This past month we watched so many of our students graduate; many of them reaching this great height of achievement despite their obstacles. In the flurry of graduation, it can be challenging to tell each and every one of their stories. Knowing the importance of these tales of triumph being told however, it would only be appropriate to spotlight a few of our shining stars.

Issac Bullard has certainly been on a winning streak. To begin, Issac is our most recent winner of the “Be-In-It-to-Win-It” $100 gift card. Furthermore, he continued by taking the ACT and scored a 21 in the reading section after taking it for the first time! Way to go! Now that he is officially a proud high school graduate, he hopes to continue his studies at Florida A&M University where he would like to study business. We wish him all the best!

Jacoby Gowie proves that with a lot of hard work, you can turn around any situation. When Jacoby first began at Mavericks High he had a 0.6 G.P.A. and 14 credits. For most students, this would have been a deterring factor from continuing in the pursuit of a high school diploma. In fact, Jacoby stated that he was “frustrated and didn’t see a road to graduation.” However, he pressed on, getting placed on a graduation- education plan on February 3^rd of this year. From that point forward it was full speed ahead for him. He went on to earn 10 additional credits and to raise his GPA in that short amount of time to a whopping 2.1 G.P.A.! The icing on the cake came on June 13^th when Jacoby not only stood before his classmates, as one of the highlighted student speakers, but also walked across the stage to shake his principal’s hand, as she handed him his high school diploma. Jacobie is a shining example of how someone, with the right amount of determination, can knock down the odds that may be stacked against them.