Car Donation in Michigan

The halls of Houston Can! Academy are filled with students who were at-risk of not completing their high school education. Nikosha is no different. But what is different is her unwavering determination to take her life in a new direction, despite being dealt a tough life. To meet her you would never think such a warm, friendly and smart young girl has been through so much. An unstable family, financial issues and even the loss of all her clothes and personal items aren’t enough to deter Nikosha’s mission to graduate and go to college. Before Houston Can! Academy, Nikosha found herself unfocused and quickly loosing interest at her previous school. “Before, I was missing so many days of school.” However, at the behest of her friend, she changed her outlook on education Nikosha earned the 2005-2006 Student of the Year award in the Ninth grade center because of her perfect attendance and high academic performance. This was quite an honor for a girl many would agree had every reason to quit school. “Instead of stopping at the hurdles she faced, Nikosha has continued to jump them and be an example to other students,” said Lonnie Dearman, student advisor. “Mr. Dearman was a wonderful counselor to me. I could always depend on him and feel assured that any confidential information I shared with him didn’t go anywhere,” adds Nikosha. While balancing school and studies, Nikosha, the oldest of six, also works part-time to help with family expenses. “It’s important to me to set a good example for my siblings. They look up to me,” adds Nikosha. When asked about her favorite subjects and college plans, Nikosha’s eyes twinkle as she talks about Math, Integrated Physics & Chemistry and her goal to attend Lamar University in Port Arthur. “When the school took us on a visit to Lamar University, I just fell in love with the school and campus. Ever since, I have had my heart set on going there to pursue a degree in Psychiatry.” “I really like to talk to people and help them with their problems.” Statistically speaking, Nikosha should be anywhere but Houston Can!, but thanks to her determination and the staff of Houston Can! Academy, she won’t leave until she achieves her goals.

Frank heard about Houston Can! in a commercial and thought it sounded like a good choice for him. His school was too large. He was making good grades but he said his friends were not a good influence on him. Some of the teachers at his previous school tried to talk him out of leaving – but he knew he needed to get away from friends he had there. He lives near the Hobby campus but thought it would be exciting to go to school in downtown Houston. He rode the bus to school and back every day. He said it was a lot of fun and really unusual to go to high school downtown. He really loved going to school there.

At the age of 12, Kim’s mother loaded the family car with a few belongings and her four children leaving McAllen, TX and a failed marriage to the past.

Though her mother held two jobs to make ends meet, the family squeezed into a one bedroom apartment in East Austin. “We didn’t have a bed. We had one pull-out couch, and I would rather have my brothers and my mom sleep on it than me. She worked so much,” Kim remarks.

“You wish you could do so much more to help the people you love, but I wasn’t old enough. I really wasn’t old enough – I was 14. I was still a kid, but I never really felt like a kid because I always had such a heavy weight to carry.” Kim’s love for her brothers can be compared to that of a mother’s love. Ray, a younger brother, was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of three. Ray’s treatments required the family to stay in the Ronald McDonald House for extended periods of time. Ray has since entered remission and undergone more treatment, but this hardship changed Kim’s personal understanding of her role in supporting the family and sparked her interest in pursuing the medical field.

Ultimately, the burden of caring for her brothers affected her attendance and led to her dismissal from her local high school. Austin Can Academy was not a part of the plan Kim set for herself. Principal Oakes remembers, “She had a hard time adjusting in the beginning. It was obvious she didn’t want to be here, but it only took that first day for her to realize that we were here to support her. After that day, it clicked. She was unstoppable.”

“Austin Can teachers taught you more than you needed to know. When I asked a questions they offered answers that lead me to more thoughtful questions. Austin Can makes you feel like family. You don’t feel, how do you say it in English? I want to say ‘No estorbes,’ like you’re not a bother. If I didn’t make it to school on time, I got text messages and phone calls. When your parents can’t be there to push you, the advisors are there to keep you on track. My mom didn’t talk to me about college – Austin Can did that.”

Graduation was so close Kim could feel it. She came rested and ready for her state exams, and then the worst happened – she didn’t finish her English exam within the five hour time limit. Six weeks later, the news that she failed her English STAAR exam hit her hard but she was positive. “Not passing the STAAR test wasn’t the same rejection I felt from other times in my life. I had support around me telling me that I needed to study a little harder. You can’t lose hope with that kind of support,” remarks Kim.

While continuing to study for her state exams, Kim completed her Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training and certification at Austin Can. “The Certified Nursing Assistant program allowed me to start working above minimum wage. This certification isn’t the end all, it is the first step into the medical field. Now, I’m working on my Medical Aid Certificate. I’m making a decent amount, and I can continue my classes without having to pick up extra shifts. I’ve been helping the other CNA students get jobs – one of the girls has a house now. Nursing opens so many doors. I enjoy what I do. I want to make a difference in someone’s life.”

Kim has since graduated from Austin Can and continues the effort to surround herself with positive, driven and empowering people. “When you hang around with people who are not on an upward path, you’re not going to change. When you decide to make a change, you have to make the choice about who you spend your time with. Even if it is family or friends, if they don’t get it – you have to remove yourself.”

“The students – we don’t have a lot, we’re not lucky like others. The support people give to the school takes a weight off of our shoulders. It’s a chance for us to become something or somebody. There are people my age who have two jobs. When I tell people about my high school experience, they wish they would have known about Austin Can. The Can doesn’t let you walk out with your diploma, they’re going to help you create those first steps.”

“Honestly, I’ve never felt so stable and happy. Austin Can gave me a confidence to make it through the tough times. In times that I felt like giving up because of the obstacles in my life, Austin Can changed my way of thinking and acting in hard situations. You take what you’ve been through and you take what you’ve seen and you use that to make an impact. I may not be the one to break the chain, but I at least want to be the one to weaken it. I tell my brothers, they can do this – they can make it.”

Kim currently works as a CNA while continuing her coursework to be a Medical Aid. She plans to pursue a degree in nursing and work with children with chronic disease. “Where do I see myself in five years? It’s not so much where I see myself, with an RN degree you can do so much. How I want to feel in five years – I want to be happy. I want to love what I do and want to move forward in that. I just want to be happy really.”

From high school dropout to high school graduate, Ignacio is now on his way to become a Certified Nursing Assistant.

“Growing up I didn’t really have much. My mom is a single mother of two, I haven't seen my dad in 10 years, but she always tried her best to support us. She worked any and every job she could, like picking tomatoes until she was 7 months pregnant, then moving to a tractor position because her belly was too big to bend down. She has also held construction jobs in downtown Dallas.”

“I was usually home alone so I started to go to my friends for a sense of security that’s why I decided to join a gang. I just started following in my brothers footsteps. I started smoking a lot and doing reckless things.”

After struggling at his previous high school and lacking the sense of support that he craved from the administration, Ignacio decided to drop out. He worked at Dairy Queen for a year and even got offered a managerial position.

“Then one day I realized I didn’t want to disappoint my mom anymore. I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life.”

“My mom came to this country as an immigrant and I wanted to show her that all her effort wasn't for nothing. That’s why I get up every day and try to do my best.”

So he followed in his brother’s footsteps again, this time for all the right reasons. His brother graduated from Texans Can Academies and his family recommended he do the same if he really wanted to turn his life around.

“Texans Can was my second chance. A second opportunity that you can’t take for granted. Although some people think of this school as a school for all the mess ups, it’s not. The people here are helping us get somewhere, to be someone in life. I’m not afraid to say that I’m from Texans Can.”

“The teachers and advisors here do the most to make sure I’m making the right choices.”

“My advisor Mrs. Randle would text me if I was late to school and even ask if I needed a ride. She’s always there for me trying to get me to school. Especially when I had surgery a month ago and I would be late because I had to go to therapy. She would tell me to go to the PM shift if I couldn't make it that morning.”

“My teacher Mr. Vasquez, even calls me his son. Another advisor Mrs. Machuca offered me two jobs and took me on college visits.”

“They’ve made such a big difference in my life and are always looking out for you. They’re the reason I come to school every day.”

Ignacio has always had a keen sense of ambition. He always knew what he wanted. When he found out about the CNA program offered at the Can Academies, he was eager to get his life back on track, to finally make his mom proud.

“My whole life I’ve always been a little science nerd. It came so naturally to me.”

“When I enrolled here I was actually too late to get in the anatomy class. So I just started reading on my own, about body systems and how they function. It never ceases to amaze me how such an intricate system works together to make up who we are. I’ve always wanted to work in the medical field.”

Ignacio will take his CNA certification in the spring and will be a first-generation college.

“I want to use the CNA program as a step towards my future career, as a foundation to my future. I just really like caring for people. I always think of others before myself.”

“I’m not proud of who I was before, but it’s brought me where I am today. I honestly would’ve never graduated high school if it wasn’t for the Can Academies.”

“I was making good money at DQ or thought I was. It was enough to get me by. I just never had anyone guide me to get to higher places. I’ve always had goals, but never knew how to achieve them.”

“The people here actually help me, they actually care about my life and where I go afterwards. I’ve never had that before.”

Though my life has balanced out now, it has not always been one that is comfortable.

I grew up in what many would call the ghetto. Not only were we poor, but we lived next door to the neighborhood drug house.

My name is Mario, I am 15-years-old, I’m currently a sophomore at Texans Can Academies and this is my story.

Having that house beside us, made a poor neighborhood, dangerous. I witnessed drive-by shootings, people being shot, drug overdoses and our house was robbed frequently.

As a kid, I could not even play outside because there were always guns. One time, I remember that during a police raid, they used a flash grenade and I was outside and it hurt my ears. My dad had to come get me and carry me inside. It was very painful.

Living next to a drug house gave me many opportunities to use drugs, but I had made the choice early on to never take anything. I had watched my brother go down that path and I saw how hard it made things for him. I knew that I wanted more for my life and that I could do better.

We eventually moved and I started high school at South Oak Cliff. I was doing well, but was struggling to pass the TSI test. My goal is to join the infantry directly after graduation and pursue a career in the military. I knew that I would need to pass the ASVAB for military entrance and if I was struggling to pass the TSI, the ASVAB would be even harder.

My sister, who also graduated from Texans Can, told me about the school and the focused help I would receive here. Now I am currently working hard to gain the knowledge needed to successfully pass the TSI so I can move forward. I am also working closely with my advisor and the career transition coordinator to get assistance with the ASVAB and will take it towards the end of my second year.

I came from the ghetto, but I will not remain in the ghetto.

Though my journey is just beginning I can already tell the difference in the students and staff at Texans Can. With the help from my teachers and others I will not only graduate, but I am set to graduate early.

I am excited for this and have big plans for myself, my life, and my service in the military. The support people give to Texans Can helps give hope and impacts the lives of kids just like me.

My name is Mario and I am set to be a Texan Can graduate in June 2019.