The teen had a history of begin loud, bad tempered and impatient.  It wasn't that she wasn't capable of making good grades.  It's just that her attitude kept leading to fighting, which in turn led to suspensions and, occasionally, in-house alternative programs.

Those programs didn't work, and when the 1996-97 school year started, Dolores again was suspended and told to stay away from the campus.  Her grandparents took her to counseling.  She became more enraged.

And then the family found TYD.  Its Alternative Education Program is targeted at high school dropouts and/or at-risk students in need of an off-campus option to continue their education.

They assured her she could succeed.

"It wasn't easy at first," Dolores recalls. "I thought it would be easy, but soon I found out that whether or not I showed up was important and I knew that if I didn't, someone was going to call my house."

Last May, Dolores graduated from TYD and now attends Pima Community College.

"Everyone seems surprised (That she graduated), and I even surprised myself, I know that no matter what anyone says to me, I can accomplish what I set out to do."

Dolores, 20, says the small student/teacher ratio, counseling and supportive services at TYD taught her that she is valued as a person who can and will succeed.

Adapted from Tucson Lifestyle
December 1998
Portrait Photos by David Fox