Students Overcome Odds To Earn H.S. Diplomas

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has named students who have overcome serious obstacles to earn their diplomas at New York City high schools as "Graduates of the Day". He congratulated the hundreds of students who have beaten the odds to graduate during a reception at Department of Education headquarters on June 26.

Among the Graduates of the Day are Allen Robinson, graduating from Francis Lewis H.S., Fresh Meadows, Chia-Ying Wu, earning her diploma at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts H.S., Astoria and Shadrack Sakyi, graduating from Midwood H.S., Brooklyn.

When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast two years ago, Allen Robinson was trapped at his home with his parents, sister, uncle and grandmother for two nights before neighbors with a boat rescued them and took them to await evacuation. Three days later, they were evacuated to the Houston Astrodome. Since Robinson and his family left New Orleans in 2005, he has lived in Texas, California, Las Vegas and Virginia and attended four schools, including Francis Lewis H.S., Fresh Meadows.

Robinson graduated on time with the Francis Lewis class of 2007 and plans to attend Adelphi University on Long Island in the fall. He says he wants to make New York his permanent home. "I attribute my success to my own passion and the inspiration of others," Robinson said. "Now, I want to give back to the individuals who helped me and help motivate others to succeed."

Chia-Ying Wu moved to New York City in the eighth grade, leaving her mother and father behind in their native Taiwan and speaking no English. Today, she is valedictorian of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts H. S. Class of 2007.

In addition to being at the top of her class academically, Wu is a talented violinist and a member of her school's orchestra and musical theater department. In the fall she will attend the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with a Gates Millennium Scholarship.

"I am grateful to have had the chance to move from Taiwan to the United States and to explore and deepen myself by taking responsibility of my future and every aspect of my life," Wu said.

When he was in the sixth grade, Shadrack Sakyi said goodbye to his family in Ghana and came to live in New York City with a family friend. Despite parting ways with the family friend, living on his own in a rented apartment and working full time at a local supermarket to support himself, at Midwood H.S. in Brooklyn Sakyi has maintained a 90 percent grade point average and was a kicker on the school's varsity football team. He wants to become a math teacher and plans to attend the Teacher Academy at Hunter College in the fall. Teachers at Midwood say he is their role model and a lesson in resilience.

"The best thing a person facing adversity can do is try," Sakyi said. "At the end of the day, regardless of the outcome, if you can honestly look at yourself and say you tried your best, that is a success story."