Home Builders Institute 2008 Project CRAFT saves more at-risk teens

TAMPA

Tiron Wise admits he used to be a troublemaker. He grew up on the streets. He was kicked out of high school his freshman year for breaking every rule in the book.

So the last place the 18-year-old expected to be Friday was in a cap and gown, about to receive his diploma and head off to college, and with a construction apprentice's certificate to boot.

"I used to think school wasn't for me," he said. "When I got here, they opened my eyes up."

Before a cheering crowd Friday morning, Wise was a most unlikely valedictorian for a most unlikely class of high school graduates.

His schoolmates came from broken homes and families shattered by drugs and alcohol. They got into fights, dropped out of school and scuffled with the police.

Then they enrolled in Project CRAFT, an apprenticeship program for at-risk teens run by the Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders.

Instead of hanging out on the streets, they spent months learning to hang drywall at construction sites while also studying for their GEDs.

"When you combine these two things together," said Howard Smith, the project's coordinator, "it gives them sustainability in terms of employment."

And a chance to get their lives on track. As each graduate was recognized Friday, the themes were similar: Overcoming adversity. Leaving the streets behind. Making yourself into something.

"We all messed up," said Jonathan Garcia, 16. "This is a fresh new start."

Garcia was among ten at-risk youths to receive pre-apprentice certifications in facilities maintenance, and among about 200 to have completed the program over its five years. He and six others also received their high school diplomas or expect to receive them shortly.

A crowd of 100 proud parents and supporters were on hand at the Children's Board of Hillsborough County to congratulate them. Garcia called it among the proudest moments of his life.

The Tampa teenager used to spend most of his time hanging out with buddies, drinking, smoking and picking fights, as he put it. Now he, too, wants to go to college.

"The people who choose to (do this program) are the people who want to turn their lives around," he said. For a change, Garcia said, "I wanted to make my mom proud."

Wise, from Temple Terrace, came from a broken home and was living on the streets, surrounded by an environment of crime and poverty until Juanette Thomas, the mother of his then-girlfriend, took him into her home three years ago.

Back then, his plans were different. "He said, 'People like me don't go to college,'" Thomas said. "He really didn't believe in himself."

Then he enrolled in Project CRAFT. Now Wise holds down a part-time job and next month will begin classes at Hillsborough Community College to study criminal justice. He says he wants to become a lawyer, and, someday, a judge.

"He's changed a great deal," Thomas said. "He's come from poverty to prosperity."

In the apprenticeship program, Wise says, he learned the little things, like having a good handshake and tucking in your shirt. Then he learned something bigger, a message he shared with his fellow graduates Friday.

"We are the future," he said. "And we're going to make it."

Thomas Kaplan can be reached at (813) 226-3404 or tkaplan@sptimes.com.