蜜桃传媒

This past May, I received a phone call that left me fighting back tears of joy.

On the other end of the phone was Carlos Kelly, a high school student I had helped a few years ago by getting his expulsion overturned. He was a good kid who just needed a second chance at school. Once the 蜜桃传媒 helped him get that opportunity, he made the most of it: Carlos was calling to invite me to his high school graduation.

As I watched him accept his diploma, I felt so proud for this young man who had turned his life around. I was also grateful that we were able to help make this transformation possible.

When I first met Carlos in April 2012, he was an incredibly frustrated ninth-grader in Louisiana鈥檚 Jefferson Parish Public School System. He had been repeatedly suspended for being disrespectful. He was eventually expelled. As I began helping him appeal the expulsion, it became clear to me that no adult had ever tried to understand why he was so frustrated and so angry. Instead, assumptions were made.

Carlos Kelly and 蜜桃传媒 Staff Attorney Jennifer Coco.

鈥淓verywhere I went, they鈥檇 judge me by my background, as a kid from the Dominican Republic who had a bad older brother. I could never get a fresh start,鈥� he said. 鈥淭eachers told me I鈥檇 be just like my older brother, who dropped out. It got so everyone thought I was so bad, so I decided I might as well be that bad.鈥�

Carlos said he received so many suspensions that they began to run together. He didn鈥檛 see them as punishment. As Carlos put it, they were a vacation 鈥� a break from the people at school who didn鈥檛 understand him.

It was easy to see why he felt this way. After months of working with Carlos, he told me about a teacher calling him a 鈥渨------.鈥� When it happened, he initially didn鈥檛 know the word, and didn鈥檛 understand why all the other students started laughing and making fun of him. He asked his dad what it meant, which was a humiliating experience for both of them.

Sadly, Carlos wasn鈥檛 the first student to encounter racial hostility in this school district. In fact, his experience was included with those of more than a dozen other Latino families in a 2012 complaint聽the 蜜桃传媒 filed with the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Education. That complaint has sparked a federal investigation into the Jefferson Parish Public School System.

The 蜜桃传媒 was able to get Carlos鈥� expulsion overturned, but there was one condition: He had to attend a different high school in the district. I told him that this was his chance to prove wrong all the people who had prejudged him. This was his second chance. He needed to make it count.

鈥淚 gave it 110 percent,鈥� Carlos said. 鈥淚 realized she had put a lot of effort to put me back into school, so I didn鈥檛 want to disappoint her or my dad. I told myself I had to focus. When someone at school made me mad, I鈥檇 say 鈥楥arlos, they鈥檙e pushing your buttons. Don鈥檛 let them.鈥� At my old school I would have exploded.鈥�

As Carlos put his best foot forward, the school did the same. Although he needed to complete some freshman credits, the new school let him wear the sophomore uniform. It helped Carlos avoid what he saw as a humiliating experience: Starting classes at a new school in a freshman uniform. It was a small but important step by the school to earn his trust.

He also met people at his new school willing to help him make the most of this opportunity.

鈥淚 met a counselor who took the time to talk to me,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he told me when she was in high school she had a mouth that got her into trouble, and she went through what I was going through. She really helped me. I felt like I had someone looking out for me for the first time.鈥�

Carlos鈥� hard work at school paid off. He not only earned his high school diploma, but several universities have offered athletic scholarships. He plans on attending one of those universities in the fall.

鈥淵ou need to give people second chances,鈥� Carlos said as he reflected on his experience. 鈥淚 felt like I was in a box and I couldn鈥檛 get out of it. School and teachers should be there to help you, and all kids should get second chances.鈥�

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Jennifer Coco is a staff attorney with the 蜜桃传媒鈥檚 Louisiana office.