"el Centro works for the kids who are there."

Colleen and her mother testifying before City Council on 5/25
(photo by Andrew Christman)

Hope is a thing that I didn’t believe in until I came to el Centro. The teachers are like angels from god himself just for me. They have helped me when I wanted to give up on myself and they pushed me to be all I can be.  Today I call them my angels because all my teachers care about every single student in my school and just kids in general.  If you close our doors you will close success and hope for kids like us and kids of the future.  At our school success and hope looks like this: kids going from “D” students to “A” students. Kids going from not coming to school at all to coming to school everyday.  A school that has no metal detectors and no fights.

When kids like me and my fellow students tried to get in schools like Fels, Olney, and Kensington, they turned their backs on us. But when we came to el Centro they gave us a chance and hope to live and learn again.  I know it is the same for students at all the other Accelerated schools, too.  Now it feels like they are taking our success away. 

Sometimes traditional just doesn’t work for some people.  What we have at el Centro works for the kids who are there.  This may be some kids last chance for hope so please don’t take a way hope from kids like me and my fellow student at my school and at the other 12 schools.  Thank you for your time.


--Colleen J.