Carl
Carl was accepted into Denver Kids, Inc. [DKI] in September of 2002, being referred to DKI by a school social worker. When Carl entered DKI he had a very difficult time staying on task, which prohibited him from working to his fullest potential. His behavior was very erratic and he had a very poor attitude. Carl was living with his great-grandmother and eight other children, which made focusing on school understandably difficult. Carl had problems controlling his temper with teachers and school staff and would completely shut down, unwilling to finish a task if he decided he didn’t want to do it.

As Carl has progressed through school being involved with DKI, his attitude and scholastic performance have changed dramatically! As of second semester of the 2004-2005 school year Carl has a 3.0 GPA, is on the honor roll and was selected as student of the month at his school in January of 2005! Carl has made a fantastic transition to middle school and he enjoys it, greatly!

Jenna
Jenna became involved with Denver Kids, Inc. [DKI] because she had incredible potential to succeed in school but faced family challenges that were quite significant. Jenna’s mother suffered severe mental illness and was institutionalized when Jenna was very young and her father travels the majority of time for his work. Understandably, Jenna didn’t have the support all students need and deserve.

The success that Jenna has achieved in primary and secondary schooling is all her own and her active involvement in DKI with both her DKI counselor and Mentor Friend mentor helped teach her to take advantage of all the possibilities life has to offer and have made her an incredibly self-reliant, independent and positive girl who accomplished above and beyond what most students do!

The relationship that developed between Jenna and her Mentor Friend is an absolutely ideal example of the phenomenal impact mentoring has! Jenna’s Mentor created not only a room for Jenna, but also gave her a home and a family. Together they overcame many challenges and have developed a bond that has kept them close even while Jenna has gone across the country to college!

Jenna exemplifies the kind of human being that DKI strives to graduate; honest, community service oriented, a life-long learner, motivated to succeed, and constantly involved in a variety of activities that support physical, mental and spiritual growth. Jenna even became a Mentor Friend to a young student while Jenna was in high school - she was the first student in the history of DKI to be a member and a Mentor Friend simultaneously. The success came full circle.

Jenna’s accomplishments are seemingly limitless; she had the highest honor roll every year in high school; she was a member of the National Honors Society with a 4.7 GPA; was a Rotary Scholarship recipient; was accepted to five very prestigious universities and wait listed on two more; was offered trustee and merit scholarships totaling over $82,000; was a DKI Academic Scholarship recipient two years in a row and received the DKI Gold Medal award every year for academics, attendance and extra curricular activities, and the list goes on.

Jenna, her dedication, hard work, achievements, leadership qualities and future plans have made DKI very proud of what can be accomplished by the students in the program!