in the classroom and often prevented the teachers from teaching. She wanted to learn and felt like her time was being wasted by the other students and teachers. She would get mad and say things to the teachers about their lack of classroom control, which got her in trouble. She said she had a lot of attitude problems with the situation that she should have handled better. Her attendance began to suffer. She would do her work, turn it in and leave class. She would go to all three lunch periods and miss class. Her grades were good but her attendance was very bad and she didn’t receive credits for the classes. 

A friend told her about the Can! and she decided to enroll. She liked the way the class sizes were small, classes were concentrated to core subjects and were half days. She struggled with math concepts since elementary school but the teachers at the Can! simplified the information and made it easy for her to understand. She passed the math portion of the TAKS test the first time she took it at Houston Can! 

Alexis was able to graduate on schedule for her age in spite of the lost credits from her previous high school. Growing up was not easy for Alexis. She said she was “tugged and pulled” in several directions from a young age. She had lots of anger issues. Her Dad worked three jobs to support the family so was not around much for guidance and leadership while she was growing up. She met her mom when she was 16. She has had to work to help support herself since she was 16 and is “pretty much on her own now.”

There was a time when Ana didn’t have much hope for what her future might hold. Her days were filled with severe bouts of depression, sadness and even thoughts of suicide.

Today, Ana is a new mom, wife and a young woman who sees a positive outlook for herself and her family’s future. She credits Houston Can! Academy Hobby campus for helping change her life and providing the foundation she needed to pursue her dream of becoming a registered nurse. “When I was going to South Houston High School, I was always fighting, hanging out with the wrong crowd and not going to class,” said Ana. “I knew if I stayed there I wasn’t going to be able graduate so I could better my life.” Ana, like many at-risk students who attend Houston Can! Academy, just needed an educational environment to give them the hope to become somebody extraordinary despite the challenges they have faced in their life. “I came here three years ago in the middle of tenth grade,” she explained. “The environment has been really good. There haven’t been any fights and the teachers really care and take time. My favorite classes were reading and parenting, which was very helpful, especially since I was about to have a baby and I learned a lot.” Ana found teacher expectations to be high, but that they were always there for support. “I failed the TAKS once the science part, but I passed all the other subjects on the first try,” she said. “The teachers gave us a lot of extensive tutoring for the test which helped. If you want to come here and take care of your business, you can definitely do it here.” Part of the first graduating class of 2008, Ana didn’t wait to get her diploma before starting to take a few nursing classes at San Jacinto College. She says she is up for the challenge of finishing the four year program while juggling school, work and motherhood duties for her son, Julio Jr. “My sister died of AIDS and I wanted to be a Doctor, but that was going to take too long, explained Ana. “I still wanted to be in the medical field so that I can help others, and nursing is a good way to make a difference.”

Career leads him back to academy once again.

“Crazy!” That’s the only term Hector can utter about his high school experience at Sunset High in Dallas, Texas. Disillusioned by the craze, yet still with dreams of becoming a police officer, Hector made a change. At age 16, he enrolled in Dallas Can! Academy – Oak Cliff. Today, six years later, he has returned to serve as the school’s security officer. “Hector is just one of the hundreds of TEXANS CAN! Students who are thriving in their professional careers,” said Grant East, Founder. “He is why we opened the academies over 20 years ago; why hundreds of faculty and staff devote countless hours to these kids – to help students get a second chance at an education.” Employed with Initial Security for over two years, Hector is married to wife Amanda, also a Dallas Can! - Oak Cliff graduate and the person who originally encouraged him to make the high school switch. Hector knows the school helped him turn a difficult corner. “If I had continued at Sunset, I probably would not have graduated,” he said. “At Dallas Can!, the counselors were always available to talk to me. The staff was nice and helpful. They kept me motivated and gave me confidence that I could succeed.” The flexible hours are also something Hector credits with helping him stay in high school. He was able to start his first job in security while attending Dallas Can! “Hector was a good student, mature,” said April Rentzsch, Dallas Can! Academy counselor. “He was quiet and calm, always with a positive attitude.” After receiving his diploma, Hector spent two semesters at Mountain View College. Although he’s not attending today, he’s still motivated to go further. “Becoming a police officer, it’s still a goal of mine. And I’m still working toward it”, he said. Sounds like the motivation he received at Dallas Can! Is still alive and well. Right now, Hector is enjoying his position, watching over the school that has meant so much to him. “The students look at me and say ‘Hi.’ They know I graduated from the school, and I think seeing me in this position makes a difference to them.”