6 EDCAL September 18 , 2017
CHRIS
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Heaton , coordinator in the Merced County Office of Education . “ This young man has so much on his shoulders . He has way too much responsibility for a young man who ’ s really never been able to experience what it ’ s like to be a teenager .”
Chris was hesitant to lash out at home . So he decided to unleash his anger at school .
“ He would throw tantrums ,” Sierra Program vocational trainer Katherine Gutierrez said . “ He ’ s thrown a trash can at me . He ’ s thrown books at me . He ’ s thrown chairs , tables , desks across the classroom .”
Chris entered the Sierra Program , a place for students with behavioral issues and conduct disorders , at the end of his fifth grade year . It took years of patience , but Chris eventually learned to control and harness his anger .
“ I ’ m just thankful that I came here to the Sierra Program ,” Chris said . “ They helped me a lot . They put me where I want to be .
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I would have never made it this far without them .”
Educators with the Sierra Program are quick to admit it took a team effort to help Chris achieve success .
“ I think Chris ’ story in the program has really been a story of the idea that it takes a village to raise people because there have been so many people that have been instrumental to Chris at different parts of his journey ,” Sierra Program teacher Caleb Hampton said .
As Chris has adapted to his new life thanks to the Sierra Program , he ’ s also more involved with his younger siblings . One could make the argument Chris has become the father he never had to his little brother and sister .
“ As Chris has grown , he has had to take up more and more responsibility for his siblings and really step into a father role ,” Hampton said . “ And that has been especially difficult for him because he hasn ’ t had a father of his own to sort of model those kinds of examples and to deal with the sort of stuff that he went through .”
When asked to describe the relationship with his brother and sister , Chris was moved to tears .
“ They make me happy ,” Chris said . “ That ’ s the only reason that makes me feel better . Seeing them makes me happy .”
Chris ’ transformation is almost impossible to fathom . The kid who once punched a teacher out of sheer anger is now a mature young man who is confident about his future .
“ If you have a student who is engaged
DESTINY
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Destiny faced loss and neglect throughout the course of her childhood . Her parents were in and out of her life . The man Destiny affectionately calls “ Papa ,” her grandfather , stepped up and took over as her caretaker .
“ He raised me since I was 3 and basically I looked up to him ,” Destiny said . “ He used to build old-school cars and then sell them , so he had his own shop . I used to go over there every day to help him . That was like my best friend .”
Destiny ’ s grandfather raised her as if she was his own child . The two were inseparable until a cancer diagnosis changed everything .
“ He sat me down one day two weeks before he went to the hospital ,” Destiny said . “ I had never seen this man cry and he cried . And he said he had cancer . And I couldn ’ t stop crying . I got to the point where I couldn ’ t breathe . He said he ’ s going to fight through it and he wants me to graduate high school and go to college . And stay on the right track .”
Mike Marshall lost his battle with cancer on April 12 , 2014 . With his death , Destiny struggled to make sense of the loss .
“ I didn ’ t know what to do anymore with myself ,” Destiny said . “ I didn ’ t have emotion anymore . I tried to run away from it .”
Four months later , Destiny ’ s uncle , and willing to try , then there ’ s just so many possibilities ,” Hampton said . “ Just seeing a positive story inspires me to be a better teacher and to try to replicate that success with other students and give them the same opportunities that Chris has had .”
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Tyler Marshall , died in a motorcycle crash . Destiny says she hit rock bottom and felt like her life was no longer worth living .
“ Everything was getting to me , and I tried to commit suicide ,” she said . “ And I just wanted to go . I wanted to be with them . What stopped me was the fact that I wanted to prove everyone wrong . The fact that I want to let them know I can do it .”
Destiny persevered through the grief and channeled her loss into something positive . She wanted to fulfill her grandfather ’ s wishes and graduate from West Campus High in Sacramento . With the help of teachers and educators at the school , Destiny found hope .
“ She always was pretty tough ,” West Campus High teacher Lynne Samaan said . “ Handled whatever she needed to handle and moved on and went about her day .”
In June , Destiny graduated from West Campus High . She has plans of going to college . But her cry and her creed still center around Mike and Tyler Marshall and making sure she ’ s doing right by them .
“ Hopefully they ’ d say they ’ re proud of me ,” Destiny said . “ Every decision I make , I ’ m like , ‘ OK , what would my papa say ? What would my uncle say ?’ So hopefully I ’ m making them proud because that ’ s what they always wanted – for me to graduate and go to college – so I ’ m going to do that for them .”