Nobody has to tell Ann Evans that high school students can be cruel.

One night, Gabriel Romero saw a rocket soar into the heavens above Florida’s Space Coast and knew what he wanted to do with his life — go to college and become an aerospace engineer.

Kahliah Beckford moved to South Carolina from her native Jamaica. Enrolling at Carolina Shores Acceleration Academy, she found a supportive group of educators and the opportunity to make progress at her own pace — an effort that recently allowed her to celebrate earning her high school diploma.

When Natalia Campos was 8, she lost her beloved abuela. She knew that her grandmother wanted to see Natalia and her other grandchildren earn their high school diplomas, so she made her grandmother a vow.

While some high school students worry about getting their homework done in time to meet their friends at the mall, Que’vieon Preyer had a list of responsibilities that would burden people twice his age.

Bryanna Olalde is a Carolina Shores Acceleration Academy OG, one of the first students to enroll at the academy when it opened in the fall of 2023.

Bethel Acceleration Academies celebrated its most recent class of graduates, young learners who pushed through adversity to write a new chapter for their adult lives.

Two years ago, Mako Velez had given up hope of earning a high school diploma and was prepared to settle for a GED. But one night when she and her family sat down for dinner, the phone rang.

When Canaan Piercy’s mom was fighting breast cancer during his freshman year of high school, he didn’t have to think twice about his priorities.