"Charles - a Junior"
*Some of our students at Eastside Academy remain anonymous due to safety concerns. Therefore, we anonymize their name and gender to maintain their safety and anonymity.
“Trust.” Charles said when asked the biggest change he’s experienced personally at Eastside Academy. “I definitely feel like I can trust again.” Restoring trust is an important aspect of the work at Eastside Academy. Many of our students come to us with broken relationships, deep pain, and traumatic experiences that close them off to others. For Charles, trust was broken in his relationships with adults, especially teachers.
“I was placed in a reform-type boarding school throughout grade school and most of middle school,” Charles recounted. “It felt like all the teachers and staff were out to get me, looking to catch me doing something wrong and punish me. They were looking to keep me down, treating me like I couldn’t do anything right. I never felt like I could grow beyond who they saw me as.”
Eastside Academy has been a different type of story for Charles. Although it wasn’t a seamless transition. “The first two weeks I didn’t really click with the students, and I wanted to leave. But two upper classmen reached out to me and helped me connect.
“I’m glad I stayed. Eastside Academy has been good for me. The teachers here aren’t out to get me, they keep it fair and meet me in the middle—even when I’m the one who did something wrong. They work with me, you know? They treat me right. Because they care. They check in on how I’m doing emotionally, and they make sure I understand the concepts they’re teaching.”
Midway through his freshman year, Charles moved into the Boys Renew Home. He credits this as a turning point in his experience at Eastside Academy. “I really got to know the guys in the house, and Alex was inspirational.” A 2021 graduate of Eastside Academy, [link to Alex’s Student of the Month story], “Alex talked about wanting to be in the Navy. He was up at 4am doing pushups to get ready for his physical. But more than that, Alex always went out of his way to be nice and ask people how they were doing. He really cared about others and that said a lot to me. It was impactful and something I aspire to be as well.”
The relationships in the Boys House have been important for Charles, but so has the consistency. “I didn’t grow up with consistency,” he said, “and I don’t have a relationship with my dad. But the chores and the expectations of the Boys House have been extremely important for Charles. “The consistency in the house, all the little things that are expected of us; it’s those little things that build your character.”
Trevor Uhler, Eastside Academy’s Director of Renew Housing shared just how much Charles has changed the past two years in the home, “I’ve really seen Charles open up to the staff and students these past couple of years. He came in pretty closed off, but now he’s leaning into relationships. He’s sharing more about himself and letting others in. He’s really stepping up as a leader. He’s welcoming new residents, helping them acclimate, and learn the rules and ways of the home. He’s really grown a lot.”
Charles still has one year left at Eastside Academy before he graduates. And while he’s looking forward to his senior year and finishing high school, he’s taking it one day at a time. “I still have a lot more growing to do, and a lot that I want to figure out. But I’ve grown a lot in my confidence here at Eastside Academy. I don’t doubt my abilities like I used to. And while I’m still working on that, I can see a difference.”
