Isaiah's Story

Jacyntha and Isaiah are worried about school. Jacyantha is the concerned mother and Isaiah is the new student at Chase Middle School. Even though this is Topeka, the famous home of Brown vs. Board of Education, it is a long journey for them to be hopeful about the future. The unemployed or absent parents, the local kids dropping out before they even go to high school, the drugs, the crime, the gangs, and the unhappiness are the challenges.

Relief came when Jacyntha and Isaiah were informed about the Pathways to Success program by their school. Isaiah learned new reading and study strategies taught by his teachers and Instructional Coaches and attended tutoring sessions after school. He had a Telementor, an online mentor who shared with him the importance of staying in school and helped him figure out what kind of activities and careers that he was interested in. When Isaiah started at Highland Park high school, Pathways to Success was there as well. While Isaiah was benefiting from the tutoring, mentoring, and making college visits during high school, his mother, Jacyntha was learning about financial aid and college opportunities from the Family School Coordinators.

The day Isaiah graduated from high school was the happiest day of Jacyntha's life. Not only had Isaiah graduated, he was going to college. Isaiah earned a small scholarship from the help of his mentor and was academically prepared for success in college. Mother and son were grateful that Topeka Public Schools had put him on the Pathway to Success.