When Brian was three, his family was told that Brian may be “on the autistic spectrum.” They knew Brian was having a difficult time, but this was the first time they heard he might be different. This was the start of a journey that would have Brian tested and retested, moved from school to school, […]
When the Cochran Family moved from North Carolina to Tucson, two years ago, they weren’t sure how they would replace the team that they had built for their son, Sam. He had been diagnosed with autism six years prior, and in that time, the family had quickly learned how much it meant to have the […]
Meet Jacob and Alden, two brothers who attend St. Michael Indian School (SMIS) in St. Michael, AZ through scholarships from the Arizona Leadership Foundation. Jacob is currently a Junior in high school and Alden is starting his Freshman year. Both boys have been at St. Michael since they were in Kindergarten and have done very […]
Meet the Williams brothers who attend Gilbert Christian School: Darius, 14, will be entering high school as a Freshman this fall, and Teague, 11, will be in the 6th grade. In 2008, their father was downsized out of his job, and unfortunately was unemployed for five years. The family was living off of $241 a […]
Riscilla Ashley Colelay is currently a senior at Desert Christian High School in Tucson, Arizona. Riscilla is Apache and was raised below the poverty level on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in the White Mountains of Arizona. She has lived with host families for the four years she has attended Desert Christian High School in […]
Every child is unique, but Lucas Schaefer is extraordinarily rare…literally. He was born with Chromosome 18p Deletion Syndrome; his family jokes that it’s a syndrome so rare that it doesn’t even get a catchy name. He has one of 440 known cases in the world tracked by the Chromosome 18 Registry. Lucas had neurosurgery at […]
Jose Carlos Macias is currently a senior at Yuma Catholic High School, where he has a 3.97 GPA. In his words, he chose his current school because of religious and moral opportunities. The smaller class sizes have helped him have more interaction with his teachers and he feels this is better preparing him for college. […]
At the tender age of 5, Jazlynn had never had any heart issues… In July of 2015, Jazlynn’s family was shocked to find out that she would need heart surgery. Like most parents, they had been busy deciding on where to send their child to Kindergarten. However, enrollment was put on hold as Jazlynn underwent […]
I am currently a senior at Yuma Catholic High School. For the past four years, this school has opened my eyes to possibilities that were once only a dream. When I was 10, I saw the Shamrocks play football and now I’m part of this team. Sports is not the only reason I attend Yuma […]
Prior to Josiah attending New Way Academy, we started to realize his school did not have the resources to assist with his academic needs. The system began to penalize Josiah and exclude him from his peers in class. At one point we were horrified to discover that the well-meaning staff at the school separated Josiah […]
