Every Student Deserves a Legacy 2007:
Real-life stories from the front lines of high school reform
Midway through the year, Marissa has already delivered her first exhibition, a detailed presentation of an in-depth research project, and in early January she passes her first gateway. First-year students are only required to achieve this milestone by the end of the year, but Marissa has no plans to slow down.
Her early success is doubtless due in large part to her intelligence and dedication, but she also has an advantage Jasmine lacked: the new First Year Academy (FYA) program. Marissa and her fellow first-year students are divided into several small groups, segregated by gender and taught by a corps of four dedicated teachers. Coursework focuses on core subjects and essential skills for success, including effective study habits, time management, goal setting, reading, writing and personal accountability.
Although some students complain about the FYA, Marissa finds it helpful.
Even more than the small, single-sex classes, she likes the "positive environment, focused on academics. The teachers are tough on us. They try to act like they don't love us, but deep down they do."
In particular, Marissa's adviser, language arts teacher Elizabeth Cameron, "is like an older sister to me."
DECA encourages close, personal relationships between advisers and students, but the comparison is especially appropriate in this case. Like many DECA faculty members, Cameron is relatively young, and Marissa is older than most FYA students because of a large gap in her earlier education.
Marissa says, "After seventh grade I withdrew. I just stopped going to school."
For the next two years, she spent her time partying with older friends. She abused alcohol, experimented with drugs and had no plans for the future.
"When I found out I was pregnant," she says, everything changed. "I realized I had to grow up and stop doing the stuff I was doing."
"I was shocked at first," she says. "I was scared because I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I didn't know what kind of effects (pregnancy) would have on my body or on my mental state, and I basically didn't know how to take care of a child."
With the support of her fiancé, Marissa slowly adjusted to the idea of having a baby and began the difficult work of getting her life in order.
"I started going back to school when I was four-months pregnant," she says. She worked hard, despite her dislike of the "last chance" charter school, and then leapt at the opportunity to attend DECA.
"She's very driven," Cameron says. "She wants to do law, and she could. She really could."
All the talent and drive in the world may not be enough, though. Marissa is emancipated from her parents, lives with her fiancé in a subsidized apartment and has often held multiple jobs just to stay ahead of the bills, all while trying to keep up with schoolwork and parenting.
"We struggle with all the complications of why kids don't engage," Principal Dr. Judy Hennessey says. "I can only imagine for some of them how bizarre our demands must seem, juggling what they are in their personal lives."
Despite the obstacles Marissa faces, Cameron says, "I think she'll at least graduate high school, which I don't think would have happened at another school. I think DECA's the right place for her."
At the end of March, when Marissa attempts to pass her second gateway, Cameron seems as anxious and excited as her student. Addressing a three-member faculty panel, Marissa quickly and precisely reviews the gateway requirements and demonstrates how she has fulfilled each one.
Midway through her presentation, her father and her fiancé, who is carrying Neveah, quietly come in and take seats at the edge of the room. Marissa's concentration doesn't slip until her daughter sees her and gleefully calls out, "Mama!"
For just a moment, Marissa's no-nonsense veneer cracks. She laughs, her whole face alive with joy, and looks away from her notes to the tiny form of her daughter nestled in her fiancé's arms.
When the presentation ends, the panel reviews Marissa's documentation and discusses her work. Apart from a few missing parent signatures and some minor edits, they agree she has done a fine job. Marissa is one third of the way toward earning a high school diploma, and one step closer to college.
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Read more about Marissa and other students and teachers in early college high schools in:
To a Higher Degree: Real-life stories of progress in four early college high schools
