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The 2013 Student Leadership Series (SLS) made another appearance in Chicago with stops at John Burroughs Elementary School, James Shields Middle School, and Benito Juárez Community Academy. USHLI is very grateful to the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council and its Executive Director, Patrick Brosman, for helping arrange the events at Burroughs and Shields and to Lez Trujillo Torres and Jesse Palencia for their help in arranging the event at Benito Juárez.
 Our featured speaker was Roy Juarez, Jr. Abandoned and left homeless as a 14-year old along with his younger brothers and sister, Roy's message of choosing forgiveness over bitterness, love over hate, reconciliation over anger, and triumph over tragedy resonated well with the students and the teachers too. After dropping out of school and then dropping back in, Roy graduated high school and completed his college education, which enabled him to succeed in his life and career. Roy's story is one that will inspire, motivate, and give hope to every student attending school today. SLS participating schools will see their students become better motivated, more involved in extracurricular activities, ask more questions in class, perform better on tests, and more determined to succeed academically and in life. Absenteeism and truancy will decline. Their dropout rate will decrease and the graduation rate will increase as more and more students accept the challenge to navigate their way through the academic achievement pipeline toward success in life and career. Over 40,191 students in 15 states have been reached to date in 2013. |
