The Herald-Zeitung

On Tuesday evening, seven high school students beat the odds. They went from being labeled “at risk” of dropping out to receiving their high school equivalency diplomas.

The graduation ceremony took place at the Westside Community Center in New Braunfels Tuesday. The students were recognized for passing the General Educational Development (GED) test through the School of Hope.

School of Hope, a program developed by local nonprofit The Institute for Public Health and Education Research (TIPHER), has now graduated nine students through the program, and two more await test results.

Lisa Urbano, Jamie Bell, Christopher Jordan, Josh Sanchez, Marcus Sheffield, Miguel Angel Cisneros Ortiz and Spencer Heiden were Tuesday’s graduates.

School of Hope students were enrolled at New Braunfels High School but were identified as at-risk of dropping out or not completing school. They are recommended to the program by a counselor or assistant principal. The students are mostly self-directed through computer-based coursework focused on passing the GED. It typically takes two to four months for students to complete the program, depending on their work schedule.

The director of School of Hope and main instructor is Irma Alvarado, a retired counselor from New Braunfels High School.

“I provide help when the students need it, with reading, writing, science and social studies. Bonnie Leitch teaches math,” she said. “We have a family of people here that help the students with anything they need. We’re like a family, they can talk to me about anything.”

Each student has a different reason for opting into School of Hope. For Sheffield, “overwhelming peer problems” led him to drop out of high school, but at the School of Hope he found from Alvarado “overwhelming kindness.”

“She inspired me to take the leap and go to college,” he said. Sheffield is heading to San Antonio College for an evening English class.

“The mission statement for our organization is to advance public health needs and critical public education issues,” said Dr. Carlos Campos, executive director of TIPHER. “When you advance people’s needs, you can’t separate health needs from socio-economic issues.”

They only way to get there, he said, is for young adults, regardless of past mistakes, to position themselves for better employment, or “learn to earn.”

School of Hope is funded through a grant from New Braunfels Independent School District, which has to be renewed each year.

“With School of Hope (if students opt into it and are recommended), it’s considered a transfer instead of drop out for the school district,” said Liz Kaminski, at-risk drop out coordinator for NBISD.