ORLANDO, Fla. – Being the single mother of five children was at times difficult for Sheena Blake, but through it all, she's managed to help her children prosper even when it means taking a non-traditional route.
Even though her second eldest child, 17-year-old Jaylin Blake, was enrolled in honors classes at Edgewater High School, he wasn't excelling academically and couldn't keep his grades up.
That's when Sheena Blake knew something had to be done to get her son on a path that would lead to better grades and a chance at attending college. She decided to withdraw him from Edgewater High and transfer him to Seminole State Adult High School, where he earned higher grades and even graduated early.
Below are some tips from Sheena Blake, in her own words, on how to help students succeed despite adversity.
1. I encouraged my son to go to Seminole State College's Adult Education campus because I believed the mature environment would actually help him focus on his academics more. My son and I have a great, open relationship and we're able to discuss many topics I know can be uncomfortable for some parents of teens. In these open discussions, I was noticing a lot of distractions were going on at his high school (Edgewater High) that were irrelevant to his scholastic growth and detractors from the things we knew he should be laser-focused on while in school. He was in honors and AP courses and was bringing home an alphabet soup-ish array of grades. I knew he was capable of so much more, and this subpar performance in his rigorous courses was simply unacceptable. During the summer transition from his sophomore to junior year, I preemptively announced my plan to withdraw him from Orange County Public Schools and enroll him at Seminole State College (SSC) once he turned 17 and was old enough to do so. He was initially concerned about the absence of a prom and homecoming, and being able to experience a traditional graduation ceremony. I assured him with a little planning, that these social cornerstones of his high school career could be fulfilled through friends, by attending as their guest and that one of the amazing things about SSC's Adult High School program is that they offer the same commencement ceremony as a traditional high school, which is held biannually at UCF's CFE Arena.
With all objections successfully rebutted, things were full steam ahead. After attending SSC for two terms with a full course load, Jaylin not only drastically improved his GPA, and therefore his prospects and viability for college, he completed all credits and mandatory graduation testing at the conclusion of what would have been his junior year at his previous high school. This left him graduating an entire school year earlier than anticipated. He has since directly led a couple of close friends into the very same program that helped him and he's referred many more.
2. My message to other kids and their parents about finishing school regardless of the type of institution you attend is to always keep an open mind and persevere. The only way to guarantee you lose is if you quit. Conversely, if you continue to strive and try, you will get there.
To be clear, SSC's Adult High School program, while it is an alternative, it is not an "alternative school" in the negative/classical connotation of the term. My son was considered an above-average student when he was withdrawn from his home high school. He had never been disciplined, was of no behavioral challenge, and was otherwise thriving in his traditional high school setting for all intents and purposes. I just set the bar high and I firmly believe unlike clothing, nothing in life is one-size-fits-all. So whether you're advanced and feeling unchallenged in your surroundings, you've fallen behind for some reason and you're struggling to stay afloat, or you've already dropped out and are thinking of giving it another go, this program, or one like it, is just for you. There's always more than one way to achieve a goal. If your social butterfly is not buckling down and focusing, rather than wasting time forcing a failing method, move on to the next. Thinking outside of the box can be intimidating and daunting but I once read something along the lines of, "Life is hard when you live it easy, but it's easy when you live it hard." We subscribe to that mantra 100 percent.
3. Raising Jaylin has been an absolute pleasure. It wasn't always easy, it wasn't always simple; but he's forced growth and maturity in me in areas I was unaware even existed. As I've done my best to shape and mold him into a productive citizen and into a man, all the while believing I'm the teacher and he's the student -- turns out, he's been teaching me the entire time.
Jaylin is the oldest of four boys, the second eldest of five. Junior in the family only to his sister (19), he's been my rock and my right hand. Thrust into a familial composition he never asked for or could have anticipated, he has been a superb role-model to his younger brothers (15, 13, 11) and an inspiration to his older sister, always, always, always rising to the occasion. Like any human being, he has made mistakes along the way, but he's so fluid, he learns his lessons well, he's very teachable. As a parent, you can't ask for much more. In our family, he is respected. We shake hands and hug at every initial greeting, when moving around the house we say hello again upon re-entry into the room, we look into each other's eyes when we talk. I've bared to him my soul and in return he's unveiled his. There's nothing more satisfying than raising a child and liking who you see before you as they transition into adulthood. I look forward to the next phase life has in store for my son and I.
4. I was a teenage parent for the first time at age 16 and was pregnant with Jaylin when I graduated high school. Being a teenage parent was sobering. It calls for an immediate lifestyle adjustment, becoming selfless, and it will accelerate some growths in you while stymieing others. If you're fortunate, this may just leave you financially or emotionally imbalanced, both of which can be rectified; but it can also have much more severe consequences.
After graduating high school, I went on to attend two years of college at Seminole State (then called Seminole Community College) but did not obtain my degree. I've worked in a multitude of industries since leaving college from emergency dispatch for the county and in the call centers of Fortune 500 companies to local mega law firms and real estate companies. I finally found my footing in real estate, which I've been licensed to practice since 2008. I became a broker in 2015 and have been growing my own real estate brokerage ever since. My son Jaylin plans to go to real estate school in the weeks between turning 18 and his first semester in college so he can join the family business. I own a couple of other ventures and have plans for a nonprofit as well. My son is also a serial entrepreneur, he gets it honest and it's in his veins. He's been turning ideas into cash since he was about 13 years old.
I'm now enrolled at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) in pursuit of my bachelor's after a 15-year hiatus. I plan to attend FAMU's Law School in downtown Orlando and practice law as a criminal defense and civil rights attorney.
For me, things have worked out and I've dodged several would-be bullets, but being a teenage parent is in no way easy or recommended. Though my situation has been pure motivation, I've learned some of the toughest life lessons along the path of parenthood. If you're young and in love, hold off. You must first get to know who you are and where you're going to be best poised to guide your little one. If you're already a teenage parent, know this: No statistic, no admonishment, no vex can determine your destiny, only you can. Just as each book has a separate ending, you too will write your own narrative. Don't focus so much on who you were yesterday, but rather who you intend to be tomorrow. Being a teenage parent is not a curse, but rather a blessed opportunity to be close with your child and understand them in a very unique way. Take that magic, flip it and shake it all around, out may come some great specimen, out may come another Jaylin.