Student Success Stories

Shreen grew up in foster care after having lost her mother when she was 9 years old. Shreen, a young mother of four, spent several years in our program striving to earn her high school diploma after dropping out of a local high school. CIS of Pittsburgh-Allegheny County was able to be flexible with her schedule so that she could be a responsible mother while completing her high school education. Of course, this took a lot of time, but Shreen remained focused and completed all of her required coursework. While she was a student, she attended our week long BIZ CAMP, where she competed in a business plan competition. She shared first place, for developing an innovative plan to create a housing program for young mothers and fathers. After completing our program, she successfully completed Job Corps certification program for registered nursing assistants; at the Job Corps graduation, Shreen was selected as the one student speaker on behalf of her class of over 50 students. She is now working as a nursing assistant and is enrolled in Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) with an ultimate goal of becoming a registered nurse.

Anthony is a student who came to CIS after dropping out of school. He came to CIS of Pittsburgh-Allegheny County
and spent a year getting back on track. We worked with him to get a part time job at Eat n’
Park while he finished his high school diploma. At this time, he already had his own apartment
and needed to support himself. After graduation, he attended Community College of Allegheny
County (CCAC) for Business Administration. He is in his first year at CCAC and
proudly made the Dean’s List both semesters.

Der’Ral is a young man who dropped out of school with only four credits to go. His
family was struggling to pay the bills and he was constantly moving from house to house. He
would often stay with other family members while he attended our program. He entered the
CIS graduation essay contest and won a $2,000 scholarship. This enabled him to attend Community
College of Allegheny County (CCAC), where he is currently attending pursuing a business
degree, while he sings with his band on weekends.