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LETTERS FROM STUDENTS AND PARENTS
Hi, my name is Jennifer Medley. I am 18 years old, and I have conquered
my fears. I turned to drugs to cope with the pain of being sexually
abused. This drug use made me get expelled from a local high school for
possession of narcotics. My personal problems kept me from going further
in my education. A friend referred me to Life Skills. It was my second
chance to get my life together. I came to Life Skills on September 23,
2003. I came with 7 ½ credits, and the fear of not making it. My
experience here has been the best experience of my whole life. I feel
the school’s environment is nice and friendly. There is no one who is
better than any other student, and I’ve come to realize we all have our
own personal problems in life. I enjoy the staff, and the teachers are
all friendly. Any time you need help or have a problem, the staff is
there to help you the best that they can. Mr. Scott is a great teacher,
and I would like to thank him for all the help he has given me. He did
not let me drop out. I graduated in June of 2005. I would like to go to
college to be a nurse. Life Skills has helped me obtain my direction by
not allowing me to give up, and they never gave up on me. My time is
done here, it’s sad to say. There are many people and many faces I will
miss, but I’ll never forget all the help they have given me at Life
Skills. They have given me a goal and some direction in life and it’s
greatly appreciated. Life Skills turned my life around with the help of
being in a safe place and being able to talk to people about anything.
Jennifer Medley
To whom it may concern,
My name is Michelle King, I am a student attending the Lifeskills of
Springfield. I am responding to the article in the Springfield News Sun entitled
“Lifeskills Students Untested.” I do believe that your facts may be wrong. As a
student I took the Proficiency tests in March, and passed 4 out of 5. This is
thanks to the teachers who organized classes to help us study for the tests.
Lifeskills is a great place for many students that struggled in regular high
schools. There are some students who are stubborn, and don’t want to take the
test, or just decide not to show up. Those students are the ones who don’t seem
to care, but at Lifeskills most of us do, and we have common goals to work hard,
and graduate. Personally, Lifeskills for me is a god-send; I do believe that if
I didn’t decide to come to Lifeskills I may have never graduated. Now I have
goals that I have set, and Lifeskills is helping me achieve them. I do believe
your facts need to be reviewed. For once can we be recognized for the
achievements we have made instead of the few flaws we have. Take an inside look
at Lifeskills and you will find a group of young people looking toward the
future with bright hopes that our school has helped us find.
Lifeskills student,
Michelle King
Dear Unknown Author,
On October 26, 2005 an article was published in the Springfield News-Sun that I
found highly evasive. The article “Life Skills Students Untested” has an unknown
author and where the author’s name should be it says “local, wire reports.” In
this article it states that last year over 65 percent of Life Skills students
went untested, an astounding 173 of the 256. As a response to this gross
miss-use of information I would like to say one thing, the majority of that 65
percent is made of those who already passed their OPT and OGT. The next
statement is what really makes me angry. “At minimum, the tax payers have no
good idea whether the vast majority of students… are learning anything,” this
statement is not just a slash at Life Skills but to use, the students, and I
won’t stand by and be attacked without speaking up to defend myself. So, to set
the record straight, in a matter of three months I have learned more than the
three wasted years I spent at Springfield North. So to whoever wrote this
article, I want to say don’t attack our or anyone else’s school just to make
your story.
Without Respect,
Charles O. Daugherty
To Whom It May Concern:
This is reference for those who will be reading this remarkable letter about how
great my Life Skills Center is. My Life Skills experience has been the most
interesting journey I have ever done. I mean we’re talking programs, activities,
field trips.. and all of these things have been very fun and educational at the
same time. And you barely find that at other high schools. So when I heard of
Life Skills (which I heard through my cousins that all went there to obtain
their high school diplomas) I decided to go too.
I had just moved from Euclid and I could no longer attend Euclid High School because of me moving. And I knew that type of schools Collinwood and Glenville High Schools were. I didn’t want to attend schools like that, but I also couldn’t accept the fact that I have come so far in my education just to settle for a GED. Also, I wanted to be the first in my family in a very long time to receive a High School Diploma as well as make my grandmother proud. So I decided to travel everyday on two buses to get to the school that I thought best fit my educational needs and me. Life Skills has poetry classes that I love. People from colleges come in and talk about the different programs that they have as well as representatives from banks to help get our saving started.
I mean just these little things make a difference in our lives, whether it be now or in our future. To be honest, Life Skills is by far the best school I’ve been to. The teachers are outstanding. They listen, help, and understand the problem in which you need help. They actually care about you; as far as I’m concerned, they’re your parents when your real ones are not around. So when people have something negative to say about Life skills, stop them in their tracks and say, “You’re wrong. Life Skills, everywhere, is everything but that.”
Sincerely,
Princess Kitts
Student, Life Skills Center of Cleveland
Hi, my name is Giovane Cuiba. I am 19 years old and a student at Life Skills Center. Life has not been easy, and even though I am only 19, I have had to experience many negative situations. I lost both of my parents when I was 5 years old. I am formerly from Curitiba, Brazil and was placed in an orphanage for 1 year. At the age of 9 years old, I was adopted by a family here in America.
At this time I have moved out on my own, and my goal now is to focus on furthering my education. I have found that I’ve had to learn to work through difficult times, and learn to make the most out o fit. My life experiences have prepared me to handle the world’s challenges, to become bitter or to become better. I have decided to become better.
What brought me to Life Skills was that I wasn’t doing well at my old school, and my brother was attending Life Skills, and I decided to give it a try. I came with 17 credits, and I am looking to graduate in December of 2005. Life Skills is a great school. There are students of all ages, and most focus on getting their work done, and obtaining their diplomas and living their lives. The teachers are helpful and caring. They desire to assist you in helping you move on with your life. My teacher, Mr. Kelly, is always helping me. He knows I am capable of getting my work done, and encourages me to work hard and finish the work that ahs to be done. My goal for my future is to go to college at Kent State University, and make something of my life. Life Skills has helped me refocus and obtain the goals I have. If you are a young person struggling with getting your education, give Life Skills a chance. It’s working for me.
Thank you, Life Skills, for all of your help.
Giovane Cuiba
Webster defines the word “Success” as a satisfactory completion of something, the gaining of wealth and fame, or most simply one that succeeds. Let me assure you people aren’t lining up for my autograph and I’m definitely not rich, but today I did accomplish something pretty great, I graduated! “Yeah, so what” you are probably thinking, “So did I,” but I want to tell you that if it weren’t for the help of some pretty amazing staff this probably wouldn’t have happened. Please let me tell you why today the Life Skills program helped me to reach my success.
I didn’t drop out of high school because I wanted to fail, but because I was never comfortable in the “traditional” classroom. I have a lot on my plate at home and often it became too difficult to concentrate or even to be at school. I knew I needed to find somewhere different, and school with more flexible hours and somewhere that I could operate at my own pace. At Life Skills in Youngstown I found not only flexible hours, but an atmosphere where I could sit happily at a computer and work at my own pace completing my schoolwork.
Now don’t get me wrong, it was no walk in the park for me, it took me a year and a half to finally complete the program and pass my tests. Throughout this time period I thought of giving up many times but the kind words of encouragement from staff like Ms. Oliver and Ms. Mary kept me from quitting. It wasn’t only the words of encouragement but many teachers also offered one-on-one tutoring when I was in need.
When I started here at Life Skills it was located over on Oakhill and more than just the address has changed. The entire program has expanded in size; the overall atmosphere has improved in my opinion. I like the t-shirts and think it is great that walkmans and cell phones can be see but not heard – it is so much less distracting. I have also benefited by many things that haven’t changed such as assistance in writing a resume, learning job interview skills and job placement.
The program here at Life Skills in Youngstown has changed my world; I now have my high school diploma! So in closing, even though people aren’t asking for my autograph, with my diploma in hand I think I’ll go out and earn my millions.
Thank you so much,
Danielle Hassan
Dear Folks,
I’ve waited too long to write this, but your school came up once again in a
conversation yesterday and all I could do was give you praise for how much good
you did in the life of my daughter, Suzanne First.
Suzi graduated about a year and a half ago from Life Skills. She has been in the same suburban school system all her school years and she’s just one of those kids who goes through life beating a different drum. We knew that from the time she was a very young child. But, of course, there’s really no room for that kind of person in our schools.
Suzi was a junior when she saw your name and information on her bulletin board at school, and she told her dad and I she wanted to see if it would help her to get through school faster and be more interesting. She was just miserable.
Within one week Suzi was a student at Life Skills. That was in the month of October and she finished classes in February and proudly graduated that June - a year and a half worth of high school finished in less than five months.
Last night she and I were talking about where she would be if she hadn’t attended Life Skills. She said it seems there isn’t a week that goes by that she doesn’t encourage someone to check out your school.
You have such good teachers. They are caring, kind, and continually encouraging these kids to keep at it. We could just see her self esteem climbing while she was attending classes there. And the program is built for the individual and that’s where her success came from. Last night we both came to the conclusion that your program is just so strongly directed toward success, that if a young person doesn’t finish their schooling there it isn’t because the opportunity wasn’t available. You only fail by not doing your own part. You make it desirable and so doable.
Thank you to your staff and your teachers, you have a program that works, and we’re proof of that in our child.
Sincerely,
Joyce First