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La’Phadra moved to Houston in October from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was behind in school because her family moved around alot. She said she attended a lot of different schools and didn’t learn as much as she should have. 

Houston Can! is a lot different than her very large school in Tulsa. She has really liked the small classes and one-on-one relationships with the teachers and advisors. She is also glad to not be in a school where there were fights and arguments among the students. She said she never sees that at Houston Can! 

She is the oldest sibling and has six sisters and one brother. One of her sisters is enrolled at Houston Can! as well. La’Phadra graduated in June and said it is a big help that the Can! helped her catch up so quickly with her class credits and graduate on time. She can help her mother with her brother and sisters. 

La’Phadra wants to enroll at Houston Community College (HCC) and study to be a police officer but is also interested in forensic science. Her plan is to transfer to a four-year university after HCC. Her favorite class was world geography. 

La’Phadra got engaged at prom to her boyfriend who is also a student at Houston Can! Her boyfriend is enlisting in the service so they will be apart for several weeks when he leaves this summer for basic training. They both think it is a good idea to wait and get married after his basic training because they have never been apart and think they should see how this separation goes for each of them.

Ashley Viera is a 21 year old student who is married with 4 children. Ashley just had her third child at the end of last school year. Despite the obstacles of being a mother and wife, Ashley has continued to come to school and is determined to finish. Currently Ashley is 8.5 credits away from graduation and will hopefully finish San Antonio Can! in June 2011. Ashley's Quote: "I like that my classes are shorter and I get out earlier so I can still have quality time with my 4 kids. That is why I came to San Antonio Can!"

To start out I'll explain where I'm coming from. I was born in Arkansas on May 1992, and spent the next 9 years of my life moving from state to state and many towns in between.

 I was fairly wealthy, my father worked for Wal-Mart Distribution Centers all over America. We had vacations often and all the newest and nicest stuff you could ask for. I moved from North Carolina to Texas in 2001. Again, in Texas, I moved from town to town and finally landing in Denton county. Here I actually had a stable home for a few years until December 2004 and odd event came about. I was home alone watching my afternoon cartoons when some strange people knocked on my back door and asked for my dad. Little did I know that they were there to take him to jail. My father, unbeknown to me, was a local drug dealer. Of course I wasn't oblivious but I had no clue to the seriousness of his actions. They arrested him for possession, intent to sell, and oh yeah, having a methamphetamine lab in our garage. He went to prison, I went to live with other family for a few years.

 He got out of prison in late 2006. By that time I was living with my mom again, not in the best of conditions. This proceeded on for a while. My father got busted a few more times. So obviously this reflected at the school I attended. I went to Azle High School from 2005-2009. I was nothing but trouble. I was fighting often and in and out of A.E.P. and other in school suspension programs. I was selling drugs here and there, and doing twice as much. I saw a lot of my friends go down the same road my dad did. I saw me going gown that road. This made me reflect a lot seeing as I had been through hell compared to where I grew up. I didn't want this for my kids, or anyone else's kids for that matter. In 2009 we were evicted from our house and decided to start a new again in a different town, River Oaks.

 I was still technically a freshman so going back to school seemed out of the picture until I realized the Can Academy was only 2miles from my house. I found out I could really start over here. I began attending in late August of 2009 and now I'm only 6 days away from graduating. I was more motivated to graduate here that I was to do anything else in my life. I walked those two miles back and forth everyday, and in this term, I've finished seven classes, five of which I completed in four weeks. This school gave me an opportunity that has indefinitely decided the course of the rest of my life. I have now quit drugs, stopped smoking cigarettes, and improved many aspects of my life I can credit the school for helping me with.

 I'm not perfect, but I realize now that I can do absolutely anything I want with my life. Aiming to be president seems to small a goal to me now. And in 6 days it all begins. Thank you, Can Academy

Before James arrived at Fort Worth Can! Academy’s Campus Drive campus two years ago, he had been a struggling sophomore in high school, a year and a half behind on his credits to graduate. Today, he has completed all of his credits and will graduate this year—on time. He almost didn’t make it, though. He was scheduled to take his Science TAKS re-test (he hadn’t passed it the first time), but his girlfriend went into labor the night before the test. After spending the night with her in the hospital, he had to leave for school—and his make-or-break TAKS test—at 7 a.m. Unfortunately, he missed the birth of his child by 5 minutes. But he passed the test. With his diploma in hand, we think he has a good start on making it up to his new family. His new baby daughter and her mother are doing very well. Hearty congratulations to James, and our best wishes for a wonderful future!

“I was 12-years-old when I had a knife put to my throat because I didn’t want to do things my boyfriend wanted me to do.

For years I was mentally and physically abused by him, I thought this was okay, this is what a normal relationship is like. I thought it was a healthy relationship, but reality isn’t always as good as it looks.”

Unfortunately, Janae’s discrepancies on the definition of healthy relationships stemmed from the home she grew up in.

“We live in a 2 bedroom apartment. I share a room with my sister and my other sister shares a room with my mom. At my house it’s nothing, but negativity all the way around. My family, there’s no support there. It’s dead, it’s a desert every day. There is no ‘how was your day or what did you learn today. There’s nothing. It’s just earphones in. You mind your business, go to sleep, and close the door, that’s it. It’s not a real family.”

Longing for the love and support she never knew, she became lost and confused.

“I dropped out of school. I ran away, I did drugs, and began to steal. I did that for 3 years, until one day I realized I needed to grow up the right way, not like my family. I have worked 3 jobs before and dealt with school. So it’s hard for me to sit there and study while being around people who don’t want to do anything with their life. It’s like how do you focus or concentrate when you’re in that type of environment? Even with your parents, they don’t want to see you grow because you’re growing faster than they ever have. Growing up my mom would always leave us with my grandmother. She was never there for me. She would even fight my daddy for never being there when she was never there either.”

Finally, after Janae realized her family would never change, she decided to embark on a new journey. She wanted to make something of her life, but she couldn’t return to her old school because she had lost all her credits.

Texans Can Academies became her second chance at life.

“People would say it’s for bad people, they steal, and smoke weed, but I learned so fast how wrong they are. From the second I walked in here, my advisors always looked after me. You always have people that care about you and want to see you grow. I never had anything like it in my old school or at home. Not one counselor tried to talk to me at my old school. I actually didn’t know who she was. Here it’s so different. I have multiple people. It’s just ears all wanting to listen and are always eager to see you grow. That’s exactly what happened. My whole mindset has grown. My mom would always say no one wants someone as dumb as a door knob. It was because I’m a little slower at catching on to things, but I never let it stop me. I keep asking questions until I learn it. Learning actually became so much easier with Marquez Reading [an innovative curriculum created by Richard Marquez, Texans Can President / CEO]. It was like I didn’t really know how to read before this school. It helps me so much. Even when I’m nervous and scared I’ll mess up on a word, I know how to figure it out now. Also, here you don’t have kids laughing at you when you mess up, they try to help you, unlike a regular school. At Texans Can we never tear each other down, we’re always here to help.”

As Janae continued to progress and soar through Texans Can, Miss Michelli, the assistant principal, told her about the Certified Nursing Assistant Program offered at the school.

“I was so nervous I wouldn’t get accepted, but I knew this was for me. When they first pulled me out of class to tell me I cried, I couldn’t stop crying. It was the first time I felt like I did something right. Then, my mom finally started to see the change in me and how much happier I am, but she continues to bring up my past as I’m trying to grow. So one day, this lady from church took me into her family to give me another outlet, so I wouldn’t be stuck in a negative space. She asks how I’m doing and even offers to pick me up, so I can get out of there. But I know I’m doing right, whether she likes it or not. Now I believe this isn’t my stopping point, it’s only the beginning. I tell my friends who sound like they want to come here it’s a great school. Although it’s only four hours, you do a lot of work. It’s hard, but we can do it. The teachers never let you down. Believe me when I say, no one at Texans Can will ever let you down. Some kids have kids and that’s okay. The staff here keeps motivating you no matter the situation. I can promise you it’s nothing like any other school. Friends and sometimes even family can only take you so far. If it’s nothing but negativity after that, where are you going? You just have to be willing to try new things, meet new people, the right people that will help you get somewhere in life like everyone here at Texans Can.”