“Best place ever!” is how Sean Riley described his two-and-a-half-year experience as a Synergy student. Sean joined Team Synergy in the middle of his sophomore year after recognizing that he required a more personalized learning environment where he could build personal connections with staff and students. Sean quickly found such an environment at Synergy where students spent much of their time getting comfortable and building the confidence to engage in his learning. As a student who did not enjoy school and struggled with authority figures, Sean found himself spending much of his time in the English classroom, focused on earning the points needed to regain lost credit.
Sean credited the calm, relaxed atmosphere where students were free to make positive decisions every day leading them one step closer to their goal of graduating. Each day, students were posed with the question “What is your goal and what are you going to do about it?” This approach helped all students align under their shared goals: earning their high school diploma and preparing for their futures. He noted the approach of staff where they respected students as individuals and allowed him to find his own route where his independence flourished and he was able to earn his diploma in 2004.
As a student, Sean was placed in leadership positions where he served as a class ambassador to represent Synergy programming. When Synergy was once again facing the possibility of closure, Sean was selected by his peers to escort district leadership around the building to provide a glimpse into the “Synergy way” as well as discuss how the program changed his life for the better. Sean was proud to do so and eventually assisted in Synergy continuing to provide its service nearly twenty years later.
As a parting message, Sean shared the following: “Show the world what you can do. Everyone deserves a second chance, as do you. Take advantage of the opportunity and it will propel you into a successful life.”