May 15, 2025 | Jeffrey Good
At her former, traditional high school, Eliana Ruiz said she had trouble concentrating on multiple subjects at a time. And when she needed help with algebra and other challenging subjects, the teachers didn’t seem to have the time.
“After a while, I just wouldn’t go to class,” she says. “I was just thinking about dropping out; I thought it was going to be too much.”
But Eliana didn’t want to give up. She knew a high school diploma was the key to her going on to college and landing the job of her choice. “I wanted to graduate and I wanted to be successful.”
Lacking the credits she needed to graduate with her class, she transferred to Acceleration Academies of Ector County (EAA) to pursue credit recovery. It proved a perfect fit — a calm and studious environment, lots of personalized help and the ability to take one course at a time.
“I wasn’t stressing about having to take lots of classes; I could just focus on one,” says Eliana, who recently graduated and is enrolling at Odessa College.
Eliana says that math coach Jennifer Rosario-Perez was especially helpful.
“Miss Jennifer, she helped me a lot,” says Eliana. “For the questions I didn’t understand, she would take the time to work with me to be sure I did.”
But it wasn’t just academic help that EAA educators offered. If something in her personal life was getting in the way, Eliana knew she could find a listening ear amongst the staff.
“It felt good because I could ask a question about anything,” says Eliana. “She’d listen and help me out, find a way.”
Click here for a gallery of pictures from the January 2025 graduation ceremony by photographer Steve Aicinena.