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Camila is on the student council and a member of the Young Republicans. In club meetings her peers openly discuss support for Trump and his promise to build a massive wall hough she has been in the United States since she was an infant, Camila Melero is proud of her Mexican roots. That can be tough, she admits, in a world where hundreds of thousands of Americans support presidential candidate Donald Trump.he says will help keep undocumented Mexican immigrants from entering our country.

It sometimes hurts, she says. It is hard to not take it personally.

“I grew a pretty thick skin.”

“Trump doesn’t like Mexicans, and my family is all Mexicans,” she says. “My mom has her own business and pays taxes. She never had welfare. I market

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Camila — who is intelligent and glamorously nerdy in dark-rimmed glasses over deep, observant, longlashed eyes — shrugs most of it off. She has her sights set on more controllable things. In quick, clipped sentences she describes her plan to become a coder and work for Apple, though “Google would be OK too,” she says.

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“I had a lot of problems growing up so I grew a pretty thick skin,” she says. “I try not to stress about those things I can’t do anything about.”

The hardest time of her life, she says, was during her sophomore year, when her mother had to travel to Mexico to “deal with immigration-status issues.”

“I was basically alone my whole sophomore year, making sure my sister is OK.”

Her sister was in eighth grade at the time and Camila had to act as mom despite her young age. She worried about her sister, she says, because the women in her family had a history of alcohol abuse. She knew her sister was nearing an age of temptation and needed a role model.

“I’ve seen in my family how alcohol can ruin lives. It starts as a game and then it takes your life.”

She says her family’s problems were rooted in alcoholism. Her mom, who had drinking problem, is recovering.

But while she tried to be there for her sister, who was there for her?

“I felt really lonely without my mom, because my mom is my best friend.”

Her stepfather was in charge, but he was always gone at work or elsewhere, she says. She only saw her biological father once a month, she says.

“When you don’t have a parent around, choosing to come to school, especially in elementary school and junior high, can be hard. I am proud of myself for being motivated to succeed and make it through all of my education, through senior year.”

Camila not only made it through that and subsequent years, she thrived, remaining on the academic honor roll and playing forward on the girls soccer team. Her teacher Rebecca Wood says she feels lucky to know Camila. “I think she is inspirational because she refuses to be defined by where she comes from, but instead focuses on where she is going,” Wood says. “She also is a great friend to all of her peers who count on her for advice, laughs, and support.”

The day of our interview, she is decidedly giddy. “Tonight is senior night. It’s our last home game and the night where the seniors are recognized. I’ve been waiting for it for four years.” to advertise call 214.560.4203

High school can be a crowded, confusing and difficult-to-navigate world, even for kids who have a supportive family. For students whose parents or guardians can’t help them, however, it often proves impossible. When daily life is a battle, temptation to drop out often mounts, and dreams of attending college can crumble. The high school seniors we interviewed this year had a few major things in common — all will graduate with honors next month; each is set to go on to college, armed with scholarships and financial aid, despite having faced opportunity-destroying adversity; and, during their years at LHHS, each took advantage of valuable programs such as Communities in Schools (CIS) and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID).

CIS is a nationwide organization founded by Bill Milliken in inner city New York about 40 years ago. The idea was to bring social resources into public schools, where they would be accessible and coordinated. “It’s relationships, not programs, that change children,” Milliken announced at the time. “Young people thrive when adults care about them on a one-to-one level, and when they also have a sense of belonging to a caring community.” CIS at Lake Highlands High School is true to that mission, says Yvonda Akers, one of two full-time CIS caseworkers. She has an education background, and her co-counselor Marcus Taylor has experience in juvenile probation. They make a good team when it comes to identifying issues and offering assistance to students, she says.

“Students might need food, school supplies, health care, counseling … help with schoolwork or college applications, or they just need a positive role model — that’s what we are here for,” Akers says.

When a student is in immediate crisis, CIS collaborates with guidance counselors and school principals to secure appropriate assistance. For example, when senior Rebuma Kedir became homeless, he went to CIS. He was on the street for a few days, Akers says, “but as soon as he let us know about it, we immediately found him a shelter and got him a DART pass. They do have to come to us. They have to let us know what is going on, or we can’t help,” she adds.

According to a recent CIS Texas study, 94 percent of high school seniors who take part in CIS graduate on schedule. Although CIS of Texas programs are in part legislatively funded, the majority of each program’s budget is raised from local communities and businesses, notes a CIS Texas spokesperson. Learn how to donate money or supplies to CIS students at cisoftexas.org.

AVID, which is offered to Richardson ISD junior high and high school students as an elective class, also is vital to dropout prevention and continued education. The program prepares young people — those who are willing to work hard — for college. AVID is open to all students, but usually AVID members will be the first in their families to attend college, and many are from low-income or minority families. Learn more about AVID at avidonline.org.

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When Nicholas died, his parents requested donations to the camp in lieu of flowers.

In response, an anonymous donor created a scholarship to fund six weeks of summer camp that year. And again the next year, the same person anonymously funded the Nicholas Calabro Memorial Scholarship.

“We have not guessed who it is,” Mike Calabro says. “But I can tell you, we don’t have very many rich friends. This is just an incredible thing.”

Schilling and Reed, who know the secret donor, expect the scholarship to continue annually into perpetuity. “Nicholas touched a lot of lives,” says Schilling, who met the boy years ago while teaching Extended School Year, a service provided by public school districts to individuals with disabilities.

“He will always be with us, and this annual scholarship is a renewed reminder of how special Nick is,” Schilling says.

Nicholas’ parents read all the