Homelessness didn’t keep Colleyville student from getting a diploma

If you’d asked Caleb Vasquez 20 months ago if he could envision himself a featured speaker at high school graduation, he would say he couldn’t even see himself graduating from high school.

Just barely 17 going into his senior year at Colleyville Heritage High School, he’d accumulated just nine credits, only a third of the way to the 27 he needed to graduate.

Caleb went to see his high school counselor and told her “it was time for me to drop out.” The counselor presented him with an alternative: Bridges Accelerated Learning Center, GCISD’s academic alternative school that gives “at-risk” student a chance to earn the credits they need to graduate.

There, the teachers would work with him to get the needed credits. Caleb decided to give it a try.

He made such an impression at the school that he was chosen to be one of four student speakers out of a class of 86 graduates at commencement for Bridges Accelerated Learning Center May 23 at the Colleyville Center.

Stronger resolve to finish

Christine King, his adviser and the school’s math teacher, said it took a while for the educators at Bridges to convince Caleb he could get his diploma.

“Last year, he was not very motivated, and it seemed like such an impossible task for someone who struggled in school,” King said. “But he came back from summer, and he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

This year, Caleb began to work hard to earn his diploma, and his resolve got stronger even when his homelife was in turmoil.

He had a huge issue with his mom and stepfather, which forced him to move out on his own. Even though he spent a number of months this year living out of his car and bouncing between friends’ houses, he focused on his goal.

“I didn’t want to be one of those kids who didn’t graduate,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a high school dropout, whether I was living under a roof or not.”

All that mattered was going to school, doing his homework and working at Whataburger to support himself.

King said that even though Caleb wasn’t always making the best choices in his homelife, he was “doing what he needed to do at school.”

He was “a joy to have in class,” always on time and present, never argumentative, she said.

Caleb said, “Every day was pretty tough, waking up and trying to find a place to shower.”

He’d go to a recreation center or go from friend to friend.

“I didn’t want to be too much of a burden,” he said.

His mom, Charity Young, and stepfather, Ryan Young, came to graduation to celebrate with their son.

Charity Young said, “This means victory. He was able to finish and come to this point. It’s definitely a day of victory.”

‘A place to reinvent yourself’

Bridges Principal Lynda Burr gave Caleb a hug after he accepted his diploma.

“Every single day last year I worried that Caleb would walk out and not come back, but this year he was just on fire,” Burr said during the ceremony. “I’m just so proud of all of them.”

King said that every student at Bridges has a story of overcoming adversity. It could be a difficult home life, addiction, running with the wrong crowd or battling anxiety and depression.

“I tell kids when they come in, ‘This is a place to reinvent yourself. Your teacher knows nothing about you. If you change, everything is going to work out for you,’” she said.

Mike Cowan, Caleb’s career and technology education teacher who is retiring after 23 years of teaching at Bridges, said he was very proud of Caleb.

He’s one of many students Cowan has seen beat the odds to graduate.

“This job is really rewarding because you get to see students become self-motivated,” he said. “Once they become self-motivated, nothing can keep them from being successful.”

Caleb plans to continue his education at Collin College and study audio engineering. Eventually, he’d like to have a career in the music industry.

As he took off his cap and gown after the graduation ceremony, he said what the diploma meant to him.

“I think it’s a good stepping stone of what’s next in life,” he said. “Now it’s time to persevere to the next step.”

This story was originally published May 26, 2017 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Homelessness didn’t keep Colleyville student from getting a diploma."