"Everything is a Gift:" Brian's Story

Brian came to Campagna Academy after spending three months in the Lake County Juvenile Center. He struggled with self esteem and rarely connected with the adults around him. Though only 17 years old, Brian's life was already defined by failure...failure to stay in school, failure to stay off drugs, failure to stay out of trouble. But at Campagna Academy, Brian discovered that failures can open doors of opportunity and learning. "At my other school, everyone looked down on me because of what I had been through," Brian explained, "but at Campagna they were proud of me and what I had overcome. They helped me see my background as an asset because it brought me here and gave me the drive to succeed." With restored hope and renewed self esteem, Brian built lasting relationships with his teachers and succeeded in mastering the 22 credits he needed to achieve his high school diploma. Currently he studies nursing at Prairie State College, where he will begin his third year in the fall. He thanks Campagna Academy for helping him turn his temporary failures into long-lasting success. "Thanks to Campagna, I'm grateful for everything today. I look at life a whole new way now. Everything is a gift."

"For those who said I couldn't:" Rasheda's Story

When Rasheda spoke at Campagna's 2007 Charter School graduation ceremony, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. "And for all those who said I couldn't make it," she tearfully exclaimed, "I did!" As a teen mother of four, odds were that Rasheda never would have achieved her high school diploma, let alone earn a four-year scholarship to college. But Rasheda changed her odds in 2005 by coming to Campagna Academy's Charter High School. "In my other school I was bored so I hung out with the wrong kids and found plenty of opportunities to get into trouble," Rasheda reflected. "But at Campagna, the classes were small and the teachers really challenged me. There was no hiding in the crowd." Described by her teachers as one of the hardest working students they had ever seen, Rasheda graduated with honors and was awarded an all-expenses paid scholarship to Calumet College. Campagna Academy helped Rasheda turn her boredom and bad behavior into focused drive and determination for changing the world around her. Currently, she volunteers at Arc Bridges (a non-profit organization in Gary that serves people with developmental disabilities) from 8am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday. Rasheda then attends Calumet College each night from 7pm to 10pm, where she is working toward her degree in special education, a passion she discovered while working on her senior project at Campagna. And for all those teachers at Campagna who said she could make it, Rasheda has just one thing to say: "Thank you for believing in me!"