Many young people move through high school with a bright sense of possibility. Evyn Wright, by contrast, struggled under a darkening cloud.

Makenna Wheeler had always been an eager, accomplished student. With a wry smile, she says, “I used to always raise my hand, every question — even if I didn’t know it.”

Kaylee Holt had always been a strong student, earning As and Bs and making steady progress toward her high school diploma and college education beyond. But then she began algebra and, suddenly, all those plans seemed in question.

Clark County Acceleration Academies (CCAA) began the new year with pomp and circumstance, celebrating the latest class of graduates — 142 young people who pushed through adversity to earn their high school diplomas and move ahead toward college, trade school, military service and well-paying jobs.

On the cap she wore to celebrate her recent graduation from Miami-Dade Acceleration Academies (MDAA), Daniela Arbelaez emblazoned this message: “The pain you feel today is the strength you will feel tomorrow.”

At her old high school, the crowded classrooms and bright lights felt overwhelming to Ellerie Hamner. And because she has epilepsy, having to get up early each morning to begin a traditional school day jarred her system in a way that sometimes caused petit mal seizures.

When Alexiann Edwards moved to Florida from her native Jamaica early in 2023, she wanted to complete her high school career at a different kind of school.

Shamyiah Lewis is a strong student, but moving to a new city at the beginning of her senior year nearly derailed her plans to earn a high diploma and go on to study filmmaking in college.

Jennifer, Valerie and Dominic Amador are three siblings from a close-knit Texas family. When the trio decided they needed a different kind of high school, they took care of themselves and each other in the way they always do — together.