Succeeding in the face of adversity: Detroit graduates offer city hope

This is the story we like. We know the DPS is about five seconds from disaster. We all know that the district is broke, we all know that the academic levels aren’t exactly sterling, but, despite all of that, there’s another story there. There are the kids who rise above the preconceived notions, break the mold, and show the other side of Detroit. It might be a small number, but it’s still there.

Excerpt from the Detroit Free Press:

He is among 297 graduates from the Detroit Public Schools district who
earned grade point averages of 3.5 to 4.0 in high school. They have
piled up millions of dollars in scholarships, with eight winning the
nationally competitive Gates Millennium Scholarship that pays for
undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Yes, they said, the district’s turmoil and financial woes made
graduating from DPS — in a word — tough. But there are more important
words — like determination. Values. Survival. Regardless.

“The environment doesn’t matter. If you’re there to study, you’ll
study,” said Anai Orozco, a co-valedictorian from Western International
High who graduated Friday. “I don’t conform to lower standards.”

Read the entire article here.