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Impossible Dream Comes True for Grad
College Education in Ex-dropout's Future


By Mae Yousif-Bashi | January 10, 2010 | mbashi@newspress.com

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Daryl Franco's future was bleak just a year ago.

But after a little motivation and support, his life began to change.

He'd spent five years at Cape Coral High School and had no choice but to leave without a diploma in 2008.

"The problem was I went to class, but then I was lazy and didn't pay attention like I needed to," he said.

Franco, 20, decided on a GED. But North Nicholas High School found him first. He received a letter in the mail about the charter school and thought he'd check it out. The school offered him a chance to get his diploma on his own time. Franco enrolled in the school to finish his last eight credits.

"I was more motivated," Franco said. "I wanted to do it for my mom."

Teachers at North Nicholas worked closely with Franco to set up a support system.

"I don't think he was really involved in the educational process when he came to us," said Damon Ingram, a teacher and adviser at North Nicholas. "But as time passed and we set goals and we got to know one another, he became much more engaged ..I think what he needed was the motivation."

Dressed in a maroon cap and gown, Franco crossed the stage at Island Coast High School in December during North Nicholas High's commencement ceremony.

During the graduation, Isaac Brundage, director of community outreach at Florida Gulf Coast University, presented Franco with a four-year tuition waiver to the school.

"In doing this, you run across all kinds of students and stories," Brundage said.

Seeing his struggle, his dedication to graduate and his desire to become a student at FGCU left a lasting impression, Brundage said.

The waiver is pending Franco's application, which will need to consist of his high school GPA and SAT or ACT scores, Brundage said. Franco is awaiting his ACT results.

"He could start as soon as the fall," Brundage said.

Franco is interested in a career as a pilot or in forensics science, the latter which he'd be able to study at FGCU.

"I always thought high school was so hard and so impossible to pass, especially at Cape High; I thought it wasn't going to happen," Franco said. "Now that I had all of those difficult times through high school and not paying attention, I know I can't waste this opportunity. Things like this don't happen every day."