Past Student Stories
Two years ago a young 15 year old African American male with a 9 month old daughter came to Learning Inc. His reading level was high 3rd grade and his math was high 4th. He had a history of violence towards students and teachers and a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a bipolar disorder. During his first year he had perfect attendance and in his second year his attendance was 98%. He did not have ANY violent incidents while at Learning Inc. He had the opportunity to leave LI after his 1st year but chose to stay because he did not feel he would be successful at another school – he just didn’t think he was ready. After his 2nd year he passed his Algebra 1 HSA and was accepted at Carver. He has been back twice and called his old teachers several times to let them know that he is happy, likes school and is so far, doing well. By the way –he has always taken his daddy responsibilities quite seriously.
Several years ago a 14 year old African American gay male, whose father disowned him because of his sexual orientation, came to Learning Inc. The child had been sexually molested by older male relatives when he was 12 and was expelled from his prior school for fighting. His grandmother was the primary caregiver. He was a student here for 2 ½ years –great sense of humor, very open and truly loving. One day a knife was discovered in his backpack- a knife which he carried only for protection on his way to and from Learning Inc. He had already been jumped twice. We had no choice – we had to expel him. After hours he came back here to work on the computer and to find a job corps placement….which he did. After 3 years he graduated from job corps with a GED and a certificate in nursing. He is currently employed at a Baltimore City nursing home and is happy and living on his own –paying taxes and being the productive adult that we always knew he could be.
Another young man who was a LI student about 3 years ago….lived in a single parent home, mother was a recovering drug addict, father murdered. He had been out of school for 1 year and was severely depressed. His LI experience was tumultuous – not bad exactly but not particularly good either. His mother was not happy with the way we handled an altercation between her son and another student. This young man was with us for 1 year and left to go to a more traditional BCPSS high school. Two weeks ago he showed up looking for help. We hadn’t seen him for 2 years. He had dropped out of high school, was addicted to drugs, had been in jail and his mother had just kicked him out of her house. He had nowhere to go and so…came here. He asked for help to get off drugs and to find a place to stay. We gave him food and started making phone calls. He is now in an adult shelter which provides drug treatment. His goal is to go to a job corps after he completes his drug rehabilitation.