Alternative high school bridges gap for students facing barriers
"Destiny never lost sight of her goal, and we kept showing up and reaching out to her,” says Allie Knapp, director of Bridge Academy. "Once she was able to commit, we were here for her.”
Foster kid. Teen mom. School dropout. Any one of those challenges is hard. But 17-year-old Destiny, a soon-to-be GED graduate at Benton Harbor’s Bridge Academy, isn’t letting all three stop her from pursuing a career in nursing and giving her 3-year-old son, Remi, a better start in life than she got.
Destiny was born and raised in Paw Paw. Her mom struggled with addiction and wasn’t able to provide stable housing. Her dad wasn’t in the picture. “We were doing things we shouldn’t have,” Destiny says of herself and her sisters. “But we didn’t have people to show us what to do.” Shortly after Destiny was put in foster care, she found out she was pregnant. She quit school in eighth grade.
Not long after Remi was born, Destiny learned about Bridge Academy, where her son’s father was taking classes, and she started going there too. “My son matured me a lot,” she says—and it made her want more for herself and for him. “Remi was the motivator to come back and get my education.”
Kick-start studies
Bridge Academy, a United Way-funded partner, is an alternative public high school, where students can earn their GED or high school diploma. Bridge Academy also offers vocational training in certified nurse assisting, pre-apprentice construction, and retail.
“Traditional school didn’t work out for me,” Destiny says. “When you’re a teen parent, you can’t really do traditional hours. And the classes there are big, but here at Bridge Academy, teachers can focus on you more when you need help because there are not as many kids.”
Destiny has been enrolled at Bridge Academy for three years, but has only been going consistently for the last year. “Before, I was having trouble getting transportation and babysitters,” she explains.
Through a program for former foster kids at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Destiny was able to qualify for a small grant to buy a car. Then, with the help of child care assistance from the state, she was able to enroll her son in daycare at Lake Michigan College.
Now, with those issues resolved, Destiny is on a roll. “Once I got this stability, there was nothing holding me back and I could focus on school,” she says. She has passed three of the four tests to receive her GED. With the help of interview preparation with a success coach at Bridge Academy, she recently landed her first job as a cook and cashier at Sonic Drive-In in Benton Harbor. The income will enable her to move out of the home of family friends and into subsidized housing for herself and her son.
On track to complete her GED this winter, Destiny plans to immediately start a certified nurse assistant program at Bridge Academy. After finishing this accelerated four-week course, she hopes to get a job in that field and then likely go on to Lake Michigan College to continue studies in nursing—a field that has interested her since she was a little kid. Her end goal is to become a nurse anesthetist—a smart choice since that medical specialty is experiencing strong employment growth.
Stay the course
The Bridge Academy is run by Michigan Works! Berrien, Cass, Van Buren—a subsidiary of Kinexus Group—and in partnership with Berrien Springs Public Schools. Kinexus is a Benton Harbor-based nonprofit that develops solutions to economic challenges and seeks to create thriving businesses and competitive workforce talent. Michigan Works! is part of a statewide network of workforce development boards that specializes in educating, training, and employing individuals of all ages by working with local businesses to help them attract and retain talent.
Students at Bridge Academy work closely with a Kinexus specialist who supports them throughout the vocational training process and helps them learn more about potential employment options in the community. Students have the opportunity to apply their studies and training through working with employers in the community.
“This community has so much to offer when it comes to education, but some students get left behind,” says Allie Knapp, Bridge Academy’s director. “We want Bridge Academy to be the in-between, the safety net that supports students who have fallen off the radar in a traditional school sense. Our typical student wasn’t thriving in a traditional setting because of certain barriers in their lives—kids who are trying to find their place in the midst of a lot of chaos. With the resources we have at Bridge Academy and in the surrounding community, those barriers are all manageable.”
Change doesn’t happen alone, and for Destiny and other students at Bridge Academy, having multiple forms of academic and job support—and even other agency offices, such as Department of Health and Human Services—in the same Kinexus building makes a big difference. “There are so many touchpoints to leverage here,” Allie says.
“Destiny never lost sight of her goal, and we kept showing up and reaching out to her. Once she was able to commit, we were here for her,” Allie says. “Nothing is too big a challenge for Destiny. I’m so excited to watch where she’ll go from here.”
Had Destiny stayed in a traditional school, she would have graduated in 2020. With the help of Bridge Academy, she’s still on schedule to reach where she deserves to be.
Learn more about the work United Way of Southwest Michigan is doing in INCOME at uwsm.org/income.
Listen to Destiny tell her story in her own words. Video by Josh Kirshman.
Now that her transportation and daycare issues are resolved, Destiny is on a roll. "Once I got this stability, there was nothing holding me back and I could focus on school,” she says.
"Traditional school didn’t work out for me,” Destiny says. "When you’re a teen parent, you can’t really do traditional hours. And the classes there are big, but here at Bridge Academy, teachers can focus on you more when you need help because there are not as many kids.”
"My son matured me a lot,” Destiny says. "Remi was the motivator to come back and get my education.”
"Nothing is too big a challenge for Destiny,” Allie says. "I’m so excited to watch where she’ll go from here.”
Photos by Ashley Tenter