MAAC Community Charter School helps at-risk youth achieve their goals

When she had to drop out of middle school to help take care of her ill mother, Alejandra Hernandez said she was worried she would become part of the statistics.

She was out of school for one school year, but she knew she had to go back to school to accomplish her goals.

“I was hoping to come back to school,” said the 17-year-old Alejandra.

Indeed, she did.

Alejandra enrolled in the MAAC Community Charter School, a unique learning environment for students 14 to 20 years old who seek an extended opportunity to earn a high school diploma located in Chula Vista.

The school’s curriculum is centered on project-based learning to develop youth as leaders who become successful agents of change for their school as well as their local and global communities.

Chartered in 2001, the school is primarily suited for students who prefer an alternative, small-school environment, or for students who are socially or academically at risk.

It was at MAAC Community Charter School that Alejandra was able to shine, and develop into the leader she was destined to become. This week, she gave the commencement speech as Valedictorian at the school’s Class of 2013 graduation ceremony held on Tuesday, June 11, at the Chula Vista Memorial Bowl.

Fifty students earned their high school diploma, proving wrong all odds. Many of these students are the ones who had been told at other schools that they would never graduate. Some of them don’t have the traditional family support. Even more are the students that other schools didn’t want in their classrooms.

But at MAAC Community Charter School, with its unique focus on helping at-risk youth, these fifty students, like Alejandra, have gone against the system.

“You are here today because you believed in yourself,” said during the ceremony Marisol Rerucha, director of the MAAC Community Charter School. “You didn’t give in. You didn’t stay down. You didn’t allow defeat or doubt to stop you from realizing your dream of a better future. I am so proud of each and every one of you.”

At MCCS, Alejandra became a leader. She was student body president and used to emcee all of the school’s assemblies, orientations and led student workshops. In March, one of her short student films was featured at the San Diego Latino Film Festival where she enjoyed the opportunity to speak to community leaders, film aficionados and the media about her work.

“You have had a great opportunity to attend school and complete your studies”, said Arnulfo Manriquez, President and CEO of the MAAC Project, a social services agency that operates the charter school. “What are your next steps? What are your plans moving forward? The diploma that you will soon have in your hands will open many doors of opportunity; now you need to decide which opportunities to take. Whatever your choice, I want you to remember one thing: make sure your voice is heard.”

Alejandra plans to make her voice heard through film by attending Southwestern College and majoring in Multimedia.

She said she will continue making documentaries about important issues in her community.

MCCS art teacher, acclaimed Chicano Park muralist Victor Ochoa, said that at this high school students are able to express their creativity through art, writing, and film.

“This school really is a familia for these students,” he said. “Everybody comes together to support them. When students leave this school, after graduating, they feel orgullosos.”

For more information about the MAAC Community Charter School, please visit www.maacproject.org.