Having been offered a full athletic scholarship for football, Brian believed he would live his dream of playing at collegiate level, and perhaps even as a professional. That dream, however, ended abruptly due to a serious knee injury. Frustrated, Brian dropped out of high school for awhile. When he decided to go back to school, he knew too much time had passed in order to graduate with his former classmates at his old high school. Not one to give up, he enrolled at Houston Can! Academy Hobby campus to earn a high school diploma. “After I got over my disappointment, I knew I had to do something positive with my life and I needed my education,” Brian explained. “I turned to Houston Can! Academy and loved it! Some of the rules I don’t agree with, but I know they have to have them to keep things in order.” It’s been along time coming, but he is proud to be among the 25 graduating students from the Hobby campus in 2008. “My family is very happy for me and proud that I am graduating high school, especially my Mom,” Brian added. “She is speechless. The day I got my gown and invitations she wanted to cry.” Earning his diploma is not only rewarding for Brian, but is also inspires his younger siblings to do the same, which he knows is very important. “I have two sisters and a brother and they watch everything I do, so I know I have to a good example so they say to themselves, ‘I want to graduate just like Brian did.’” The good-natured, friendly young man says math is one of his favorite subjects because it allows him to brainstorm. He also says the bond between students has been wonderful during his year and half stint at the Can!. Diploma in hand, Brian plans to join the fire department, and has already started working towards earning the 72 required hours to join the volunteer department, and then hopefully get voted into the academy. “I’m looking forward to being in the fire department,” he said. “I love the rush you get when you know that you are helping save lives!”

Alexis graduated in June. She is now enrolled in Medvance, a technical school, where she is studying medical office administration. She will begin classes July 6th and plans to complete her studies in eight months to one year. She wants to get a job, gain some experience and income, then go back to school to be certified as a radiology technician and work in one of Houston’s hospitals. 

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.”

Back at my first high school, I skipped constantly and several staff told me “You will never graduate!”, I was kicked out of school and tried to find another one to attend. Many schools, even alternative programs rejected me because of my past behavior, they recommended that I go to Austin Can!. 

I dropped out for a while but finally enrolled in Austin Can! Academy. It was a big change to have smaller classes and uniform but when I am in the classroom the teachers actually teach! If you do not understand something, they take the time to explain things and encourage me to go to tutoring. 

In the past, I never knew what I scored on TAKS but since I’ve been at Austin Can! my math score has increased a lot and my score has gone up 200 scale points. I never took my academics seriously in the past, but the staff helped me to believe in myself! I will be graduating this June and then will attend college.

From Ready to Work Coordinator, Charlotte Chew:

Filling out the Apply Texas application with students is a day-to-day task in this job. Armandina reminded me one day of how big of a difference the seemingly simple task of filling out a college application will make in a student’s life. I met with Armandina a few times in the semester to help her figure out what she’d like to do after high school. She decided that she would like to attend community college and she came to me to assist her in filling out her Apply Texas application. I sat with her as she filled out each page then when she submitted her application I told her “Congratulations! You’ve just applied for college….and you’ve been accepted!” She looked at me with wide eyes and asked “For real?!” and then gave me the biggest hug. She completed the Accuplacer exam when a representative from Palo Alto College administered the test on our campus.

The following week after she completed her Accuplacer, the Can! transition coordinator and I met her at St. Philip’s College to connect her with services and to show her which offices she needed to go to in order to register for classes and manage her financial aid. Armandina seemed rather overwhelmed and in shock that she was at college about to enroll for classes. She finished her credits in October and has registered for the spring semester. I had the opportunity to work with her for just a short time, but I’m really proud of her for following through with plans for a bright future.

Armandina plans to study nursing in college and become a Registered Nurse. She says she wants to become a nurse to help others. She was inspired by her mother who was diagnosed with diabetes and Armandina helped her with insulin injections. This made her realize her passion for taking care of others.

Congratulations Armandina! We are so proud of YOU!

Seventeen year old Crystal knew her life was heading in the wrong direction. After realizing the combination of hanging around the wrong crowd and surrounding herself with people who were really not supportive or encouraging friends, she knew it was time to make change. Today, Crystal is more confident about what the her future holds after putting in eighteen months of hard work and dedicated studying at Houston Can! Academy Main campus, she is proud to be the first person in her family to receive their high school diploma. Crystal is quick to credit the positive and supportive experience she’s had at Can! downtown Houston campus as part of the foundation for her success. “The counselors really help the students a lot which is why we are more successful,” says Crystal. She also credits being around “new” Houston Can! friends who share a common goal. “We’re all on the same level of wanting to succeed and not lowering our standards. We all want to get to the highest point in our life, adds Crystal.” While Crystal has decided on what college she plans to attend, she is leaning towards Texas A&M because of their strong military program. As the oldest of four siblings, Crystal is quick to recognize her responsibility to encourage, inspire and be a role model for her siblings so they can succeed in reaching there dreams. “My family is so excited that I am graduating. I want to teach my siblings to be better than me, stay on the right track and go for more in life instead of settling with what you have.”